$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Remaining Players:  6 of 107

During a round of Stud-8, Bart O’Connell got it all in on third street against Johnny Crowther.

Johnny Crowther:      
Bart O’Connell:      

Neither player made a qualifying low, and Crowther won the pot with two pair, jacks and sevens, to eliminate O’Connell in seventh place.

Johnny Crowther  –  470,000  (16 BB)
Bart O’Connell  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($1,384)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is about 214,000 (7 BB), and the next player to bust will earn $1,750.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Remaining Players:  7 of 107

During a round of Stud-8, Steve Rutter got it all in on third street for 15,500 against Chris Kennedy.

Chris Kennedy:      
Steve Rutter:      

Neither player made a qualifying low, and Kennedy won the entire pot with a ten-high straight to eliminate Rutter in eighth place.

Chris Kennedy  –  490,000  (16 BB)
Steve Rutter  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($1,150)

With seven players remaining, the average chip stack is about 183,000 (6 BB), and the next player to bust will earn $1,384.

$1,100 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 13:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  13 of 72

Day 1 was scheduled to end after Level 12, but with the field being only five spots away from the money, the tournament staff allowed the players to take a secret vote whether to stop here (which is what the structure said), or to unanimously overrule it and continue playing to the money.

Every single player voted to continue playing to the money, so that’s what they’re doing. As a reminder, here are the payouts at stake:

1st:  $24,287
2nd:  $15,011
3rd:  $10,131
4th:  $6,965
5th:  $4,880
6th:  $3,486
7th-8th:  $2,540

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  12,000/24,000 Limits
Remaining Players:  8 of 107

After the elimination of Donald Yucius in ninth place, the final eight players redraw for random seats at the final table.

Here are their updated seating assignments and chip counts, along with the value of their stacks in terms of big bets (BB):

Seat 1.  Chris Kennedy  –  470,000  (20 BB)
Seat 2.  Kenneth Po  –  42,500  (2 BB)
Seat 3.  John Fahmy  –  58,000  (2 BB)
Seat 4.  Bart O’Connell  –  72,500  (3 BB)
Seat 5.  Larry St. Jean  –  41,500  (2 BB)
Seat 6.  Johnny Crowther  –  283,000  (12 BB)
Seat 7.  David Shmuel  –  260,000  (11 BB)
Seat 8.  Steve Rutter  –  66,000  (3 BB)

With eight players remaining, the average chip stack is about 160,500 (7 BB). Here is the prizepool for this event:

1st:  $11,382 + Trophy
2nd:  $7,035
3rd:  $4,661
4th:  $3,218
5th:  $2,320
6th:  $1,750
7th:  $1,384
8th:  $1,150
9th:  Donald Yucius  –  $1,007
10th:  Kai Hicks  –  $1,007
11th:  Chris Tryba  –  $931

$1,100 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining:  24 of 72

Registration closed for the WPT Tampa $1,100 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha tournament with 72 entries creating a total prizepool worth $69,840.

The final eight players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $2,540 each, while the winner will earn $24,287 and the trophy.

2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 10
$1,100 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries:  72
Prize Pool:  $69,840
June 15-16, 2021

1st:  $24,287
2nd:  $15,011
3rd:  $10,131
4th:  $6,965
5th:  $4,880
6th:  $3,486
7th-8th:  $2,540

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  51 of 398

The WPT Tampa $600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em event drew 398 entries across two starting flights to create a total prizepool worth $208,950. All 51 players who survived to Day 2 will finish in the money, guaranteed to earn at least $930 each, while first prize is worth $42,920 and a WPT Tampa trophy.

2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 6
$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Entries:  398
Prize Pool:  $208,950
June 14-16, 2021

1st:  $42,920 + Trophy
2nd:  $30,080
3rd:  $19,340
4th:  $12,870
5th:  $9,905
6th:  $8,200
7th:  $6,885
8th:  $5,590
9th:  $4,295
10th-12th:  $3,615
13th-15th:  $3,030
16th-18th:  $2,485
19th-21st:  $2,070
22nd-24th:  $1,740
25th-27th:  $1,450
28th-36th:  $1,180
37th-45th:  $1,055
46th-51st:  $930

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  37 of 289

Flight B came to an end with 3:45 remaining in Level 18, with blinds at 4,000-8,000 and an 8,000 ante. Since this was earlier than Flight A, this is where action will resume at the start of Day 2.

