Meet the Final Table of the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open

Narratives surrounding a final table in poker can often feel forced, but when it comes to the final six players in this WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open, there’s a clear through line.

Second chances.

For two of these players, Landon Tice and Dylan Smith, the second chance has come quickly. Both of them were in this same position less than eight months ago the last time the World Poker Tour visited Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, making the delayed final table of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.

It’s the second time Tice and Smith will be playing for a title in Season 22 of the WPT, and this time around they won’t be waiting weeks to play it out – they’ll square off with each other and four other contenders at Wednesday’s final table.

Francis Anderson will also have his second chance at WPT glory on Wednesday. He made the final table of this exact event five years ago, and then lasted exactly two hands on the live stream before falling out in sixth place. It’s already been a tremendously successful 2024 for Anderson, who won his first major live title earlier this year with a WSOP gold bracelet over the Fourth of July weekend.

Leading the way at this WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open is 23-year-old Matthew Beinner, the current chip leader who is no stranger to big final tables early in his live poker career. This is his first ever WPT cash, but over the last two years he’s made a final table at the World Series of Poker and narrowly missed out on a gold bracelet this past summer, settling for second in a $1,500 Big O event.

Florian Ribouchon has also come agonizingly close to a major title before falling just short of a major victory, settling for second place finish and a consolation prize of over $1 million in the 2023 WSOP Millionaire Maker.

Rounding out this final table is 66-year-old Paul Domb of nearby Key Biscayne, Florida, for whom this is already a career-best result regardless of where he finishes. The vast majority of his career results have been at this venue, and he’ll be looking win on home turf on Wednesday.

All six players have locked up $140,000. Here’s the prizes they’ll be playing for:

1. $662,200 (including a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat)
2. $440,000
3. $325,000
4. $245,000
5. $184,000
6. $140,000

Final table action will begin at 1 p.m. ET and stream on a 30-minute delay on all of WPT’s channels and other platforms starting at 1:30 p.m. Ahead of the fifth and final day of the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open, let’s get to know a little more about each of the six remaining players – one of whom will become a first-time WPT champion on Wednesday.

Matthew Beinner – 21,600,000 (86 BB)

Age: 23
New York, New York
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $417,016
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $204,601, 2nd, 2024 WSOP $1,500 Big O
Other Notable Results: $73,530, 5th, 2023 WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha

Matthew Beinner began his professional poker career at the age of 18, and over the course of the last five years he’s given himself some tremendous chances to break through for a major title.

In 2023, Beinner made his first career WSOP final table, finishing fifth in a Pot Limit Omaha event. He did considerably better at his second career WSOP final table, taking second this past summer in a $1,500 Big O (five-card PLO Hi-Lo) for a career-best $204,601.

He’ll take the chip lead into Wednesday’s final table with a good chance of setting a new career high score, with fourth place or better guaranteeing such a payday. Beinner ascended into the chip lead after taking down a massive pot worth over 15 million chips, turning a king-high diamond flush against Drew O’Connell and holding off an ace-high redraw to eliminate O’Connell in ninth place.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 182,500 (147/485)
Day 2: 1,050,000 (21/90)
Day 3: 8,000,000 (2/16)

Landon Tice – 18,625,000 (75 BB)

Age: 25
Boca Raton, Florida
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,794,538
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $550,000, 2nd, 2024 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Other Notable Results: $246,300, 1st, 2024 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $10,000 High Roller; $201,529, 1st, 2020 $1,100 MSPT Venetian

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Landon Tice. Before battling Jeremy Becker all summer, things truly kicked into high gear for Tice’s career when he made the final table of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown back in April.

Although that run ended in a second place finish after losing a heads-up match with Josh Reichard, Tice is proud of the way he played and does not hold onto any feelings of unfinished business.

“I felt really great about the way I played at that final table,” said Tice. “I don’t think I’d take many decisions back, if any. So I’m completely okay with losing heads up to Josh – he played great poker, and cards went his way. I’m fortunate enough to have gotten scammed second-to-last and get paid the most money without winning.”

Tice will get his second chance at a WPT title, back where it all began and close to his hometown of Boca Raton. It’ll be a mostly different lineup than last time, and a different circumstances, but Tice feels he’ll be ready for whatever comes on Wednesday.

“If anything, this a little bit deeper [stacked] than last time, so I’ve got some work to do before tomorrow just to kind of clean up some things and have some ideas, especially in my head. But I’ve been very fortunate to get this far,  so I’m just trying to play some good poker and see what that gets me.”

