September WSOP Circuit
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, FL
Event 6
$400 Monster Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 586
Prize Pool: $193,380
September 18-20, 2018
The Monster Stack lived up to its reputation. The multi-day WSOP Circuit event gave players a lot of chips, a slow structure, and two starting days to run up a castle of chips. The tournament drew 586 entries and Colorado native Mitchell Lekarczyk outlasted them all to win the title after a marathon final table.
The tournament was a great warmup for the WSOP Circuit Main Event and sported a $100,000 Guarantee that was nearly doubled. The last 63 players were set to split the $193,380 prize pool with 69 players returning for Day 2.
The money bubble burst early with three players splitting a min-cash and the rest of the players began queueing up at the payout desk.
There were 12 players around when they hit the scheduled dinner break and Ray Millard was in command. He had the clear chip lead and held it when they formed the final table after Rodney Moret-Rojas and Matt Smith were knocked out on the same hand at separate tables.
Paul Shafran and Kammar Andries were quick exits before the last seven players settled in for the long haul. Millard continued to build his lead but Lekarczyk was making up ground as players were eliminated.
Millard and Lekarczyl traded the lead with Andrew Kaplan and Dan Kent when it was only those four remaining, each taking a turn at the top. Kent was eliminated by Millard and then his night ended at the hands of Kaplan to set up a tight heads-up battle.
Both players had near identical stacks and battled back-and-forth over several levels. The biggest hand of the tournament saw Lekarczyk turn a full house against Kaplan’s pocket queens for a 12 million chip pot that all but locked up the title.
A few hands later, Kaplan’s miracle comeback fell short and he had to settle for second place while Lakearczyk had his first WSOP come along with a WSOP Circuit title and ring.
Monster Stack final table results:
1st: Mitchell Lekarczyk – $40,619 + WSOP Circuit ring
2nd: Andrew Kaplan – $25,118
3rd: Ray Millard – $18,367
4th: Dan Kent – $13,629
5th: John Gorsuch – $10,225
6th: Miguel Parlade – $7,822
7th: Rick Riviello – $6,049
8th: Kammar Andries – $4,742
9th: Paul Shafran – $3,767