The 2026 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown ran from April 8 through April 29 with 73 trophy events, plenty of action with a variety of games and formats on the schedule, and a lot of great times over the three-week run.
Events: 73
Entries: 20,044
Guarantees: $7,540,000
Prize Pools: $15,426,080
This was the fifth time in our history that we’ve drawn more than 20,000 entries, and our players put more than $15 million in prize pools.
The big tournament on the schedule was the 2026 WPT Poker Showdown Championship, with a $3,500 buy-in and a huge $3,000,000 guarantee. It drew 1,417 entries over two starting flights and created a prize pool worth more than $4.5 million.
It created an exciting six-handed final table that was live-streamed and also recorded for later broadcast on television. The lineup featured locals Johnny Bromberg, Michael Amato, Raj Vohra, and Ian Cohen, plus pro Frank Funaro and NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour.
It came down to a long heads-up battle between Seymour and Cohen, with Cohen coming out on top to win and become our 15th Poker Showdown Champion. Cohen earned $656,200, a really nice return on his investment, since he was in the game on a satellite ticket.
This series was the 15th Poker Showdown, dating back to 2011. Since its inception, here’s a little look at the big numbers over the years:
Series: 15
Entries: 208,438
Guarantees: $94,641,000
Prize Pools: $209,656,275
More than 200,000 entries in those 15 years and over $200 million in prize money. That’s a lot of players through the doors and a lot of money going back to them.
Coming into the 2026 Poker Showdown, only six time in our history has a player won three tournaments in a single series. By the time we were done, we had added two more to that list
Ryan Hoenig was one of those six, winning three during the 2024 Showdown, and he did it again this year. He won the $1,100 5-Card PLO, the $600 Big O, and the $1,100 10-Game Mix. Hoenig might have won another, but a really deep run in the Championship was a higher priority.
During the final week of the series, it happened one more time. Willie Wiggins won the Larry Frank Memorial Charity Event on the last Thursday of the series, followed by a win in the $200 Deep Stack on Saturday, and he closed out his run by winning the $1,100 Purple Chip Bounty Turbo on Monday.
Three trophies in a week for the local favorite. Here’s a look at the eight times a player has won three tournaments in a single series:
2012 Showdown – Julio Fernandez
2012 RRPO – Atanael Thomas
2023 RRPO – Matt Bretzfield
2024 LHPO – Frederic Moss
2024 Showdown – Ryan Hoenig
2025 Showdown – Yuval Bronshtein
2026 Showdown – Ryan Hoenig
2026 Showdown – Willie Wiggins
Hoenig’s wins took him up to ten major SHRP titles in his career, and Wiggins now has six. They weren’t the only ones to add big numbers to their career totals; David Shmuel won his 13th, Matt Bretzfield won his 11th and 12th, and Gabe Ramos hit double digits with his tenth.
Updated all-time major SHRP wins:
Raminder Singh – 16
Yuval Bronshtein – 16
David Shmuel – 13
Matt Bretzfield – 12
Michael Newman – 12
Phil Hui – 12
Gabriel Ramos – 10
Ryan Hoenig – 10
Other notable wins during the series include Sebastian Toro Henao taking down the huge opening event for $201,030. Johnny Bromberg, in addition to making the Championship final table, also won the $800 Platinum Stack for $258,125. Hertsel Levy played two $1,100 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em tournaments on the schedule and won them both.
As always, we could not do any of this without the support of our players. Both locals and traveling players make every series a lot of fun with great results and plenty of memories.
Thank you, we appreciate you.
Next up on our tournament series schedule, we have the May Deep Stacks Poker Series running May 12 through May 25 in the Poker Room and the 2026 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open July 29 through August 11 in the Grand Ballroom.
