2018 World Series of Poker Circuit
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, Florida
Event 5
$365 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Entries: 120
Prize Pool: $36,000
February 12-13, 2018

Florida’s Loni Harwood is a four-time World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring winner following a victorious performance in Event 5 of the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek series Tuesday evening. For the title in the $365 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry tournament, Harwood pocketed $10,801 adding to more than $1,630,000 in WSOP-related earnings.

The event drew 120 entries generating a prize pool of $36,000. Day 1 play saw the field narrow to just nine remaining and Harwood bagged toward the bottom — seventh of the nine remaining. Harwood arrived early to the following day’s restart and admitted, “All signs point to a win.”

Adamant about not being superstitious, Harwood explained that Seat 7 — the seat she occupied at Tuesday’s final table — had been good to her in the past.

“It seems that every time I get Seat 7 at the final table, I just… I don’t know,” she told the WSOP’s Eric Ramsey. “It’s crazy. I’m not superstitious or anything. But it just seems like every time I’m at a final table, it’s always seven.”

In addition to sitting in Seat 7 and being seventh in the counts, Harwood kicked off the final stages of play with 77,000 chips. She watched as player after player hit the rail and didn’t join in the bustout fun herself until she eliminated Eric Polirer in third place. She picked up a stack of chips, but entered heads-up play versus Stephen Hawley at a disadvantage. One double-up changed that and she took a commanding lead in the duel before eliminating Hawley in second place.

For Harwood, the win marked her first Seminole Hard Rock Poker victory and came on the heels of a second-place finish (chopping with Ari Engel) during Hollywood’s Lucky Hearts Poker Open. She is 28 years old and ties to the Northeast as well as here in South Florida.

The WSOP Circuit continues in Coconut Creek this week with the Monster Stack Wednesday, the High Roller Thursday and the $1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event Friday and Saturday.

Event 5 final results:

1st: Loni Harwood – $10,801 + Gold Ring
2nd: Stephen Hawley – $6,675
3rd: Eric Polirer – $4,753
4th: Aram Zobian – $3,452
5th: Jorge Aristizabal – $2,557
6th: Ricardo Jose Valim – $1,931
7th: A.J. Kelsall – $1,485
8th: Mike Notarianni – $1,163
9th: Brett Apter – $927
10th: Warren Jurkowitz – $752
11th: Jonathon Hilton – $752
12th: Shane MacKinnon – $752