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 84,500 (348/485)
Day 2: 610,000 (54/90)
Day 3: 3,900,000 (10/16)

Dylan Smith – 12,250,000 (49 BB)

Age: 33
Brick, New Jersey
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $2,827,014
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $364,440 1st, 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Other Notable Results: $363,914, 4th, 2024 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship; $230,000, 5th, 2024 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown

The one common denominator in Tice’s return to the WPT final table spotlight is Dylan Smith, who is also enjoying his second time running through well over 1,000 players at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood to make a final table.

Last time around, Smith entered the final table as the chip leader and lost a couple of tough hands to eventual champion Josh Reichard. This time around, Smith feels like he knows what to expect.

“I think having experienced it once, I would be more prepared the next time for sure, knowing what I’m getting into,” said Smith.

Since making the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown final table back in April, Smith has tasted even more success in poker. He reached the final table of the 2024 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship, more than holding his own against some of the best poker players in the world in a demanding mixed game format.

Smith is as confident in his game as he’s ever been, but even he’s surprised by how quickly his follow-up opportunity has come around.

“I’m really excited,” said Smith. “When I made the one the last one and got fifth, you never know when you’re gonna be back. I didn’t expect it to be this soon, for sure.”

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 184,500 (143/485)
Day 2: 1,140,000 (19/90)
Day 3: 4,725,000 (5/16)

Florian Ribouchon – 9,425,000 (38 BB)

Age: 39
La Trinite, France
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,353,715
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $1,003,554, 2nd, 2023 WSOP Millionaire Maker
Other Notable Results: $41,900, 109th, 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas

Florian Ribouchon is the lone non-American in contention for this WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open title, and he hopes to continue what’s been a fascinating trend. All five of the Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championships under the WPT banner have been won by players born outside of the United States.

Ribouchon’s primary claim to poker fame to this point in his career came in the 2023 WSOP Millionaire Maker, in which he finished as the runner-up. His cash for just over $1 million makes up the bulk of his lifetime live tournament earnings, but Ribouchon also made a deep run in last year’s WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

This will be Ribouchon’s second-biggest live cash regardless of where he finishes between first and sixth, and his first ever WPT final table appearance.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 200,500 (114/485)
Day 2: 450,000 (69/90)
Day 3: 4,600,000 (6/16)

Paul Domb – 6,525,000 (26 BB)

Age: 66
Key Biscayne, Florida
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $583,107
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $58,333, 1st, 2019 Seminole Hard Rock $1,650 Deepest Stack

Paul Domb is the hometown representative at this WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open final table, and he’ll be enjoying his best finish at both this casino and of his career regardless of where he finishes.

Domb was born in Bangor, Maine, grew up in Los Angeles and has now settled into Key Biscayne, Florida, a small island just off the coast of Miami.

In terms of previous wins, Domb has racked up $583,107 over 12 years of tournaments, with the vast majority of those dozens of results coming at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. His career-best, a victory in a 2019 $1,650 event, makes up almost exactly 10 percent of his career total.

Domb has been among the short stacks at the end of all four days of this tournament, but he’s put on an impressive performance to grind all the way to the final table.

“I love the game,” said Domb. “It’s kind of a metaphor for life. You can do everything right and lose, and on the contrary, you can do everything wrong and win, so it’s always interesting to me.”

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 82,500 (353/485)
Day 2: 565,000 (61/90)
Day 3: 2,300,000 (14/16)

Francis Anderson – 3,300,000 (13 BB)

Age: 37
Poughkeepsie, New York
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $3,298,481
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $501,040, 1st, 2024 WSOP $800 Independence Day Celebration
Other Notable Results: $449,912, 3rd, 2022 WSOP Monster Stack; $149,605, 4th, 2019 WSOP Marathon; $148,900, 2nd, 2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $5,000 No Limit Hold’em; $131,324, 4th, 2023 WSOP Hall of Fame Bounty; $111,895, 6th, 2019 WSOP Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open

Francis Anderson enters his second career WPT final table as the short stack, and for the second time he’s put together such a performance in the exact same event. Anderson’s first appearance at the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open back in 2019 did not go well after a rough hand just before the final table was set went horribly awry.

“My first wpt final table, this one five years ago, I got super unlucky,” recalled Anderson. “I lost vs. all-in pre flop, [when it ran out four heart]. I made that final table short stacked, and I lasted two hands on the live stream. My goal is to last at least three hands tomorrow.”

Anderson has enjoyed some significant success over the last couple of years, largely at the World Series of Poker. He won his first career WSOP gold bracelet this past summer, banking over $500,000 in an $800 buy-in event over the Fourth of July weekend. He’s also made three other live WSOP final tables since 2019.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 352,000 (17/485)
Day 2: 900,000 (27/90)
Day 3: 4,000,000 (8/16)