WPT HARD ROCK: VEDES VINDICATED, WINS SECOND WPT TITLE - DOLAN MOVES TO 2ND ON QJ LIST

PICTURE: WORLD POKER TOUR

It was certainly vindication for Tommy Vedes. The man who was first one out one year ago on this same stage, the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Main Event Final Table, would not be denied a second time.

Vedes, the former WPT Festa al Lago Champion, has collected his second WPT title, winning at the Hard Rock - quite impressive, Mr. Vedes!

Vedes' win earns him close to 780K USD and places him tied for 18th on the 2012 QuadJacks Poker Player of the Year charts.

The man whom Vedes defeated heads up, John Dolan, can still be happy with the 459K score, plus, Dolan moves way up to #2 on the 2012 QuadJacks Player of the Year Leaderboard.

The former November Niner won the Million Dollar Heater earlier in the season, a win in Florida and Dolan would still have been points behind current QJ POY leader Jonathan Duhamel.

Joe Serock was the third man out on Monday. Serock, who had the chip lead early and ofter during this tournament, secures his second PTPR Score of 2012.

It surely seemed as if this was one rare tournament where this was a three-horse race, with Vedes, Dolan and Serock stealing the show for most of the week!

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FT PAYOUTS (USD) Tommy Vedes 779,520 John Dolan 459,360 Joe Serock 306,240 Craig Bergeron 212,976 Sharon Levin 158,688 Kyle Bowker 122,496 DEFENDING CHAMPION Taylor von Kriegenbergh 2012 Rank: NR NEXT TOUR STOP WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open Jacksonville, Florida April 27-May 2, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown WPT Seminole NLH Main Event April 18-23, 2012 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel | Florida Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $2,784,000 Entries: 290 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION TOMMY VEDES 127 JOHN DOLAN 77 JOE SEROCK 47 CRAIG BERGERON 37 SHARON LEVIN 32 KYLE BOWKER 27 JESS YAWITZ 27 FRED GOLDBERG 12 DAVID PAREDES 12 JIMMY TRAN 12 RAVI RAGHAVAN 12 ROBERT GEORATO 10 MARK ROSE 10 ELI BERG 10 JUSTIN ZAKI 10 ZACH CLARK 7 SCOTT ZAKHEIM 7 CLYDE HINTON 7

WPT HARD ROCK: SEROCK CRUSHING ON WAY TO THE FINAL TABLE

PICTURE: WORLD POKER TOUR

It seems like for days this has been the Joe Serock, John Dolan and Tommy Vedes show at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida.

Well, as our final six participants are now known for Monday's World Poker Tour Final Table, wouldn't you know that all three have continued their mastery on the felt at the Hard Rock.

For a time on Sunday, it looked as if Serock (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 112th) would not be part of the final table as he dusted off half of his stack early on. But then, a much needed double up and Serock would not be denied. Serock will enter final table play as the overwhelming cihp leader.

Dolan (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 32nd) held the chip lead for a while on Sunday. The Florida native will certainly have the support of his home-state crowd on Monday.

For Vedes, it's a second straight final table participation in this event. Vedes (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: NR) finished sixth at WPT Seminole Hard Rock last season, he enters final table play in sixth position - Vedes sure hopes to do better than that on Monday.

Craig Bergeron, WPT Lucky Hearts final table participant Sharon Levin (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-163rd) and Kyle Bowker round-up the final table.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1: Craig Bergeron 1,235,000
Seat 2: Tommy Vedes 590,000
Seat 3: Sharon Levin 1,216,000
Seat 4: Kyle Bowker 1,070,000
Seat 5: John Dolan 1,454,000
Seat 6: Joe Serock 3,137,000

DAY 5 ELIMINATIONS
Jess Yawitz, Fred Goldberg, David Paredes, Jimmy Tran, Ravi Raghavan, Robert Georato, Mark Rose, Eli Berg and Justin Zaki.

WPT.com will present 30-minute delay coverage with hole cards starting at 4:30PM Eastern.

