Hal Rotholz Takes Down bestbet Spring Series Main Event

Hal Rotholz decided to travel from New York to Jacksonville, Florida, and it turned out to be a fantastic decision on his part. Why? Because it resulted in winning the bestbet Spring Series Main Event for $180,986.

Rotholz is enjoying a purple patch of form. His last seven live tournaments have all finished with him at the final table. An eighth-place finish, a third, two seconds, and three consecutive victories are nothing short of amazing. The $180,986 Rotholz won in Jacksonville is the largest prize of his career.

Some 401 players exchanged $2,500 for the chance to become the Main Event’s champion. Organizers planned to pay the top 51 finishers, but a double elimination on the bubble altered those plans. Aaron Thivyanathan and Filipp Khavin busted on the same hand and shared the $3,962 51st place prize.

Kyle Cartwright Leads Final Table; Rotholz Fifth

$22,876 is the least any of the eight finalists could win, with the top two banking six-figure scores. Dustin Holladay collected that sum when he crashed out at the hands of Brian Arbaugh. Holladay open-shoved 6.5 big blinds with As-Kd, David Jackson re-shoved with Jh-Jd for 1,020,000, and Arbaugh called with Ks-Qc. Arbaugh turned two pair on the Kc-Td-3h-Qh-5s board and busted Holladay.

Seventh-place and $29,280 went to Stephen Strout. He committed his stack with Qc-Tc on an As-Ah-Qs flop only to run into Nick Ferro’s Qd-Js. No help arrived on the turn or river, and Strout was out.

Arbaugh was the next player heading to the cashier’s cage despite that early win. Arbaugh ran an ill-timed double-barrel bluff with Ah-4h against Johnny Landreth on a 7s-Qs-8h-7d board. Landreth looked up the turn shove with Jc-8c, which held and reduced the player count by one.

Landreth only managed to hold onto those chips for a short while because Rotholz doubled through him. Rotholz turned two pair with Kd-9c when the turn improved Landreth’s Ah-Kc.

Jackson crashed out in fifth despite Landreth running on fumes. Jackson min-raised to 120,000, Rotholz three-bet to 370,000, and Landreth four-bet all-in for 1,105,000. Rotholz called with Js-Jd and needed help against Jackson’s Qs-Qc. The 6d-Qd-Td gave Jackson a set, but Ratholz had a diamond flush draw. The 4c was a safe turn card for Jackson, but the 3d river was anything but safe.

Cartwright Takes Lead With Three Remaining

Kyle Cartwright, a WSOP bracelet winner, sent Landreth to the showers in third-place and his stack to the top of the counts. Landreth’s Ks-9s ultimately lost to Cartwright’s dominating As-9d.

Ferro won a few critical pots in quick succession to take the lead. He extended that lead with a cooler hand against the much-fancied Cartwright. Ferro completed the small blind with Ad-Qc before Cartwright raised from the big blind with Ks-Kd. Cartwright instantly called when Ferro jammed all-in. The 6d-Qc-Td gave Ferro some hope, but the 2c turn left him drawing thin. The Qd river gifted Ferro trips and sent Cartwright home in third place, a finish worth $88,761.

Rotholz trailed 2,775,000 to Ferro’s 7,275,000 stack going into heads-up. He immediately doubled, clawed his way ahead, fell behind before soaring into the lead once again.

The final hand took place during the 50,000/100,000/100,000a level. Rotholz opened to 225,000 with Kd-Js and called when Ferro shoved for 1,750,000 with Qc-Jd. The five community cards fell 5s-6d-As-4h-2d to bust Ferro in second-place for $120,658. The champion padded his bankroll with a cool $180,986, almost doubling his lifetime earnings.

bestbet Spring Series Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Hal Rotholz	New York, New York	$180,986
2	Jake Ferro	Syracuse, New York	$120,658
3	Kyle Cartwright	Arlington, Tennessee	$88,761
4	Johnny Landreth	Lanett, Alabama	$66,069
5	David Jackson	Jacksonville, Florida	$49,767
6	Brian Arbaugh	Akron, Ohio	$37,941
7	Stephen Strout	St. Augustine, Florida	$29,280
8	Dustin Holladay	Murrells Inlet, South Carolina	$22,876

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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