The World Series of Poker Circuit has been making a fall trip to South Florida for years, but there was a change of scenery for the 2017-18 edition.
Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood has become one of the region’s premier places to play since opening its doors in 2004, and it provided a beautiful backdrop for players over the past 12 days. The series was a marked success, as the local poker community welcomed the tour with open arms. More than $3.25 million in prize money was awarded over the course of the 12 events.
The schedule kicked off with the $580 multi-flight re-entry event which drew a total field of 1,612 entries. In the first display of what would become a recurring theme over the weeks, it was a recreational player who claimed the series’ first ring and the huge top prize.
Niovel Chirino Alvaraez is a Cuban-American business owner from the local area, and he scored an early win for the part-time players. Alvarez claimed the top prize of $135,022 and his first ring for outlasting the huge field in the opener. His previous tournament results included just one cash for about a thousand bucks.
While the first three winners were mostly unfamiliar to the masses, Event #4 crowned a victor who is already well-established in the game. “Boston Tony” Ruberto is a WPT Champion with more than $2 million in live tournament earnings, and he added another piece of hardware to his trophy cabinet last week. Ruberto won the $580 six-handed event for $20,804, his first victory on the WSOP Circuit
Two events later, another South Florida standout made his mark, too. The business that David Prociak operates prevents him from being classified as a professional poker player, but his stat sheet boasts some pro-caliber results. And he plays all the games well. After picking up a WSOP bracelet in Stud Hi-Lo in 2016, Prociak added a WSOPC ring in Pot-Limit Omaha at this stop, winning Event #6 for $14,118.
Ryan McAllister’s name isn’t quite as familiar as Ruberto’s or Prociak’s just yet, but the young pro is trying to change that this season. McAllister won the big $1,125 event, topping a field of 180 entries to earn $48,600 and the ring. It was his second win in as many months, and he ended the series as the only former ring winner to add a second at Seminole.
The two major highlights of the series were, of course, the $1,675 Main Event and the $3,250 High Roller.
The Main Event drew 904 entries, a very large turnout when compared to the tour’s other trips to the area. The $1 million guarantee was exceeded with ease, and the event culminated with a treacherous final table.
Three-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings and former WPT World Champion Asher Conniff traded the chip lead back and forth for much of the event’s final two days, but neither could find the winner’s circle in the end. Hastings fell in fourth place, and Conniff made it all the way to heads-up play before being shown to the payout desk.
Local business owner Joe Gotlieb played the role of spoiler, coming from behind to defeat Conniff and claim the title. The $257,638 prize was the largest payout of the series and by far the largest payday of Gotlieb’s career. As the Main Event winner, he automatically qualifies for the season-ending Global Casino Championship, too.
The High Roller was the last of the primary ring events to finish, wrapping up late Monday just before midnight. There were a few surprising faces in the field, but perhaps none was as unexpected as Anton Wigg’s. The Swedish pro went ahead and took down the High Roller in his first appearance on the WSOP Circuit, defeating Florida pro Ian O’Hara in the heads-up duel.
Wigg, 30, is already an accomplished player — the only former EPT Champion in attendance throughout the weeks. He’s been playing the game full time for more than 10 years, though he spoke about his growing desire to branch out into other fields. The $111,719 payout is the second-largest on Wigg’s record.
As is usually the case, the series-long points race came down to the final day. The player who accumulates the most points at each stop earns the title of Casino Champion and the other golden ticket to the GCC.
Nagui Yassa earned those honors for Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. Yassa, a gregarious local player, posted four cashes and two final tables, racking up 75 points and a total of $59,822 in winnings. Just as importantly, though, he punched his ticket to the GCC, where he’ll compete against the other Main Event winners and Casino Champions from the whole season.
All players who cash in ring events earn points that apply toward the season-long race to claim one of the limited at-large bids, as well.