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FT PAYOUTS (USD) 1st 779,520 2nd 459,360 3rd 306,240 4th 212,976 5th 158,688 6th 122,496 DEFENDING CHAMPION Taylor von Kriegenbergh 2012 Rank: NR "LIVE" COVERAGE WPT LIVE STREAM NEXT TOUR STOP WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open Jacksonville, Florida April 27-May 2, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown WPT Seminole NLH Main Event April 18-23, 2012 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel | Florida Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $2,784,000 Entries: 290 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st place 127 2nd place 77 3rd place 47 4th place 37 5th place 32 6th place 27 JESS YAWITZ 27 FRED GOLDBERG 12 DAVID PAREDES 12 JIMMY TRAN 12 RAVI RAGHAVAN 12 ROBERT GEORATO 10 MARK ROSE 10 ELI BERG 10 JUSTIN ZAKI 10 ZACH CLARK 7 SCOTT ZAKHEIM 7 CLYDE HINTON 7

WPT HARD ROCK: SEROCK AND ROLL - JOE SEROCK FIRST AT THE HARD ROCK

PICTURE: WORLD POKER TOUR

Joseph Serock (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 110th) continues to roll at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Main Event. Serock entered today's play second in chips. Well, he did one better on Saturday, earning the overnight chip lead as only 15 players remain at the Hard Rock.



Like Serock, former November Niner John Dolan (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 32nd) was busy working his way up the chip charts on Friday. Although he falls one spot to fourth, Dolan still holds a 900K chip stack and will look to gain even more ground on Sunday.

Tommy Vedes (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: NR) is the only former WPT Champion still in the field. Vedes' chip stack is below average, but no one should count out the former WPT Festa al Lago Champ.

FINAL 15 CHIP COUNTS
Joe Serock 1,061,000
Robert Georato 1,054,000
Kyle Bowker 980,000
John Dolan 900,000
Ravi Raghavan 672,000
Craig Bergeron 650,000
Fred Goldberg 617,000
Jimmy Tran 593,000
Jess Yawitz 542,000
Tommy Vedes 378,000
Eli Berg 357,000
David Paredes 307,000
Mark Rose 224,000
Sharon Levin 208,000
Justin Zaki 204,000

NOTABLE DAY 4 ELIMINATIONS
Zach Clark, Clyde Hinton, Jason Koon, Allie Prescott and Ashton Griffin.

All remaining players are guaranteed a minimum 10 PTPR Points and a minimum 33K USD payout.

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (USD) 1st 779,520 2nd 459,360 3rd 306,240 4th 212,976 5th 158,688 6th 122,496 7th 94,956 8th 69,600 9th 50,112 10th 38,976 DEFENDING CHAMPION Taylor von Kriegenbergh 2012 Rank: NR EVENT COVERAGE WPT UPDATES NEXT TOUR STOP WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open Jacksonville, Florida April 27-May 2, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown WPT Seminole NLH Main Event April 18-23, 2012 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel | Florida Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $2,784,000 Entries: 290 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st place 127 2nd place 77 3rd place 47 4th place 37 5th place 32 6-7th place 27 8-11th place 12 12-15th place 10 ZACH CLARK 7 SCOTT ZAKHEIM 7 CLYDE HINTON 7

WPT HARD ROCK: IF YOU SMELL WHAT SEROCK IS COOKING - SEROCK, DOLAN HEADLINE DAY 3

PICTURE:WORLD POKER TOUR

Joe Serock (2012 PTPR Rank: 104th) and John Dolan (2012 PTPR Rank: 29th) stole the show at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Main Event on Friday.

Both players have had an impressive score this season. For Serock (pictured), it was at Bay 101, where he finished third in the WPT Shooting Star. For Dolan, it was a win in the Million Dollar Heater at Beau Rivage.

Tommy Vedes (2012 PTPR Rank: NR), who owns a WPT title, came into Friday play with the second biggest stack. Didn't go Vedes' way - the good news is that Vedes still has chips, but it's a smaller stack than he started with, which is never a good thing.

We said goodbye to many star players today, including Quad Matts. WPT Lucky Hearts winner Matt Juttelstad, November Niner and WPT Malta champ Matt Gianetti, WPT Rendez-Vous a Paris winner Matt Waxman and Matt Marafioti - fresh off his HPT Palms second place finish ... and his interview with myself on Poker EH! on QuadJacks Radio ... were all ousted during Day 3 play.

