2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, FL
Event #17
$300 No Limit Hold’em Jason Taylor Foundation Charity Tournament
Entries: 119
Prize pool: $16,660
March 29, 2017

Barry Boardwine won the $300 No Limit Hold’em Jason Taylor Foundation charity event on Wednesday night. He bested a field of 119 entries to take home $4,830, a hard rock trophy, and a trip to the Hard Rock Cancun.

The event generated a prize pool of $16,660 and an equal amount was generated from the buy-ins for the Jason Taylor Foundation. The charity aspect of the tournament was one of the driving factors in Boardwine playing this event.

“It feels good to come out and give some money back to the community,” said Boardwine. “Jason is doing some great things and WPT is doing some great things. It’s just awesome to come out and give some money to a good cause and pick up a little profit at the same time.”

The event brought out a mix of South Florida celebrities and poker pros. Former Dolphins defensive end and recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee Jason Taylor came out for his own tournament, as well as ESPN Radio and television personality Dan Le Batard.

Team SHRP members Sheddy Siddiqui, Matt Affleck, Loni Harwood, and Matt Stout all took seats in the event, while WPT commentators Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton emceed the event.

Stout made the deepest run of the team members, finishing in third place for $1,666. Stout is no stranger to the charity poker scene, having founded the Charity Series of Poker.

The wide array of players and personalities along with a DJ playing music throughout the tournament created a laid back tournament with many players having some cocktails and enjoying their time.

“I will say this. If every poker tournament was as fun as this, then poker would be the biggest sport in America,” said Boardwine. “Everybody was laughing and having fun and listening to music, bobbing their head. It was a much different atmosphere than what everybody is used to at a WPT event.”

The poker tournament wasn’t the only way that the charity was generating money. There was a silent auction running with several prizes.

An autographed Kevin Durant jersey, a Jason Taylor autographed helmet, men’s or women’s Hard Rock spa packages, a WPT Tournament of Champions experience, or one of two different “Drink Like a Rock Star” packages were among the many different gifts being auctioned off.

All of this led to an enjoyable environment for everybody involved and what drew the eventual winner to the event.

“I actually was really trying to get here last year and I really wanted to get into this event,” said Boardwine. “It’s a little bit different because everybody was having fun and wasn’t uptight.”

Boardwine is an airbrush artist from Myrtle Beach. He was down in the area to fill in for a friend running a t-shirt booth at a local youth fair.

For his win, he got to choose his prize that went with his first place money. Since he is down here for work, he opted for the trip to the Hard Rock resort in Cancun instead of a seat into the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown championship event.

Instead, runner-up for the second year in a row, Andy Slater will take the $3,500 seat and a shot at huge payday. Slater is a local radio talk show host.

Here are the final results:

1st: Barry Boardwine – $4,830
2nd: Andy Slater – $2,832
3rd: Matt Stout – $1,666
4th: Steve Flacco – $1,333
5th: Tommy Bates – $1,000
6th: Corbin Avery – $833
7th: Chad Brown – $666
8th: Anonymous – donated all of his winnings to charity
9th: Nick Sortal – $375