Official Ring Events
Event #1: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry
Winner: Niovel Chirino Alvarez ($135,022)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #2: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo
Winner: Ron Levy ($21,238)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #3: $365 Monster Stack
Winner: David Gunas ($28,379)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #4: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed
Winner: Tony Ruberto ($20,804)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #5: 365 No-Limit Hold'em
Winner: Jeffrey Higgins ($12,877)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #6: $365 Pot-Limit Omaha
Winner: David Prociak ($14,118)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #7: $365 No-Limit Hold'em
Winner: Kyle Adams ($11,844)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #8: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em
Winner: Ryan McAllister ($48,600)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #10: $1,675 Main Event
Winner: Joe Gotlieb ($48,600)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #11: $365 No-Limit Hold'em
Winner: Najeeb Reyes ($12,181)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #12: $3,250 High Roller
Winner: Anton Wigg ($111,719)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
Event #13: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo
Winner: Mike Russ ($11,589)
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo
About the Winners
Event #1: Niovel Chirino Alvarez ($135,022)
Alvarez, 41, was born in Cuba and immigrated to South Florida in 2002. He set up his own trucking company, and things frankly didn't get off to a very good start.
"It went bad for four or five years," Alvarez recalled. "I had a bad time.”
In 2013, a friend loaned Alvarez a single truck to try to reignite his business. It worked. The new champ got a bit emotional as he relayed that he now owns 26 trucks himself and oversees another 27 from owner/operators in his organization.
"This is just my hobby," he said of poker. "I'm not a pro at all. I'm shaking because I didn't even think I could win.” His previous tournament results include just one cash for about a thousand bucks.
Alvarez has been playing cards since his childhood days in Cuba, though, growing up around a local variant that resembles three-card poker. Nowadays, the Miami Lakes resident can mostly be found at the cash game tables at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.
Event #2: Ron Levy ($21,238)
Levy, 73, is a retired accountant from Lake Worth, just up the road in Palm Beach County. He gave up his career about 15 years ago, and that’s about the time he took to poker, too. This result is the second live tournament victory on his record and his largest score to date.
Levy was brief in his postgame comments, cutting his interview short to hustle home to his wife. "She's mad at me," he laughed it off. "She doesn't even care about the money."
Event #3: David Gunas ($28,379)
Gunas, 24, is a professional poker player from Boston, Mass. He doesn’t play tournaments, but you wouldn’t know that from looking at his recent results. He cashed twice in Foxwoods, including a runner-up finish, and this result is his second in-the-money finish of the week at Seminole, too.
“I wanted to start playing some tournaments,” Gunas finally admitted in his postgame interview. “A friend of mine and I always travel together, but this is the first full series I’ve played.”
It’s off to a good start, but Gunas doesn’t have any intentions of making the full switch. “Cash is a steady grind,” he said. “Tournaments? Not so much.”
Gunas has been playing poker since he was a teenager, having only briefly held a job in sales. Nowadays, it’s all poker, and his recent scores have provided a nice boost to his cash-game bankroll, if nothing else.
Event #4: Tony Ruberto ($20,804)
Ruberto, 36, was born in Boston but relocated to the Sunshine State about 10 years ago. He now makes his home in nearby Davie, spending time with his six-year-old son when he’s not “flipping over tables,” as he calls it. Poker is his primary source of income.
“I’m… a professional entertainer,” Ruberto tried to find a clever way to describe his profession. “Jack of all trades and master of none.”
Master of one, maybe?
The champ entered the six-handed final table with the chip lead, but the field standing in his way was loaded. Ari Engel, an eight-time Circuit winner, was among the opposition until dropping out in third place, paving a path to victory for Ruberto. He took advantage, parlaying his lead into a win at the end of a protracted affair.
Although it’s his first victory on this tour, Ruberto is an accomplished live tournament player with more than $2 million in earnings. A big chunk of that came courtesy of a 2011 WPT victory in Jacksonville, and he has a couple near-misses at the World Series of Poker, too.