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS
Bill Brown 772,500 (Day 3 chip leader)
Joe Serock 702,000
John Dolan 685,500
Allie Prescott 337,500
Clyde Hinton 313,000 (Day 2 chip leader)
Jason Koon 254,500
David Paredes 157,000
Tommy Vedes 140,500
Jimmy Tran 125,000
Sharon Levin 96,000
Ashton Griffin 34,500

NOTABLE DAY 3 ELIMINATIONS
Matt Juttelstad, Matt Gianetti, Matt Waxman, Micah Raskin, Matt Marafioti, Keith Ferrera, Lee Markholt, Lauren Kling, Mike Beasley, Tristan Wade, Tuan Le, William Reynolds, Thayer Rasmussen, Steve Brecher, Byron Kaverman, Chad Brown, Corey Burbick, Abbey Daniels, Alex Outhred, Andrew Lichtenberger, Dan O'Brien, John DiBella, Joseph Elpayaa, Jonathan Little, Doc Sands, Ebony Kenney and Hoyt Corkins.

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TOP 10 PAYOUTS (USD) 1st 779,520 2nd 459,360 3rd 306,240 4th 212,976 5th 158,688 6th 122,496 7th 94,956 8th 69,600 9th 50,112 10th 38,976 DEFENDING CHAMPION Taylor von Kriegenbergh 2012 Rank: NR EVENT COVERAGE WPT UPDATES NEXT TOUR STOP WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open Jacksonville, Florida April 27-May 2, 2012

PTPR PREMIER EVENT World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown WPT Seminole NLH Main Event April 18-23, 2012 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel | Florida Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $2,784,000 Entries: 290 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st place 127 2nd place 77 3rd place 47 4th place 37 5th place 32 6-7th place 27 8-11th place 12 12-15th place 10 16-18th place 7

WPT SHOOTING STAR: CAJELAIS' STAR SHINES BRIGHTEST AS FT PLAY BEGINS

SOURCE: BAY101news.com

Jonathan Duhamel isn't the only French Canadian running well these days; we are down to our final table at the WPT Shooting Star Main Event at Bay 101 in San Jose and Erik Cajelais is looking for his first WPT title!

Cajelais - who finished second to Rhynie Campbell at the WPT Turks and Caicos Poker Classic back in 2007 - is looking for redemption ... five years later! Cajelais (2012 PTPR Rank: 122nd) finished third earlier this year at the PCA in the 5K PLO Turbo 8-Max event - the event was won by Noah Schwartz.

Andrew Badecker has 1M chips in front of him and will surely hope to gain some momentum early on Friday. Badecker (2012 PTPR Rank: NR) is coming off a strong 2011 where he won a WSOP bracelet in the summer and followed that up with a Main Event win in Borgata's Fall series.

Joe Elpayaa and Jospeh Serock will enter final table play as the short stacks but, neither player should be overlooked, especially since there are still a lot of chips in play.

CHIP COUNTS - WPT FINAL TABLE
Erik Cajelais 3,648,000 (Seat 5)
Ubaid Habib 2,274,000 (Seat 3)
Moon Kim 2,098,000 (Seat 4)
Andrew Badecker 1,040,000 (Seat 6)
Joe Serock 952,000 (Seat 2)
Joseph Elpayaa 908,000 (Seat 1)

DUHAMEL'S STOCK RISES
Jonathan Duhamel added to his lead in the 2012 QuadJacks Player of the Year race, powered by PTPR Poker. Duhamel's sixth PTPR Score of the season is surely impressive. Marvin Rettenmaier collected the most PTPR Scores in 2011 - he had nine ... Duhamel is on pace to shatter that mark.

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FT PAYOUTS (USD) 1st Place: $960,900 * 2nd Place: $570,200 3rd Place: $320,400 4th Place: $256,300 5th Place: $192,300 6th Place: $128,200 inlcudes 25K WPT Championship seat RELATED POSTS >> DOWN TO 20 IN SJ >> 2K SIDE EVENT >> STERNBERG WINS WPT SHOOTING STAR >> DUHAMEL POM FOR JAN >> DUHAMEL WINS WSOP >> BADECKER WINS BORGATA DEFENDING CHAMPION Alan Sternberg PTPR Rank: NR

PTPR PREMIER EVENT World Poker Tour Shooting Star WPT Shooting Star NLH Main Event March 5-9, 2012 Bay 101 | San Jose, CA Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $3,458,000 Entries: 364 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st position 128 2nd position 78 3rd position 48 4th position 38 5th position 33 6th position 28 AMIR KHAZIRI 28 SCOTT BAUMSTEIN 13 MIKE MCCLAIN 13 MARKO TRAPANI JR. 13 BRANDON WONG 13 TU DINH 11 JONATHAN DUHAMEL 11 MICHAEL WYWROT 11 DANNY LE 11 JC TRAN 8 AMIR LEHAVOT 8 ADAM GEYER 8