2015 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa
Event #4
$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em
Total Entries: 546
Prize Pool: $63,870
December 7-9, 2015

Tampa, Fla. (December 9, 2015) — The 2015 Winter Poker Open continued on Wednesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa, Fla. The fourth of 14 primary events, a $150 big stack no limit hold’em tournament, restarted at 11 a.m. ET with 95 players remaining. Less than 10 hours later, Florida’s own Eric Wert emerged the champion following a five-way chop.

Wert, who resides in Ellenton, wasn’t the chip leader at the time of the chop, but negotiated for the series’ token guitar trophy. The actual chip leader, Greg Osborne, went home with the $1,650 WPO Championship seat.

“It feels pretty good,” Wert said. “We chopped five ways and I was stubborn and got the guitar.”

Wert’s run to the winner’s circle started late on Day 2. With three tables still in play, he was involved in a three-way all in that saw his pocket tens spike a boat on the river. The hand busted Myong Han 19th while Wert doubled through Hristos Tsironis. He earned a pot worth more than 1,000,000 chips putting him second at the time. From there, he played disciplined and grinded his way to an even, five-way chop.

“It’s the first time I’ve been in a bigger tournament and made it to the final table,” Wert admitted. “When I got there, I tried to play as patient and smart as possible.”

Event 4 of the WPO boasted four starting flights and a $50,000 guarantee. The tournament drew an impressive field of 546 entries that handily surpassed the targeted prize pool before topping out at $63,870. Notables to finish in the money include Event 1 final tablist Daniel Ramirez (49th), Day 2 chip leader Doug Decker (8th) and Event 3 final tablist Brandon Byars (2nd).

Wert is a 52-year-old airway systems specialist. Prior to Event 4, his poker resume boasted eight tournament cashes — six of which came at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa. This marks his largest score to date.

Final results:

1st: Eric Wert – $7,752
2nd: Brandon Byars – $7,750
3rd: Timothy H. – $7,750
4th: Greg Osborne – $7,750
5th: John Pappas – $7,750
6th: David Ormsbee – $2,938
7th: Stephen Bristow – $2,331
8th: Douglas Decker – $1,820
9th: Eric Rivkin – $1,277
10th: Daniel Clemente – $830
11th: Chuck Ellinger – $830
12th: Herbert Woodbury – $830
13th: Martin Magal – $639
14th: John Armatas – $639
15th: Jubrail Shehadeh – $639
16th: Hristos Tsironis – $479
17th: David Pisciotta – $479
18th: Greg McNealy – $479
19th: Myong Han – $351
20th: Michael Ferneman – $351
21st: Adi Moshe – $351
22nd: Wesley Skinner – $351
23rd: Philip Sheffield – $351
24th: Scott Henry – $351
25th: June Amer – $351
26th: Thomas Thole – $351
27th: Frank Muir – $351
28th: Ryan Gittings – $319
29th: Marc Kropf – $319
30th: Robert Cornette – $319
31st: Eliezer Heredia – $319
32nd: Adamastor Santos – $319
33rd: Steven Palumbo – $319
34th: Jody Cvek – $319
35th: Tom Nguyen – $319
36th: Joseph Acquavella – $319
37th: Lawrence Kiang – $287
38th: Michael Scott – $287
39th: Stephen Alling – $287
40th: Prasad Lingamaneni – $287
41st: Adam Mendoun – $287
42nd: Kenneth Spence – $287
43rd: Mauricio Salazar – $287
44th: John Ripstra – $287
45th: Praveen Challagundla – $287
46th: Richard Thai – $255
47th: Karl Manouchakian – $255
48th: Mohammed Tarkami – $255
49th: Daniel Ramirez – $255
50th: Michael Cohen – $255
51st: Aric Pluskat – $255
52nd: Jarred Parr – $255
53rd: Jacob Naumann – $255
54th: Khanh Le – $255