Here are the official chip counts for the 37 survivors from Flight B, with Maurice Paradis leading the pack with 758,000.

The Day 2 seat draw will be posted later tonight, along with the prizepool. Day 2 begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10:00 am.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  37 of 289

With the field one spot away from hand-for-hand on the Money Bubble (which was also the end-of-day bubble), Justin Haas down to just 15,000 in chips, and he would be forced all in from the big blind if/when it reached him.

That’s when Aria Homayoun Nejad got it all in from middle position for 92,000 with , and his opponent turned over in the hijack — a cooler situation so close to the Money Bubble.

The board came , and Homayoun Nejad won the pot with a flopped set of aces to double up in chips, knocking his opponent all the way down to just 12,000 in chips — this player would also be forced all in from the big blind in five hands.

Aria Homayoun Nejad  –  224,000  (28 bb)

A short while later, Charles Honkonen limped from middle position for 8,000 at another table, the player in the small blind moved all in for about 110,000, and Honkonen called with . His opponent turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Honkonen flopped a full house, fours full of jacks, to eliminate his opponent in 39th place.

Charles Honkonen  –  644,000  (81 bb)

At that point, the hands in progress would play to conclusion so the field could begin hand-for-hand play.

But one of those hands that was in progress had the player who ran kings into aces all in against four other players. As you might expect, the other four players checked all the way down, and when the hands were revealed, the short stack was eliminated in 38th place, bursting the Money Bubble before hand-for-hand play even began.

Meanwhile, the short stack everyone had originally been waiting for, John Haas, survived the flight with his 15,000.

The remaining 37 players began bagging up their chips for Day 2, where they will join the 14 survivors from Day 1A to play down to a winner. Every player that survived to Day 2 will finish in the money, and the prizepool and payouts will be posted later tonight.

Stay tuned for official chip counts from this Day 1B flight.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  44 of 289

The players return from break to begin Level 17, with increased blinds of 3,000-6,000 with a 6,000 ante. With 44 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 197,000 (33 big blinds).

A scan of the field during the break turned up two players with at least 400K in chips, and one more knocking on the door, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Charles Honkonen  –  489,000  (82 bb)
2.  Christian Roberts  –  405,000  (68 bb)
3.  Justin Mills  –  392,000  (65 bb)

The two biggest stacks, Honkonen and Roberts, are seated at the same table, with just a single seat between them. And the player in that seat — Michael Hernandez — has a solid stack of about 275,000 himself.

The Money Bubble is the same as the end-of-day bubble, and the final 37 players will advance to Day 2, in the money. So it shouldn’t be too long before they are down to 48 players to begin hand-for-hand play.

2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 8
$600 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries:  107
Prize Pool:  $56,175
June 14, 2021

On Sunday, A.J. Kelsall made Day 2 of $1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Event 5), obviously hoping to win it all on Monday and take home the guitar trophy.

Fast forward to Monday night, and Kelsall has won a guitar trophy, but it was in a completely different event, and in one of his least favorite games — pot limit omaha.

“I’m not a PLO player, I’m a hold’em player,” said Kelsall. “I just don’t have a good feel for PLO. I feel like I don’t read the hands as well, or know when to bluff as well as I do in hold’em. I’m definitely a nittier PLO player than when I play hold’em.”

So how did Kelsall end up in a PLO event?

“I busted the $1K in 14th with four minutes left in registration, so I decided, ‘What the hell?’ I got in, and here we are,” said Kelsall. “Things happen for a reason, right?”

The key moment for Kelsall may have been his very first hand.

“When I first sat down I had 20K,” said Kelsall, “and the big blind was 1,500. Then I quadrupled up in my first hand to get up to 80K. It’s pretty unusual to enter at the end of registration, and then you’re above average after one hand.”

This victory adds to Kelsall’s already impressive resume, with more than $1.7 million in career tournament earnings.

“Tampa is technically my home,” said Kelsall, “even though I say I’m a vagabond. I’m usually between Tampa and Vegas, and I drive down to the Hollywood tournaments, because everyone at the Seminole Hard Rock puts on a great tournament. Hollywood tournaments are always some of the best in the country, and I’m pretty excited this is the biggest series Tampa has ever had.”