2015 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa
Event #12
$150 Deep Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Total Entries: 86
Prize Pool: $10,320
December 15, 2015

The $150 buy-in Turbo Event 12 was billed as a fast-structured tournament for players looking for some action before the Winter Poker Open Championship on Thursday. It beat the $10,000 guarantee and John Pishos was the latest champion after less than seven hours of play.

They were down to the final table ten after five hours of action, 90 minutes after registration closed, but only nine would make the money. Melody Murphy was short stacked through much of the late play and went out on the money bubble in 10th place.

It looked like Jay Giles was going to go out next when he lost a big pot to leave him with just 4,000. He managed a quadruple-up and watched as Chris Kobil and Nicholas Koulouvaris went out ahead of him.

Giles night came to an end along with Victor Hernandez when both were eliminated in the last hand before the final break. The remaining five players went an extended time without a big hand but it was Seminole Hard Rock Tampa ambassador Wally Maddah dropping out in 5th place.

James Mori and Griffin Arnold were eliminated soon after and Pishos took care of David Pierce in a half dozen hands to earn the title. He earned the $2,948 first place prize along with the $1,650 Winter Poker Open Championship seat.

Pishos is a transplant from Greece and the former cosmetologist now resides in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. This win pushes him over $18,000 in career earnings which includes a WSOP Circuit win, final table appearance in a Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Deep Stack series event, and deep finish last May during the Spring Poker Series.

It was a fast, entertaining tournament that gave players a chance at some nice money in a short amount of time.

Event 12 Results:

1st: John Pishos – $2,948 + $1,650 WPO Championship Seat
2nd: David Pierce – $1,725
3rd: Griffin Arnold – $1,127
4th: James Mori – $824
5th: Wally Maddah – $616
6th: Victor Hernandez – $477
7th: Jay Giles – $381
8th: Nicholas Koulouvaris – $312
9th: Chris Kobil – $260