Event #5: Jeffrey Higgins ($12,877)
Higgins, 37, is a real-estate broker originally from Staten Island. He now makes his home in Northborough, Mass. with his wife Rochele and children Owen (8) and Juliana (3).
Higgins quit his first job in 2006 to dedicate more time to online pot-limit Omaha cash games, but he’s since returned to the mainstream workforce. He operates a few businesses now, and he’s played poker only sporadically over the last decade.
Foxwoods is one of the closest casinos to Higgins’ hometown, and it was there that he got his first brush with Circuit success. In one of his few live tournament attempts, Higgins finished in seventh place in a $365 event up there earlier this month, narrowly missing out on a big score and a trophy.
Fast forward a couple weeks, and Higgins was suddenly atop the hill, posing for photos with the ring that eluded him the last time around.
“This means more than it should,” the champ fought back emotions in the moments of victory. “It’s just a silly poker tournament…”
Event #6: David Prociak ($14,118)
Prociak, 34, is a part-time poker player from Orlando, Florida. As the owner of a small online shoe/clothing business, he is, by definition, an amateur on the felt. He’s a pro in practice though, having won a WSOP bracelet among dozens of other live results. In total, has more than $750,000 in earnings in his part-time career.
Still, Prociak reaffirmed his primary profession once again. “I’m an amateur poker player,” he said proudly. “But I want to be one of the best amateurs.”
After picking up the game online “a really long time ago,” Prociak took an extended hiatus earlier this decade. “When I started my business, I took six years off,” he said. “Cold.”
He got back on the bike in 2015 and picked up right where he left off. Last summer, Prociak won his bracelet in a $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo event, and he has posted tournament results across most poker disciplines. He said pot-limit Omaha is his favorite game, though.
Prociak’s face is a familiar one around the halls of Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, too. He won its in-house Player of the Year race last year, and he proudly represents the poker community in his home state.
Event #7: Kyle Adams ($11,844)
Adams, 31, won the $365 no-limit hold’em event on Thursday, collecting his first ring and the event’s top prize.
The champ was born and raised in Chicago, and he still calls the Windy City home. He quit his job as a tile setter six or seven years ago, and he’s been a professional PLO player since. Adams’ face does pop up in a tournament field every now and then, though.
“I go to a lot of the stops, and I’ll play one or two tournaments,” he said. “But I’m mostly here for the cash games.”
This freeze-out was Adams’ second tournament of the trip, and he late registered immediately after finishing in 12th place in the PLO event. He lost two thirds of his stack on the very first hand — that’ll happen when you play pots against Ari Engel — but he clearly made the most of his remainder.
Adams has been playing poker since he was a kid, introduced to the game by his grandparents. Despite devoting limited time to tournaments, his results are starting to add up. This most recent score moves him across the $100,000 mark in career earnings.
Event #8: Ryan McAllister ($48,600)
Ryan McAllister is doing what he can to become the WSOP Circuit’s newest success story. Fresh off a breakthrough win at Cherokee, McAllister took down the $1,125 event at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood for a career-best payout.
McAllister, 28, is a professional poker player from Waymouth, Massachusetts. He now makes his home in Charleston, South Carolina, and he’s starting to travel to tournaments more frequently of late.
“Cherokee has me following the Circuit now,” he said. “I have to.”
McAllister has already accumulated 120 points in the season-long race for seats in the Global Casino Championship. That puts him in second place right now and well within striking distance of the projected cutoff for qualification. He’s earned more than $100,000, too.
As was the case with McAllister’s previous win, the final table provided quite a test on the way to the title. Double bracelet winner Loni Harwood was among those standing in his way, as were ring winners Mark Fink (4) and Alex Rocha (2).
McAllister outlasted them all, though, conquering the deep-stacked affair that stagnated at points.
“A lot of it was just waiting it out,” he said. “There were some tough ICM spots where I was handcuffed. All the sudden, we’re five-handed. Then we’re heads-up.”
Then, we're posing for winner’s photos for the second time in as many months.
