Poker pro Joseph Cheong missed out on the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown title on Tuesday, but still left the host venue – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood – with a winner’s trophy.

The player topped a field of 93 entries to emerge as the victor of the $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo event, the final tournament on the schedule of the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown festival. The famed poker pro collected $29,503 for his performance in the event.

Cheong was chatting with his table mates over the course of the final table, telling them about his plans for the next several months, while scheming how to win the event at the same time. The player will be traveling quite a lot up the east coast to participate in different live poker tournaments.

The popular poker pro is known for his love for the game and his tendency to show that love in every way possible. Asked by Seminole staff who loves it more, Cheong said that the name of Ari Engel immediately popped into his mind. The player further quipped that he might be funnier than Engel as the latter does not drink. Engel himself took part in the tournament, but finished 12th for a payout of $2,327.

The final table of the $1,100 turbo event was marked light conversations, a few beverages, and rapid action. As mentioned earlier, the tournament attracted 93 entries who generated a prize pool of $93,000. The top 12 finishers received a payout, after putting some effort at the tables of the host casino.

Cheong came into the $1,100 Turbo fresh from an eleventh-place finish in the $3,500 Main Event. The player was running pretty well in the major tournament, which attracted 1,309 entries, but was eliminated just a few spots away from the official six-handed final table. His share of the $4-plus-million prize pool totaled $54,139. It is also important to note that he was even an overnight chip leader during the Main Event, bagging the largest stack after Day 2.

The tournament is set to be completed later today at the host venue. Six players are still in contention. They are led by Brian Hastings with 12.855 million in chips. The winner will receive $696,740 and the tournament trophy.

The live tournament circuit is not a strange place for Cheong. The Rolling Hills, California-based player, originally from South Korea, boasts a live poker bankroll of over $12.2 million, which he accumulated from 149 different events.

During the 2010 edition of the WSOP, Cheong finished third in the $10,000 Main Event. He received his career’s largest cash back then for his deep run into the world’s most prestigious No-Limit Hold’em tournament. Cheong scooped $4,130,049 for being one of the final men standing in contention. Canada’s Jonathan Duhamel won that year’s edition of the Championship for nearly $9 million. John Racener finished as the runner-up, good for $5,545,955 in prize money.

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