The World Poker Tour's annual April trip to South Florida for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship has come to a close with six players remaining in the hunt for the title.
And when play resumes on May 29 in Las Vegas, 66-year-old Art Peacock will look to cap an incredible two-year run of success by joining the WPT Champions Club.
Peacock, who will be the chip leader when the final table resumes, has rattled off five six-figure cashes since August 2023. Standing in Peacock's way are five players equally motivated to capture the most significant title of their careers, as well as the $776,000 first-place prize — one that would stand as a career best for any of the six players.
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Championship payouts
- $776,000 (including $10,600 WPT World Championship seat)
- $515,000
- $380,000
- $285,000
- $215,000
- $164,000
Now that a field that once stood at 1,755 is down to six, here's what you need to know about the final table of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown chip leader Art Peacock.Art Peacock: 27,150,000 (109 big blinds)
Age: 66
Hometown: Queens, NY
Currently resides: Jupiter, FL
Career live tournament earnings: $1,719,877
Career-best result: $358,700, 1st, 2024 Moneymaker Main Event ($1,700 buy-in), MGM Grand Summer Poker Festival
Art Peacock has tournament results dating all the way back to 2007, with several active stretches along the way. But the step forward Peacock's had since March of 2023 are undeniably impressive. He's rattled off multiple victories on the Moneymaker Poker Tour, a Florida State Poker Championship win, and a variety of other notable results in both Florida and Las Vegas. His biggest cash was $358,700 in the Moneymaker Main Event at the MGM Grand Summer Festival last summer.
And Peacock made a big splash earlier this year during the World Series of Poker's local stop in Pompano Beach, Florida. His victory in the WSOPC Main Event at Pompano Park was worth $230,794.
Peacock has a chance to multiply that several times over if he can carry his chip lead to a victory in late May. Day 4 of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown was kind to Peacock; after starting play on Tuesday second in chips, Peacock managed to double his stack over the course of play without recording a single elimination - until the very last one.
When Peacock's pocket eights held off Rafael Rodriguez's 
, Rodriguez went out in seventh place, and the six remaining players each locked up their trips to Las Vegas.
Daniel Marcus
Daniel Marcus: 22,150,000 (89 big blinds)
Age: 36
Hometown: Long Island, NY
Currently resides: Las Vegas, NV
Career live tournament earnings: $764,756
Career-best result: $106,057, 4th, $1,600 Mystery Bounty, 2024 WPT World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas
Daniel Marcus sits just behind Peacock in second place in the chip counts, and just like his fellow New York-born competitor, Marcus has made a major step forward in his poker career in recent years.
Back in December, Marcus final-tabled the $1,600 Mystery Bounty event during the WPT World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas. It's the latest in a growing run of successes at Wynn, including a $1,100 Wynn Millions victory a few weeks ago and a $1,100 Wynn Fall Classic Mystery Bounty win back in October. Marcus also owns multiple WSOP Circuit rings.
Marcus' day job, which he represented on the hoodie he wore during play on Tuesday, is with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. For the last 11 years, Marcus has served in a variety of roles with the team and currently works as a personnel evaluator.
Jeffery FritzJeffery Fritz: 16,150,000 (65 big blinds)
Age: 36
Hometown: Sterling Heights, Michigan
Career live tournament earnings: $102,491
Career-best result: $60,261, 1st, Sizzlin $750, FireKeepers Casino, Battle Creek, Michigan (March 2020)
Of the final six, this final table appearance represents the biggest step forward for Jeffery Fritz. The Michigan-based player has only a dozen recorded live tournament results dating back to 2020. Fritz's first live tournament cash came in March 2020 at FireKeepers Battle Creek in his home state of Michigan.
Among his results is an 85th-place finish in the WPT championship event at the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Regardless of his result in this tournament from here on out, Fritz will exceed his previous career total live earnings in a single cash, and perhaps by a significant amount.
Jared HemingwayJared Hemingway: 11,150,000 (45 big blinds)
Age: 48
Hometown: Vero Beach, FL
Currently resides: Greeneville, TX
Career live tournament earnings: $969,162
Career-best result: $163,024, 2nd, 2018 WSOP Circuit Choctaw $1,700 Main Event
Jared Hemingway will clear $1 million in career live tournament earnings regardless of his finish in this tournament, and he's had considerable successes to this point - many of them coming at Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma.
Hemingway's won multiple WSOP Circuit rings and narrowly missed out on winning the WSOPC Main Event in Oklahoma in late 2018. He also missed out on a WSOP bracelet by one spot, losing heads-up to Ben Zamani in a $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event in 2017.
There are other close calls and near misses in WSOP and WPT events, but this tournament could well represent a great chance for Hemingway to close out a major victory.
Mihai NisteMihai Niste: 8,650,000 (35 big blinds)
Age: 38
Hometown: Satu-Mare, Bulgaria
Currently resides: Riuse, Bulgaria
Career live tournament earnings: $2,241,302
Career-best result: $251,000, 2nd, 2025 Merit Poker Western Series Kyrenia $3,300 Main Event
The two shortest stacks heading into May's final table both hail from Europe, but their positions heading into that finale couldn't be much different. Niste's still well within range of the top four stacks and stands as the most accomplished player of the bunch by virtue of his total earnings.
Like Hemingway, though, most of Niste's career bests have come at major events in which Niste has come close to the title only to fall just short. Just two months ago, Niste set his high water mark in Cyprus, taking second in the Merit Poker Western Series Main Event for a quarter of a million dollars. Four of his five best cashes happened in Cyprus, in fact, including a January 2019 victory in a $5,000 High Roller.
Niste has been close to a major title in the United States on three separate occasions. Within a week's time in June 2019, Niste final-tabled a pair of pot-limit Omaha events, finishing fifth and sixth for a combined $100,000. In July 2023, Niste reached the top six in The Closer, banking $126,660.
Mitchell HynamMitchell Hynam: 2,000,000 (8 big blinds)
Age: 33
Hometown: Bristol, England
Career live tournament earnings: $715,522
Career-best result: $86,563, 1st, 2025 Irish Poker Tour Galway Main Event (€700)
There's never a bad time to make a WPT final table, but Mitchell Hynam's position amidst the final six in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship could be better. He'll have to wait about seven weeks for play to resume to see if he can pick up a spot quickly enough to start a major spin-up — but it is a spot that about 1,750 other entrants would trade their way into in a heartbeat.
Hynam, who hails from Bristol, England, has been posting live tournament results since 2019. He recently posted a career-best result back in January, when he won a €700 Main Event at the Irish Poker Tour's stop in Galway.
By reaching the top seven, Hynam has locked up the first six-figure live result of his poker career.
All career earnings statistics courtesy of The Hendon Mob.
Images courtesy of Spenser Sembrat/World Poker Tour.
