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World Poker Tour -- Taylor Von Kriegenbergh Wins Seminole Hard Rock Showdown

Taylor Von Kriegenbergh Wins $1,122,340 Early on Tuesday in Florida

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Taylor Von Kriegenbergh Moved into the Card Player POY Lead with his Win in FloridaOne of the longest final tables in World Poker Tour history wrapped up on Tuesday morning at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The champion of the inaugural Seminole Hard Rock Showdown was Taylor Von Kriegenbergh and he took home $1,122,340, a WPT bracelet, and a seat in the $25,000 WPT Championship for topping a field of 433 players. He has had a very strong Spring to start 2011, with this big win constituting his fourth cash of the year.

Von Kriegenbergh made the final table (third-place finish) of the The Big Event main event in March and he followed that up with an 18th-place cash in the North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun main event in April. The very next day he made his second final table at the NAPT Mohegan Sun Bounty Shootout and cashed in fifth place.

His third final table of the year claimed Von Kriegenbergh his first major victory and in addition to the cash he was awarded he took home 2,400 Card Player Player of the Year points. This puts him in first place in the standings with 3,560 points when combined with the points he earned from his other cashes. Read on below to see how he won his first major title.

Official Final-Table Seating Chart with Chip Counts:

Seat 1: Abbey Daniels – 2,192,000
Seat 2: Tommy Vedes – 1,570,000
Seat 3: Allen Bari – 1,984,000
Seat 4: Taylor Von Kriegenbergh – 4,384,000
Seat 5: Curt Kohlberg – 655,000
Seat 6: Justin Zaki – 2,197,000

It took 77 hands before the first player fell on the final day of the tournament. Tommy Vedes moved all in with K-9 on a 9-6-5 flop but Curt Kohlberg was waiting for him with 6-5 in the hole. The turn and river stayed out of the way and Vedes was eliminated in sixth place, taking home $166,272.

Allen Bari then fell just before the century mark on the 99th hand of play. He moved all in with A-10 and Justin Zaki decided to race him with pocket fives. That turned out to be a good decision when the board hit the table Q-4-4-J-5. Bari fell in fifth place and he took home $211,997.

Abbey Daniels fell just after 11 p.m. local time when she decided to shove preflop with A-8. Kohlberg made the call with pocket sixes and once again the pocket pair won the pot. The board rolled out 5-3-2-7-3 and Daniels was awarded $286,819 in prize money for her fourth-place finish.

The battle for third place was ridiculously long and it wasn’t until 3:15 a.m. local time before the final heads-up match was set. Von Kriegenbergh moved all in preflop with 7Club Suit 6Club Suit and Zaki made the call with ADiamond Suit JSpade Suit. The board was dealt KSpade Suit 10Diamond Suit 10Heart Suit 6Heart Suit 5Diamond Suit and Zaki was eliminated in third place, which was good for $415,680.

Heads-Up Chip Counts:

Taylor Von Kriegenbergh: 11,125,000
Curt Kohlberg: 1,850,000

The final match was a little quicker than the magnum opus that transpired during the battle for third place. Just before 4 a.m. local time Von Kriegenbergh moved all in preflop and Kohlberg made the all-in call. Their cards:

Von Kriegenbergh: QClub Suit 8Diamond Suit
Kohlberg: ASpade Suit 10Club Suit

Board: QSpade Suit 4Spade Suit 4Diamond Suit KHeart Suit QHeart Suit

Kohlberg was eliminated on the hand in second place and he took home $596,910. Von Kriegenbergh won the first major title of his career and he was awarded the top prize of $1,122,340, a WPT bracelet, and a $25,00 seat in the WPT Championship, which runs later this month from May 14-20 at Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Final-Table Results:

1: Taylor Von Kriegenbergh — $1,122,340
2: Curt Kohlberg — $586,109
3: Justin Zaki — $415,680
4: Abbey Daniels — $286,819
5: Allen Bari — $211,997
6: Tommy Vedes — $166,272