Poker pro takes home top prize at Monster WPT Tournament of Champions

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Monster WPT Tournament of Champions (WPT TOC) concluded Sunday, April 9 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, with Daniel Weinman of Oxon Hill, Maryland, earning the event's top prize of $381,500 and marking the close of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Weinman, a 29-year-old professional poker player, earned his entry in the event by winning a WPT title at the Borgata Winter Poker Open in January and parlayed the victory into a South Florida championship. On top of the riches, he was presented with a 2018 Audi S5.

The WPT TOC is a season-ending event open only to past WPT Champions. The $15,000 buy-in tournament drew 66 players, creating a total prize pool of $990,000. In addition, Monster added $100,000 to the purse, bringing the final money awarded to $1,090,000. Weinman also earned nearly $150,000 in added prizes which included the aforementioned Audi, Monster Element headphones, a Hublot watch and a custom poker table from BBO Poker Tables.

Finishing as the second-place winner was South Florida professional poker player, Michael Mizrachi. Mizrachi improved on his third-place finish in this same event last year, but came up one spot shy of another WPT title. The $218,000 score grew his total career earnings to over $15.5 million.

Final WPT TOC winners:

• 1st: Daniel Weinman (Oxon Hill, MD) - $381,500 + 2018 Audi S5 Coupe
• 2nd: Michael Mizrachi (Hollywood, FL) - $218,000
• 3rd: Daniel Santoro (North Bellmore, NY) - $133,525
• 4th: David Ormsby (Kanata, Ontario) - $95,375
• 5th: Erik Seidel (Laughlin, NV) - $73,575
• 6th: Dylan Wilkerson (Seattle, WA) - $57,225
• 7th: Stefan Schillhabel (Brighton, Germany) - $49,050
• 8th: Jesse Sylvia (West Tisbury, MA) - $43,600
• 9th: Jonathan Jaffe (Longmeadow, MA) - $38,150

The WPT TOC final table took place at Hard Rock Live and was live streamed online at WPT.com and filmed for television. The coverage will encompass a three-part series expecting to air late August through September 2017.

The 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown began Thursday, 16 March and concluded Sunday night on 9 April. The series was made up of 31 primary events and numerous other secondary events and satellites. In total, the 25-day poker festival saw more than 8,700 participants generate more than $19 million in prize pools.

Along with Weinman, the series' other headliners were:

• Ryan Riess (East Lansing, MI), winner of the $10,000 WPT Finale for $716,088
• Tony Sinishtaj (Bronx, NY), winner of the $3,500 Championship for $661,283
• Jason Mercier (Davie, FL), winner of the $25,500 High Roller for $794,600

The next major poker event at the Seminole Hard Rock is the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open beginning Thursday, 3 August and concluding Tuesday, 15 August. Additional information is available at the website.