Ryan Riess Wins the $10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale

By Ryan Lucchesi
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com

Ryan Riess topped a tough field of 349 players to win the $10,000 buy-in WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale on Thursday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.  The Michigan resident entered the final table in second chip-position, and he held every chip on the table after a long heads-up battle against Alan Sternberg that saw multiples lead changes before Riess was able to pull away and win his first WPT title.

The 26 year-old won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2013, and took home $8,361,570 in prize money. Riess had cashed eight times previously at WPT events for $140,818, and he has now won $856,906 on tour thanks to his largest WPT cash. This is the second-largest cash of the former World Champion’s career. Riess’ career earnings now stand at eight figures with $10,035,044.

“It feels amazing Matt, I’ve been playing these non-stop for four-and-a-half years now, and this is my first final table, and to win it is really special, and it was a really tough field,” said Riess in his winner interview with WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage. “I had the best hand a lot, I was on the fortunate side of card distribution, which is really nice. Alan played great heads up, we battled for hours. At one point it wasn’t looking too good for me, but I got good cards and thought I played pretty well heads-up and it worked out.

“I’m very excited, I’m going to celebrate tonight, and try to win back-to-back, that would be nice,” said Riess when he was asked about winning his seat for the Monster WPT Tournament of Champions that begins tomorrow. Riess also had some nice things to say about the Seminole Hard Rock. “They do a great job. It’s in beautiful Florida, the pool outside is amazing, so if you do bust the tournament it’s really not that bad. The food outlets are great, the hotel is great, yourself, and Tony, and everyone else working does a great job. I come to almost every stop here, I don’t miss it very often, but I’m definitely not going to miss it after this,” said Riess

Seat 1.  Tim West  –  1,995,000  (67 bb)
Seat 2.  Jason Koon  –  1,030,000  (34 bb)
Seat 3.  Ryan Riess  –  3,090,000  (103 bb)
Seat 4.  Cliff Josephy  –  1,855,000  (62 bb)
Seat 5.  Terry Schumacher  –  1,385,000  (46 bb)
Seat 6.  Alan Sternberg  –  4,605,000  (154 bb)

The players were deep (78 big blinds for the average stack) when play began this afternoon, so it was surprising that two players busted out relatively quickly. Hand 18 saw Cliff Josepy move all in preflop with A-J, but he ran right into the pocket kings of Alan Sternberg. Josephy took home $130,370 for finishing in sixth place.

Action progressed until Hand 27, and that’s when Terry Schumacher picked off Jason Koon’s bluff on the river with Q-10 in the hole on a board reading A-J-4-7-8. Schumacher held a pair of aces, and Koon was eliminated in fifth place, good for $157,599.

Tim West survived a chop in the next all-in pot, and then he doubled up to test fate once again. Hand 74 saw West get all in once again. His K-J improved to two pair by the turn, but Ryan Riess made a straight on the turn as well. West was eliminated in fourth place, good for $204,466.

A short time later Terry Schumacher busted in third place to take things down to the heads-up final. His J-7 needed help against the pocket nines held by Riess. Schumacher took home $315,726 in prize money.

The final two players each held over 100 big blinds at the start of heads-up play, so a long final battle was expected. Sternberg held the lead with 7,715,000 over the 6,245,000 in Riess’ stack to start. The final battle lived up to expectations, and the two players were tied with 6,975,000 each after 86 hands of heads-up play. The match proved to be longer than the rest of the final table that preceded it. The final match pushed pass 100 hands in length when Sternberg doubled up with pocket eights, topping the pocket sevens of Riess.

On the 210th hand of the final table, Riess raised to 450,000, Sternberg reraised to 1,150,000, and Riess thought for a bit before he moved all in. Sternberg thought for less than 10 seconds before he called all in for 6,800,000 with . Riess turned over . The board came , and Riess won the pot — and the WPT title — with a full house, kings full of sixes. Sternberg finished as the runner-up, earning $491,081.

Riess won the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale, earning $716,088, which includes his $15,000 entry into the season-ending Monster WPT Tournament of Champions. Riess also received a WPT Champions Trophy, and his name will be inscribed on the one-and-only WPT Champions Cup, alongside every WPT champion from all 15 seasons.

Congratulations to Ryan Riess!

Final Table Payouts

1st:  Ryan Riess – $716,088*
2nd:  Alan Sternberg – $491,081
3rd:  Terry Schumacher – $315,726
4th:  Tim West – $204,466
5th:  Jason Koon – $157,599
6th:  Cliff Josephy – $130,370

*First-prize amount includes the winner’s $15,000 entry into the season-ending Monster WPT Tournament of Champions.

With the $10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale now in the history books, the next WPT event will begin tomorrow at 12:00 Noon ET, when the $15,000 Monster WPT Tournament of Champions begins on Friday. Return to WPT.com for live coverage of this and all main tour WPT events.