Below you can find links to results from all 73 trophy events –
WPT Poker Showdown Championship: Ian Cohen – $656,200
Event 1 ($400 NLH): Sebastian Toro Henao – $201,030
Event 2 ($600 PLO8): Ariel Mantel – $12,265
Event 3 ($800 6-Max): Asham Amir – $17,670
Event 4 ($300 NLH): Hector Pacheco – $7,845
Event 5 ($600 Seniors): Antuan Bunkley – $14,610
Event 6 ($600 Big O): Bradley Beetz – $16,680
Event 7 ($300 NLH/PLO): Elliott Sibonney – $6,710
Event 8 ($600 O8): Chris Labrie – $11,590
Event 9 ($1K Bounty): Anatoly Nikitin – $20,070
Event 10 ($300 Bounty): Matthew Wolfson – $5,589
Event 11 ($600 TORSE): Dylan Smith – $12,135
Event 12 ($1K PLO): Ryan Hoenig – $22,660
Event 13 ($400 NLH): Allan Dungo – $26,740
Event 14 ($600 PLO): Steven Danksy – $11,691
Event 15 ($1,700 Bounty): Shane Santacroce – $48,640
Event 16 ($400 PLO): Andrea Mastrogiovanni – $11,300
Event 17($300 Bounty): Richard Broomes – $5,381
Event 18 ($200 NLH): Hany Ayoub – $16,460
Event 19 ($400 TORSE): David Shmuel – $9,120
Event 20 ($300 Bounty): John Binns – $6,500
Event 21 ($600 6-Max): Ramy Guirguis – $22,025
Event 22 ($600 Mixed PLO): Kao Saechao – $17,125
Event 23 ($800 NLH): Johnny Bromberg – $258,125
Event 24 ($400 Seniors): Eric Siegel – $10,360
Event 25 ($600 Big O): Ryan Hoenig – $15,535
Event 26 ($300 Bounty): Liam Schmidt – $5,763
Event 27 (40-40-40): Arun Balasubramanian – $15,960
Event 28 ($1K 6-Max): Jean-Luc Voyer – $15,885
Event 29 ($400 2-7SD): Daniel Blum – $6,340
Event 30 ($400 PLO): Joseph Genova – $10,342
Event 31 ($600 TD): Jerry Wong – $12,010
Event 32 ($300 Bounty): Matt Bretzfield – $4,048
Event 33 ($600 O8): Jean Laurent – $11,295
Event 34 ($400 PLO): Victor Chaya – $6,555
Event 35 ($400 NLH): Daniel Pearlman – $23,987
Event 36 ($600 Dealer’s Choice): Damjan Radanov – $11,400
Event 37 ($1K NLH): Danny Fuhs – $133,510
Event 38 ($600 PLO): Bulat Khusainov – $12,245
Event 39 ($2K Seniors): Ekrem Bozkurt – $49,545
Event 40 ($1K 10-Game): Ryan Hoenig – $21,575
Event 41 ($5K HU): Nick Yunis – $70,000
Event 42 ($600 NLH): Gary Gelman – $11,715
Event 43 ($600 PLO): Oscar Ossa Quiceno – $9,375
Event 44 ($1K Turbo): Hertsel Levy – $16,400
Event 45 ($600 Lightning Stack): Bradley Jansen – $13,190
Event 46 ($1K O8): Gabe Ramos – $16,930
Event 47 ($400 PLO): Brian Brunner – $8,275
Event 48 ($800 Bounty): Zachary Fischer – $9,087
Event 49 ($1K T.O.R.S.E.): Seong Hang – $19,020
Event 50 ($2K NLH): Dylan Kahn – $87,800
Event 51 ($300 NLH): Franco Iannamico – $26,210
Event 52 ($1K NLH): Jeremy Becker – $48,490
Event 53 ($600 OE): Donny Rubinstein – $10,575
Event 54 ($10K NLH): Giuseppe Iadisernia – $144,115
Event 55 (Charity Event): Willie Wiggins – $3,500
Event 57 ($600 PLO8): Filippos Stavrakis – $11,915
Event 58 ($300 NLH): Maryon Harper – $6,128
Event 59 ($600 Big O): Darin Utley – $15,805
Event 60 ($200 NLH): Willie Wiggins – $7,400
Event 61 ($400 NLH): Avi Frier – $21,575
Event 62 ($10K NLH): Josh Reichard – $191,785
Event 63 ($1K Mixed PLO): Matt Bretzfield – $22,335
Event 64 ($300 Bounty): Susan Fields – $6,695
Event 65 ($1K Turbo): Hertsel Levy – $12,729
Event 66 ($600 NLH): James Anderson – $15,110
Event 67 ($600 10-Game): Bradley Jansen – $9,525
Event 68 ($3K NLH): Orson Young – $105,750
Event 69 ($1K Bounty): Willie Wiggins – $15,060
Event 70 ($400 NLH): Aaron Thivyanathan – $6,081
Event 71 ($5K NLH): Alex Anton – $103,189
Event 72 ($1K PLO): Frederic Normand – $26,585
Event 73 ($300 Bounty): Jacobo Milhem Mugrabi – $8,690
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