2016 Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Tampa, FL 
Event 2: $150 Ladies Event Re-Entry 
Entries: 40
Prize Pool: $4,800
December 1, 2016

(Tampa, FL) – The second day of the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open brought out the Ladies Event and a nice crowd on a Friday evening. The $150 buy-in tournament drew 40 entrants to the field and Kirstin Olieberg dominated late to earn the title.

Those 40 entries into the tournament matched the 2015 number and created a prize pool worth $4,800. In addition to the prize money, Seminole Hard Rock Tampa poker added a $1,650 Championship seat for the winner.

The tournament quickly played down and they were at the final table after less than seven hours of action. Olieberg was the leader at the start of the final table along with Seminole Hard Rock Tampa regular Cheri Beatty and Anna Tran.

With only five of the ten final table players getting paid, they still had some work to do. They traded chips for an hour before breaking things open. They fell in quick succession until Tran and Diana Rossi were eliminated by Beatty to put them in the money.

Olieberg continued to run her stack up while Beatty lost two big coolers to end her run in fourth place. The three remaining players began a deal discussion with both Olieberg and Edie Jo Norman very interested in both the guitar trophy and Championship seat.

They finally worked things out and Olieberg was declared the champion courtesy of her huge chip lead.

“My husband told me I better bring home the guitar,” Olieberg laughed. “He’ll be happy now.”

She’ll also be happy to be playing the WPO Championship in less than two weeks. Olieberg is no stranger to success here with her biggest cash coming in the 2014 WPO. She made the final table and cashed out more than $4,700 for finishing tenth out of 469 in the $350 Deep Stack opening tournament.

Ladies Event results:

1st: Kirsten Olieberg – $1,920 + $1,650 Seat and Guitar
2nd: Edie Jo Norman – $1,200
3rd: Amy Myers – $720
4th: Cheri Beatty – $528
5th: Sophia Pettis – $432

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 40

After the elimination of Cheri Beatty, the three remaining players began discussing a deal to divide up the remaining prize pool. It took several minutes to work it out but they finally hammered it out with massive chip leader Kirsten Olieberg taking home the trophy, big money, and the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Championship seat.

Details to come shortly.

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 40

Cheri Beatty was doing well against the rest of the table but had no luck against Edie Jo Norman. In the early stages of the final table, Beatty ran her big slick straight into Norman’s pocket kings to lose a big pot. She built her stack back up with four remaining and got into another battle with Norman.

It was blind versus blind again and this time it was Beatty’s dominated by Norman’s . The board ran to leave her with a few big blinds heading into the break and she was gone on the first hand back.

Edie Jo Norman – 290,000 (36 bb)
Cheri Beatty – Eliminated in 4th place ($528)

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 40

Sophia Pettis was one of the shorter stacks at the start of the final table but battled throughout to get past half of the table to get into the money.

She took a stab after the bubble in a blind-versus-blind hand against Kirsten Olieberg. Pettis’ was dominated by and never caught up to send her out in fifth place.

Kirsten Olieberg – 360,000 (60 bb)
Sophia Pettis – Eliminated in 5th place ($423)

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 14: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 40

The Ladies Event is on another break with seven remaining and five getting paid. Cheri Beatty and Kirsten Olieberg are pushing their stacks higher while Ginger Switzer and Jennifer Frankenstein was eliminated from the final table.

Frankenstein went out when she got her chips in ahead, her against Anna Tran’s . The flop was safe but the turn was unkind. She couldn’t find a save on the river to go out in eighth place.

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 40

The Ladies Event final table is playing at a grinder’s pace with deep stacks and plenty of time to mix it up. Susan MacPherson made the final table in this event last year but she came in today with a short stack.

She took a shot early and was called by Anna Tran and Amy Myers. Tran and Myers checked down the board and Tran’s was good enough to beat MacPherson’s to send her out short of the money.

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 40

The Ladies Event is quickly down to its final table ten and they joined together as one. Kirsten Olieberg is the leader and the only player over 100,000. She’s joined by last year’s fifth place finisher Susan MacPherson and Seminole Hard Rock Tampa poker regular Cheri Beatty.

They still have a little work to do; one five of these ten players will take home some cash.

Seat 1: Amy Myers – 82,100 (51 bb)
Seat 2: Edie Jo Norman – 84,200 (53 bb)
Seat 3: Cheri Beatty – 62,200 (39 bb)
Seat 4: Sophia Pettis – 75,500 (47 bb)
Seat 5: Kirsten Olieberg – 118,000 (74 bb)
Seat 6: Jennifer Frankenstein – 38,600 (24 bb)
Seat 7: Diane Rossi – 45,200 (28 bb)
Seat 8: Ginger Switzer – 37,700 (24 bb)
Seat 9: Susan MacPherson – 28,900 (18 bb)
Seat 10: Anna Tran – 49,200 (31 bb)

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 9: 400/800 with a 100 ante
Players Remaining: 18 of 40

The Ladies Event is cruising right along and recently broke another table to get down to 18 players on two tables. They’ll continue moving along until one player remains with the guitar trophy, cash, and a seat in the Championship.

Susan MacPherson is one of the late runners and looking to cash in back-to-back WPO Ladies Events. She was part of the five-way chop in last year’s event that saw her hit the payout desk for $800.

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Players Remaining: 29 of 40

Registration is closed in the $150 Ladies Event and the final attendance figure matched that of last year on the number. The 40-lady field generated a prize pool $4,800 that pays the top five finishers at least $432. Payouts escalate from there and top out in the form of a $1,920 first prize.

In addition to the monetary haul, the Ladies Event champion also earns a $1,650 seat in the $300,000 guaranteed Winter Poker Open Championship as well the property’s token guitar trophy.

Full payouts:

1st – $1,920 + $1,650 Seat and Guitar
2nd – $1,200
3rd – $720
4th – $528
5th – $432

We will pick up coverage of the event a little deeper into the structure.

$150 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) — $1,650 Seat Added
Level 5: 150/300 with a 50 ante
Entries: 33

Like Cheri Beatty, Elizabeth Provan is back at her home property following a trip to the east side of the state for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open. Provan left her mark in Hollywood, final tabling the record-breaking, 5,018-entry, $1M guaranteed opener. She finished seventh in a nine-way chop and turned her lone $360 entry into better than $53,000.

Having already maneuvered through a super-sized field, the Ladies Event here in Tampa should be a breeze for Provan. The player count currently sits at 33 with registration and re-entry available for about another hour.