Fortunate Turn of Events Allows Edwards Muñiz to Win WPTDeepStacks Hollywood ($228,717)
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On Monday, the WPTDeepStacks Hollywood wrapped up at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. The $1,100 buy-in tournament attracted 1,404 entries and offered up a $1,361,880 prize pool. Coming out on top was 38-year-old Tampa lawyer Edwards Muñiz, who claimed a $228,717 first-place prize that includes a $3,000 prize package into April’s Season XVIII WPTDeepStacks Championship at Thunder Valley Casino Resort.
"Killing time by playing poker and watching football is not a bad way to spend a Saturday."
"It was a crazy week. I was actually supposed to be taking a deposition in Jacksonville on Friday," Muñiz told tournament officials after his win.
"I was driving from Tampa to Jacksonville and I was on the Interstate when I got a call that the case settled, so I didn't have to take the deposition anymore, but I had already packed and my plan was to come down here afterward, so I just came down a day early."
That meant instead of firing Day 1c as originally intended, Muñiz bagged the Flight B chip lead and decided to play the $400 buy-in Big O side event on Saturday. It had 87 runners and Muñiz, who had never played the game before, wound up winning it for $8,725 after a three-way deal with Harry Eisenberg and “Miami” John Cernuto.
"Killing time by playing poker and watching football is not a bad way to spend a Saturday,” Muñiz stated. “I was sure that that was the peak of the poker trip until today happened."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edwards Muñiz | $228,717 + $3,000 Championship Packahe |
| 2 | Jason Block | $159,206 |
| 3 | Peter Fellows | $103,316 |
| 4 | Brian Metter | $76,627 |
| 5 | Trung Pham | $57,739 |
| 6 | Howard Mash | $46,596 |
| 7 | Alcides Gomez | $38,348 |
| 8 | Justin Bianco | $30,276 |
| 9 | Aaron Rosenthal | $22,571 |
Road to Victory
When the final table of nine was reached, Muñiz sat on the short stack.
"I came in last in chips today, so my strategy had to be very different because my position changed throughout,” he told WPT reporters. “I got some good luck early that allowed me to build and get some momentum and play a more normal game. I could take advantage of the spots that I had and everything just went really well. I won my first flip and my last flip and you've got to run good in those spots."
Indeed, updates from the event have Muñiz scoring the first elimination after Aaron Rosenthal shoved all in from middle position with queen-jack suited and Muñiz looked him up with pocket eights in the small blind. The turn locked it up for Muñiz when he made a full house and Rosenthal exited in ninth place.
"Regarding the WPTDeepStacks Player of the Year race, it's something I'm definitely going to look into. It sounds like a great opportunity.”
Muñiz wouldn’t notch another knockout until four-handed play, which is when Brian Metter jammed the small blind with ace-ten. Muñiz called out of the big with the inferior jack-ten suited but got lucky when the runout delivered him a straight.
Not long after, Peter Fellows shoved with king-queen and failed to overcome the ace-three suited of Muñiz, and one hand after that it was all over.
It happened when Jason Block limped the button, Muñiz raised to 1.5 million, and Block jammed for just over 10 million. Muñiz called with a suited Big Slick and was racing against Block’s pocket threes. A king on the flop put Muñiz in the lead and he held on to send Block out in second place for $159,206.
In addition to the nice score, Muñiz vaulted into second place in the WPTDeepStacks Player of the Year race. It’s a title he hopes to win.
"Regarding the WPTDeepStacks Player of the Year race, it's something I'm definitely going to look into. It sounds like a great opportunity.”
On Friday, the Seminole Hard Rock will host the $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open, a tournament that boasts a $2 million guaranteed prize pool.
Images courtesy of WPTDeepStacks.
