by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Oct 22, 2020 | Updated on Oct 22, 2020
The live poker scene in the U.S is slowly getting back to business with the reopening of a number of land-based poker rooms in several states. On the tournament front, things are going well. The latest live tournament to conclude successfully was Pinktober, an annual charity tournament held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, Florida.
The festival which ran from October 7-18, ended up awarding over $650,000 in total prize money, distributed across four events. The series attracted a total of 3,315 entries, each contributing $1 to charity.
Most of the proceeds will go towards the American Cancer Society, a nationwide non-profit health organization working to fight cancer and make the disease a national priority.
Seminole is aiming to raise a total of $50,000 in funds throughout October. The property’s president Steve Bonner said they’re honored to have been given the opportunity to help those affected by the illness.
2020 Pinktober Event Results
Two events on the schedule generated the largest prize pool of the festival. Event #2: $400 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em drew a total of 854 entries and awarded $280,820 in total prize money to the top finishers.
The multi-flight event, which took place on October 7-11, was ultimately taken down by David Sweeley for a cool $51,698 – the biggest prize of the series. He defeated Ricardo Tavares heads-up who walked away with $36,251 for his runner-up finish. It represents Sweeley’s biggest score so far, dwarfing his $4,500 previous winnings.
Meanwhile, the $180 buy-in Opening Event was won by Joel Wadsworth Jr for $9,138, while the final event of the festival, another $200 buy-in Re-entry event, was captured by Brian Barros Vasquez for $7,682.
The other big event on the schedule was Event #3: $200 Buy-in NLH, which took place on October 11-18. The re-entry event pulled in a total of 1.786 entries to generate $283,974 in total prize pool. It was the biggest tournament hosted by Seminole Tampa since the COVID-19 lockdown in mid-March. Players battled it out in 11 starting flights, and when the dust settled it was Naples, Florida native Nir Sharon who bagged the top prize worth $33,921.
Sharon agreed to a three-way deal with runner-up finisher Burl McCraney who also walked away with $33,921 in winnings, and Robert Aleman who took home $33,920. Some popular names also made the money, including Jeff Trudeau Jr., Josias Santos and Ricardo Eyzaguirre, all of whom have been playing in the World Series of Poker Circuit events.
