2024 Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 1
$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  4,772
Prize Pool:  $1,574,760
April 3 – 8, 2024

Jesus Martinez made his first trip to the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida a good one by topping the field in Event 1 for the top prize worth $169,690 along with the guitar pick trophy in a heads-up chop with Brian Hawkins to bring play to a close. We caught up with Martinez after the win to chat about his victory.

“It feels really good man, I’ve come close in a lot of tournaments. It’s been hard to close them out. A lot of seconds, a lot of thirds so it feels good to finally get there and over the hump,” said Martinez after claiming his first tournament trophy to take his career tournament earnings well above $400,000.

He continued, “It was a lot of heartbreak, a lot of heartache, but I changed a lot of habits, changed a lot of life things, and now we see where we are. It’s been paying off, and the variance is coming around now.”

The Texas native decided to make the trip to Seminole for the Showdown series, and that choice turned out to be a good one. “I’m from San Antonio, Texas so this is my first time over here. I really like it, it’s been fun. I will definitely be back. It’s mostly home games at home that I play. I’m playing one more here, the $200 entry and then I have to get back for some family stuff,” said Martinez.

When asked about his first impression with Seminole Hard Rock poker tournaments after his experience, Martinez responded: “I really like it, the floor guys and all of you guys are real nice, real cool. I liked the way everything was run well. And the turnout was amazing, not bad for a $400 tournament with over 4,700 people.”

The biggest hand at the final table for Martinez saw him make a straight on the turn with in the hole (you can see above that he requested those cards for the winner photo). His opponent Eugene Kotlyarevskiy was trying to make a move in the hand with queen-high, but Martinez used his previous experience playing against Kotlyarevskiy to his advantage. “It was blind versus blind three-handed. He put in the raise and you have to call. It was a really good flop for me coming K-3-2. I knew he was more on the aggressive side already so I took that into account. We had some dynamic from yesterday too, and when the flop came I just wasn’t folding. I put in a raise there, and if the raise was a bit larger I might have folded. And luckily it was a perfect turn, because any other turn I would have had to get away,” said Martinez.

He continued, “Last night before we bagged up he and I had played some big hands together. He saw how I was playing, and I saw how he was playing so obviously you take that into account.  You can’t just raise anyone there with the five-high, and he had the queen-high when we showed down.”

And as far as his celebration plans for the evening were concerned. “We want to go hang out for a little bit, maybe take off to party somewhere down in Fort Lauderdale,” said Martinez with a grin at the end of the interview.

*denotes heads-up chop

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 4,772

After playing heads-up for a little while, Jesus Martinez and Brian Hawkins agreed to an even chop.

Here were the chip counts at the time:

Jesus Martinez  –  54,600,000  (91 bb)
Brian Hawkins  –  40,800,000  (68 bb)

Here were the resulting payouts:

Jesus Martinez  –  $169,690
Brian Hawkins  –  $169,690

As the chip leader, Martinez was the official Event 1 winner for $169,690.

An Event 1 winner’s story will be posted later tonight.

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 4,772

Eugene Kotlyarevskiy was all in preflop for just 700,000, and both Jesus Martinez and Brian Hawkins called to cover.

The two live players then checked down a board dealt . All three players flipped over their cards after that.

Martinez:
Kotlyarevskiy:
Hawkins:

Kotlyarevskiy was out in third place for a payout of $101,000, Martinez increased his lead to 50 million, but Hawkins was still close behind with 45.4 million before the start of the heads-up final.

Jesus Martinez – 50,000,000 (83 bb)
Brian Hawkins – 45,400,000 (90 bb)
Eugene Kotlyarevskiy – Eliminated in 3rd Place ($101,000)

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 4,772

The flop read with a few million in the pot when Eugene Kotlyarevskiy bet 1.7 million from the small blind. Jesus Martinez raised to 4 million from the big blind, Kotlyarevskiy reraised to 9 million, and Martinez called before the turn fell .

Kotlyarevskiy moved all in with a slightly covering stack and Martinez called holding for a six-high straight. Kotlyarevskiy had in the hole for a flush draw. The river fell and Martinez survived with a straight to stack up 48 million. Kotlyarevskiy was down to just 700,000 after the hand.

Jesus Martinez – 48,000,000 (96 bb)
Eugene Kotlyarevskiy –  700,000 (1 bb)

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 4,772

Gabriel Fuller was all in short preflop from the big blind with pocket sixes, but he ran right into the pocket sevens of Jesus Martinez.

The final board read , and Fuller was eliminated in fourth place for a payday worth $76,000. Martinez was up to 19.3 million after collecting the pot.

Jesus Martinez – 19,300,000 (38 bb)
Gabriel Fuller – Eliminated in 4th Place ($76,000)

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 4,772

Gabriel Fuller raised to 4,500,000 (leaving 800,000 behind) from under the gun, Eugene Kotlyarevskiy reraised from the small blind, and Fuller called all in with 5,300,000 with . Kotlyarevskiy showed .

The board came down , giving Fuller a pair of nines to double up.

Gabriel Fuller  –  11,600,000  (23 bb)
Eugene Kotlyarevskiy  –  20,400,000  (41 bb)

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 4,772

Gabriel Fuller was all in preflop for 3.7 million with in the hole from the small blind, and Brian Hawkins had him covered holding on the big blind.

The final board read , and Fuller doubled up to survive with 8,700,000. Hawkins was still cruising with 48 million after the hand.

Gabriel Fuller – 8,700,000 (17 bb)
Brian Hawkins – 48,000,000 (96 bb)

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Return to Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 4,772

Play resumes at 8:03 p.m.

Seat 1:  Eugene Kotlyarevskiy  –  21,400,000  (43 bb)
Seat 3:  Jesus Martinez  –  8,400,000  (17 bb)
Seat 5:  Gabriel Fuller  –  15,200,000   (30 bb)
Seat 9:  Brian Hawkins  –  50,400,000  (101 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $202,720 + Showdown Trophy
2nd: $136,000
3rd: $101,000
4th: $76,000

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 35:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 4,772

Eugene Kotlyarevskiy raised to 900,000 from the cutoff, Daniel Aviles reraised all in for 5,600,000 in the big blind, and Kotlyarevskiy called instantly with , leading Aviles’ .

The board ran out , no help to Aviles, ending his tournament in fifth place.

Eugene Kotlyarevskiy  –  22,000,000  (55 bb)
Daniel Aviles  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($57,000)

$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 35:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 4,772

There was over 5 million in the pot with the flop reading when Brian Hawkins bet 2 million from the big blind. Jorge Bermudez raised all in for 6.8 million on the button, and Hawkins called to cover. The two players then tabled their cards.

Hawkins:
Bermudez:

Turn and River:

Bermudez was eliminated in sixth place for a payday of $43,500, and Hawkins stacked up a big stack worth 45.5 million.

Brian Hakwins – 45,500,000 (113 bb)
Jorge Bermudez – Eliminated in 6th Place ($43,500)