Event #10: Joe Gotlieb ($257,638)
Gotlieb, 52, is a small business owner from Hollywood, Florida. By day, he deals in cell phone parts. By night, he’s a poker player. The business has been struggling a bit lately, and Gotlieb decided to explore his options as a full-time grinder.
“I wanted to give it a shot at going pro,” he said. “This was it. This was my shot at that.”
A Main Event win on the the WSOP Circuit is always something to brag about, but Gotlieb’s performance was particularly impressive. He plays a unique style, something that may have helped him outlast a final table that was stacked with danger.
Competitive gaming has been in Gotlieb’s blood since childhood. He’s a former chess champion and math trophy winner, and he finds poker to be a comparable mental outlet. “Whenever I played games, I was always good at them,” he said. “And when I wasn’t, I found a way to win anyway.
In the moments after claiming the title, Gotlieb struggled to find the words to capture his emotions. He spent a long while gazing silently at his payout ticket, which showed the details of his big score. It’s a career-best by a big margin, and Gotlieb finally found one quiet word to sum up his feelings.
“Wow…”
Event #11: Najeeb Reyes ($12,181)
Reyes, 33, is a mechanical engineer originally from Austin, Texas. His day job keeps him busy, but he still finds time to splash around on the felt.
“I try to grind, but nothing too serious,” he said. “I play cash, but this is my first tournament of the year. I’m psyched.”
Reyes’ poker background is intriguing in itself. He’s only been playing the game since 2015, and he found it on a complete whim. “I walked into the Hard Rock one day looking for one of the restaurants,” he said, “and I saw a final table heads-up. I was fascinated.”
The man he was watching was local standout Ory Hen, who went on to win that title. The two have become poker friends in the time since.
Hen’s knowledge has rubbed off on Reyes to some extent, but he’s putting in plenty of work himself, too, as he explained:
“In the last four months, I’ve been studying nonstop. Playing and studying and playing and studying. Recording hands. Doing all my homework. I feel like today is a culmination of this process of working to improve my game.”
Despite his brush with success, Reyes has no intentions of giving up his day job. “Why do you have to be a pro to be good? You can be an aficionado and not be a professional player. The last thing I want to do tomorrow is play more poker.”
Event #12: Anton Wigg ($111,719)
Wigg, 30, is a professional poker player from Stockholm. Sweden. He’s been playing the game professionally for about 10 years, during which he’s amassed more than $2 million in live tournament earnings. The bulk of that came courtesy of a victory at EPT6 Copenhagen, and this result is now the second-largest on his stat sheet.
At the tail end of an extended poker tour on this side of the pond, Wigg found himself in South Florida with a few days to play. He and his fellow Swede Emil Ekvardt arrived together, and Ekvardt posed a small cash in the $1k event earlier in the week.
Wigg made a more significant mark with his win, though, collecting the third-biggest payout of the 12-event series. He has philanthropic aspirations away from the felt, too.
“I feel like poker has an expiration date,” he said. “It’s not been developing in the best way for the past few years. So I’ve been looking into what I want to do after.”
Right now, that involves significant efforts to reform education in his home country.
“I want to provide people with an opportunity, to find a way where it’s intriguing and fun for them,” he said. “Maybe ‘trick’ is the wrong word, but I want to trick people into learning for themselves. You have to have them make the decision themselves.”
Wigg credits his girlfriend, Alyssa, and his “poker wife” Ekvardt for helping to keep him focused both on the felt and away from it.
Event #13: Mike Russ ($11,589)
Russ, 40, is a business owner from Kerrville, Texas. He’s earned nearly $100,000 in his career as a part-time player, including a handful of near misses on the WSOP Circuit. The most recent came just one day prior, when he finished in ninth place in Event #11.
He finally got one on Monday.
The Turbo structure presses the action from start to finish, but things were particularly thin for Russ. He entered the final table with the shortest stack, doing battle with just four big blinds. Just a couple hours later, he was posing for photos after outlasting his fellow finalists to claim the title.