Andy Wilson wins 2022 Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open

The tournament was held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. US$2 million was guaranteed, with a $3,200 buy-in and $300 entry fee.

Wilson defeated a total of 1,541 players to take home the first-place cash prize of $785,800, a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat, and his name engraved onto the WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup. This success sees Wilson more than double his lifetime live tournament winnings.

Wilson normally only plays poker online, going by the username ‘BowieEffect’, but in the past few years he has taken up live tournaments. Previously, he had finished second-place in WSOP bracelets but it was this live tournament that saw Wilson win a major victory.

A tough final table

It was an incredibly tough final table for Wilson to win, where he was up against three-time WPT champion Brian Altman, two-time WPT champion Chad Eveslage, and RRPO defending champion Gediminas Uselis.

Wilson began the final table with a massive lead, holding 43% of the chips for a stack which was worth 167 big blinds, and he continued to have a large chip lead for the remainder of the final table.

Within 10 minutes, Wilson had beaten Andemichael and within 30 minutes he had beaten Uselis. By the time Altman was sent home and there were three players left to beat, Wilson had 81% of the chips.

Eveslage was left in third place, having been holding onto a short stack before deciding to run pocket jacks right into Wilson’s aces. Wilson then had a 3:1 chip lead as he went into a heads-up play with Kay. The two played a close game, with Kay even taking the lead briefly at one point, but Wilson took the reins in the final hand in Level 35 (300,000/600,000/600,000).

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Andy Wilson	United Kingdom	$785,800 + a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2	Josh Kay	USA	$525,000
3	Chad Eveslage	USA	$390,000
4	Brian Altman	USA	$290,000
5	Gediminas Uselis	Lithuania	$219,000
6	Robel Andemichael	USA	$167,000

A victory that almost wasn’t

What makes Wilson’s win even more spectacular, is the fact that he was not even planning on attending the WPT RRPO. Wilson told PokerNews that he was watching the World Cup from England, unsure of whether to attend the tournament as he wanted to continue watching the rest of the matches with his friends. Eventually, Wilson decided to fly out to Hollywood and we’re sure that he’s glad he did.