Matt Bretzfield had never played in an 8-game mix tournament before he sat down and won the $600 affair at the 2023 World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open The win was his third victory in the 2023 RRPO series and the first time a player had done such a thing since Julio Fernandez and Atanael Thomas both pulled it off in different Seminole series in 2012 “I’ve been very busy with a lot of other stuff I worked on Wednesday and on Thursday I won (the $1,100 5-Card PLO) I came back again and won my second (the $500 5-Card PLO Bounty.)” Bretzfield has played PLO for over 20 years, but he had never seen a single hand of stud poker in that time “I’ve never played any stud variants in my life. Never. No razz I played TD once just messing with some friends but other than that I haven’t played any of those games The day started with an entry into the $3,500 Main Event The idea of playing in the 8-game mix wasn’t on his mind until Bretzfield stepped outside and talked to Yuval Bronshtein but he said talk to me for a few minutes and he gave me a few pointers Bretzfield cut his teeth in underground games around New York His early tournament cashes were relatively modest until he moved to Florida in 2016 “I played maybe three tournaments my whole life before I moved to Florida I started on Full Tilt and PokerStars when I was in college at UCONN I went back to New York and it was all underground I started dealing and playing and never stopped really.” He moved down to Florida with his girlfriend Bretzfield played some cash games and some PLO — nothing too serious It was a life-changing birthday that sent him down the road to playing more tournament poker “We split up and it was my birthday and I had nothing to do so I fired a tournament and I won it.” That tournament was a $150 Triple Stack in the early summer of 2018 at Seminole in Hollywood “It got me a seat in the Main Event of the SHRPO later that summer and I hadn’t played in any series at that point I took 10th in the Main and thought I could do this.” he would finish second in the $360 opener at the Card Player Poker Tour stop in Pompano Beach Bretzfield has since won eight tournaments in various series at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood He says it could be 10 if it weren’t for taking more money to give up the trophy in a couple of chop deals along the way he’s a caring friend and hard-working business partner “I’ve always been that guy with other endeavors I grew up very poor and I promised myself I wasn’t going to be like that when I got older So I have a lot of business interests I do also But I’m not successful enough yet to play poker every day like some of these guys do.” Bretzfield deals private games in California He plays basketball twice a week and enjoys hanging out with his friends just as much as he enjoys winning poker tournaments But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Bretzfield is out there just tossing chips around for fun Bretzfield plans to spend six or seven weeks in Vegas every summer The win in the 8-game mix has ignited a passion for triple draw and other mixed games not to mention Bretzfield’s desire to pursue his passion at a high level pursue,” and he would follow me on all of the coverage but the rest of me is just trying to make him proud he won his first WSOP Circuit ring in October 2002 in Pompano Beach “I walked outside and got emotional because I knew he was with me Bretzfield is one of the most competitive people you will ever meet in a poker room I’d rather be a loyal friend than play poker.” With WPT Global poker players around the world now have the chance to qualify for WPT events win prizes and enjoy exciting games on one of the world's largest cash game poker networks WPT Global is available in over 50 countries and territories around the world WPT Global offers a large deposit match bonus: 100% on deposits up to $1,200 (using any payment method) New players depositing a minimum of $20 automatically receive this match bonus which is unlocked in $5 increments (credited straight to the cashier) for every $20 of rake contribution Both tournaments and cash games count towards bonus unlocking; new players have 90 days from the date of first deposit to unlock and claim their full bonus amount Find out how to win a $12,400 WPT Passport to December's WPT World Championship Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL Latest poker news, poker strategies and special offers. + Get the Texas Hold'em Poker Cheat Sheet - FREE PokerNews.com is the world’s leading poker website. 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After multiple outbreaks in the eastern part of Europe The virus was reported in the town of Bretzfeld relatively close to the French and Belgium border of which 44 died directly of the virus and the rest destroyed After the official report to the OIE poultry organisations in the surrounding countries put out notices to increase awareness and a more stringent focus on biosecurity The virus is thought to originate from wild birds One other case of bird flu was found some weeks ago in the eastern part of Germany in a wild bird Track the movement of Avian Influenza For everything you need to know about AI from the latest outbreaks to controls stay up to-date… I've been doing some freelance live reporting at the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open at Hollywood Florida's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino It was there I observed some interesting hands some of which I'll be covering in this column over the coming weeks starting today with one from the 2018 SHRPO $5,250 Championship It was on Day 2 that New York's Matt Bretzfield played a big hand in Level 12 (1,200/2,500/2,500) The hand began when Bretzfield limped under the gun and the player in the hijack raised to 8,000 then three-bet to 13,500 from the big blind a pot-limit Omaha cash game grinder who relocated to South Florida in February The player in the hijack released his hand Bretzfield: "He's calling there to either flop a set or see if an ace or king comes." and Rojas paused for a few beats before check-raising all in for 131,500 but was left wanting as the 8♦ bricked the turn followed by the 7♦ on the river I was curious why Bretzfield slow played the pocket rockets "The guy in Seat 8 and the guy in the big blind were consistently raising "So I limped hoping the player in the big blind — who came in sixth in chips but had been losing — would raise So I limped under the gun and one of the tighter players raised When it got to Rojas he pretended he wanted to call but actually raised." He continued: "When it got back to me I thought I'd end the hand right there take the 30K in the pot and increase my stack by 15 percent I wasn't sure if he was calling out of spite because I raised after he pretended he didn't want to raise." "When it came king-high I wanted to end the hand When he jammed I thought he might have a set of kings I don't understand why he played it that way He's calling there to either flop a set or see if an ace or king comes The king is out there and I limp-raised preflop I think he was more on tilt that anything." What do you make of this hand? Let me know on Twitter @ChadAHolloway Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner PokerNews.com is the world’s leading poker website visitors will find a daily dose of articles with the latest poker news Disclaimer: any promotions presented on this page were correct and available at the time of writing We encourage all users to check the promotion displayed matches the most current promotion available by clicking through to the operator welcome page Please read the terms and conditions carefully before you accept any promotional welcome offer modified or distributed without the express prior written permission of the copyright holder that means JavaScript has been disabled on your browser Please enable JavaScript to make this website work.