2017 WPTDeepStacks
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event #1
$570 Deep Stack
No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries: 738
Prize Pool: $369,000
June 8-11, 2017
(Tampa, Fla.) — For the second consecutive year, the WPTDeepStacks headed to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa for a five-tournament, mid-major series. The 12-day festival kicked off last Thursday with the series-opening $570 buy-in, $300,000 guarantee. Tampa faithful joined players from all over the country for the event, ultimately seeing 738 generate a total prize pool of $369,000. Claiming the tournament’s top spot following a six-way chop was Thomas Larson of Mint Hill, N.C. Larson owned the chip lead six-handed and negotiated his way to a $54,580 score. In addition, he earned the property’s signature guitar trophy.
The 738-entry field bested even the most optimistic projections and marked a notable attendance increase year over year. With six total starting flights running at 11am and 6pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the weekend action is what helped push the tournament’s prize pool well above $300,000. The first four starting flights drew 354 entries combined, then Saturday’s action put the pedal to the metal. In all, 384 entered Saturday alone pushing the event over last year’s figure and garnering attention from players throughout the country.
The sizable field saw 146 return for Sunday’s Day 2 with only the top 72 finishing in the money. Play moved fast and Seminole Hard Rock Tampa ambassador Wally Maddah was among those who busted shy of the money. After just over two hours of play with 74 remaining, four players hit the rail simultaneously and tournament staff counted down stacks to verify who made the money. With that, bubble play was non existent and the event cruised into the money.
John Pappas (25th), Robert Majura (30th), Antuan Bunkley (31st), defending champion Claudemir Osorio (44th), Brandon Byars (60th) and defending WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Player of the Series Karl Manouchakian (66th) were among the notables to finish in the money.
Play narrowed to the final table after about nine total hours. There was some talk of a chop 10-handed, but Larson shot it down. By the time play narrowed to six, Larson, who held the chip lead, was satisfied with the deal which saw him earn the guitar trophy and nab better than second place money.
Seminole Hard Rock Tampa marks the 10th North American stop of WPTDeepStacks Season 4. In addition to the $570 opener, the series is headlined by a $350 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed prelim and the $1,100 Main Event. The Main Event begins June 15th with the first of three starting flights and features a $300,000 guarantee along with a live streamed final table.
More information on the series — which features events daily now through June 19th — is available at WPTDeepStacks.com.
$570 final results:
1st: Thomas Larson – $54,580 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: Puneeth Modha – $38,588
3rd: David Rauf – $38,003
4th: Michael Turton – $34,869
5th: Brandon Vasapolle – $34,289
6th: Rafael Fernandes – $27,525
7th: Kevin Hazzard – $13,284
8th: Enos Smith – $10,148
9th: John Dobson – $7,011
10th: Alex Grandjacquet – $4,613
11th: Mark “Bud” Wiser – $4,613
12th: Stepas Tindziulis – $4,613
13th: Joseph Squires – $3,321
14th: Eliud Diaz – $3,321
15th: James Brinkley – $3,321
16th: Joseph Acquavella – $2,288
17th: James McCarty– $2,288
18th: Anthony Vitale – $2,288
19th: Bill Burdick – $1,956
20th: Ty Wilson – $1,956
21st: Ray Dwyer – $1,956
22nd: Mirza Sopovic – $1,956
23rd: Michael Garrison – $1,956
24th: Krishna Vellanki – $1,956
25th: John Pappas – $1,956
26th: Charles Johnson – $1,956
27th: Brian Arbaugh – $1,956
28th: Carlos Rodriguez Rojas – $1,734
29th: Jeffery Biezunski – $1,734
30th: Robert Manjura – $1,734
31st: Antuan Bunkley – $1,734
32nd: Jennifer Arojado – $1,734
33rd: Anand Rapolu – $1,734
34th: Jean Zabin – $1,734
35th: Amie Martini – $1,734
36th: Troy Symons – $1,734
37th: Daniel Griggs – $1,550
38th: Ronald Sullivan – $1,550
39th: David Graham – $1,550
40th: Robert Rosetta – $1,550
41st: Robert Panetta – $1,550
42nd: Selma Sayin – $1,550
43rd: Derek Melicher – $1,550
44th: Claudemir Osorio – $1,550
45th: Michael Dickerson – $1,550
46th: Daniel Li – $1,365
47th: Michael Collins – $1,365
48th: Juan Sosa – $1,365
49th: Aric Pluskat – $1,365
50th: Nashaat Antonious – $1,365
51st: Oren Segev – $1,365
52nd: William Dubay – $1,365
53rd: Yazan Musa – $1,365
54th: Brandon Vescio – $1,365
55th: Joshua Fulford – $1,218
56th: Mark Smyrski – $1,218
57th: Martin Markov – $1,218
58th: Dustin Geselius – $1,218
59th: Nikolaos Costarelis – $1,218
60th: Brandon Byars – $1,218
61st: Kyle Massey – $1,218
62nd: Thomas Foley – $1,218
63rd: Bruce Snell – $1,218
64th: Marie Harrell – $1,070
65th: Phillip Weast – $1,070
66th: Karl Manouchakian – $1,070
67th: Douglas Lanier – $1,070
68th: James Walden – $1,070
69th: Tam Nguyen – $1,070
70th: Robert Browning – $1,070
71st: James Rubinski – $1,070
72nd: Michael McCarthy – $1,070
— Hazzard checked. Larson bet 500,000. Hazzard moved all-in for about 1,800,000 total. Larson had him covered, but it was a big portion of his stack. He called and the hands were tabled.
for an overpair
for a flush draw
and was behind the 
of Turton. The runout fell 
and Turton’s set was best. Smith was eliminated in eighth place.
