$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 25:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 202

Anthony Lambert raised to 80,000, and Thomas Boyden called.

The flop came , Boyden checked, Lambert bet 60,000, and Boyden check-raised to 175,000. Lambert moved all in, and Boyden snap-called all in for 840,000 with for a flopped queen-high straight.

Lambert turned over for an overpair with a gutshot straight draw, and Boyden needed his straight to hold to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Boyden won the pot with his queen-high straight to double up in chips.

Thomas Boyden  –  1,880,000  (47 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  2,160,000  (54 bb)

Shortly after that hand, the two players agreed to an even chop of the prizepool while Lambert had a slight chip lead.

As chipleader, Lambert is declared the champion, and he received the title and the trophy.

Here are the full final table payouts, including the revised payouts for first and second:

1st:  Anthony Lambert  –  $43,103
2nd:  Thomas Boyden  –  $43,103
3rd:  Joseph Presho  –  $20,103
4th:  Aaron Thivyanathan  –  $12,236
5th:  David Shaw  –  $9,444
6th:  Mike Vela  –  $7,828
7th:  Ryan Hogan  –  $6,780
8th:  Frank Miceli  –  $5,976
9th:  Curtis King  –  $5,208
10th:  Matthew Leecy  –  $4,507
11th:  Oscar Lindo Zeledon  –  $4,507
12th:  Kenneth Taffaro  –  $4,507
13th:  Sam Panzica  –  $3,821
14th:  Andrew Kelsall  –  $3,821
15th:  Anthony March  –  $3,821
16th:  Kevin Hazzard  –  $3,174
17th:  T.K. Miles  –  $3,174
18th:  Gloria Shenefield  –  $3,174
19th:  Izadi Hamid  –  $2,551
20th:  John Gorsuch  –  $2,551
21st:  Christopher Agnello  –  $2,551

Congratulations to Anthony Lambert!

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  20,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 202

With the final board showing on the river and more than 800K already in the pot, Anthony Lambert moved all in from the small blind for 1,170,000.

Thomas Boyden asked for an exact count and thought for a while before he folded, saying, “I’m folding a very pretty hand,” later adding that he picked up a flush draw on the turn. But Lambert took the pot to nearly even up the chip stacks.

Anthony Lambert  –  2,000,000  (67 bb)
Thomas Boyden  –  2,000,000  (67 bb)

A short while later, the board showed on the turn with about 550K already in the pot. Boyden checked, Lambert bet 300,000, and Boyden called. The river card paired the board with the , and both players checked.

Boyden showed for two pair, aces and queens, and Lambert mucked, saying, “Flush draw. I still have not hit a single flush.” Boyden won the pot to take a lead of more than 2-to-1.

Thomas Boyden  –  2,800,000  (93 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  1,300,000  (43 bb)

A short while later, the final board showed with about 150K in the pot. Lambert bet 100,000, Boyden raised to 525,000, and Lambert three-bet all in for 1,085,000.

Boyden asked for a count and thought for a while before he called with for a rivered five-high straight, but Lambert turned over to win the pot with a rivered eight-high straight.

“That five was an interesting card,” said Lambert.

Anthony Lambert  –  2,300,000  (77 bb)
Thomas Boyden  –  1,700,000  (57 bb)

Less than 10 minutes later, they battled over a board of with more than 1.1 million already in the pot. Lambert moved all in from the small blind, and Boyden went into the tank for a long time.

“This is a crazy spot,” said Boyden. “Almost the same as that earlier three-bet.”

Boyden eventually folded, and Lambert took the pot, along with a 3-to-1 chip lead.

Anthony Lambert  –  3,000,000  (100 bb)
Thomas Boyden  –  1,000,000  (33 bb)

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 202

Thomas Boyden raised from the button to 50,000, Joseph Presho reraised from the big blind to 175,000, and Boyden tanked for a while before he moved all in for 705,000.

Presho snap-called with , and Boyden turned over . Boyden needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Boyden paired his ace on the flop to win the pot and double up in chips.

Thomas Boyden  –  1,450,000  (58 bb)
Joseph Presho  –  975,000  (39 bb)

Twenty minutes later, Boyden raised from the button to 50,000, Anthony Lambert called from the small blind, and Presho reraised from the big blind to 200,000.

Boyden thought for a while before he moved all in for 1,060,000, and Lambert folded.

Presho asked for an exact count, saying something like, “I don’t think I’m ever supposed to fold here.” Presho had 1,040,000, and was covered by just 20K in chips.

Presho calls with , and Boyden turned over .

The board came , and Boyden paired his ace on the flop and his king on the river to win the pot with two pair, eliminating Presho in third place.

Joseph Presho  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($20,103)

Here are the updated chip counts for the start of heads-up play, followed by the final table payouts:

Thomas Boyden  –  2,175,000  (87 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  1,865,000  (75 bb)

1st:  $52,083
2nd:  $34,123

3rd:  Joseph Presho  –  $20,103
4th:  Aaron Thivyanathan  –  $12,236
5th:  David Shaw  –  $9,444
6th:  Mike Vela  –  $7,828
7th:  Ryan Hogan  –  $6,780
8th:  Frank Miceli  –  $5,976
9th:  Curtis King  –  $5,208

$600 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 15:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  9 of 107

After the elimination of Evan Kupferberg in 10th place, the final nine players redraw for random seats at the final table. Here is the lineup with updated chip counts:

Seat 1.  Juan Rodriguez  –  309,000  (52 bb)
Seat 2.  Chad J. Brown  –  225,000  (38 bb)
Seat 3.  John Panetti  –  270,000  (45 bb)
Seat 4.  Alex Contreras  –  216,000  (36 bb)
Seat 5.  Chris Peters  –  109,000  (18 bb)
Seat 6.  Igor Tretyakov  –  536,000  (89 bb)
Seat 7.  Damjan Radanov  –  34,000  (1 bb)
Seat 8.  A.J. Kelsall  –  172,000  (7 bb)
Seat 9.  David Prociak  –  275,000  (11 bb)

And here are the payouts for this event:

1st:  $18,117 + Trophy
2nd:  $10,954
3rd:  $6,811
4th:  $4,606
5th:  $3,511
6th:  $2,809
7th:  $2,331
8th:  $1,966
9th:  $1,912
10th:  Evan Kupferberg  –  $1,685
11th:  Scott Anderson  –  $1,573

They will continue playing tonight until they reach a champion.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 202

Aaron Thivyanathan was all in from the small blind for about 425,000 with , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive against the of Anthony Lambert on the button.

The board came , and Lambert paired his jack on the flop to win the pot and eliminate Thivyanathan in fourth place.

Anthony Lambert  –  1,900,000  (76 bb)
Aaron Thivyanathan  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($12,236)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 1,350,000 (54 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $20,103.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 202

David Shaw moved all in under the gun for 315,000, and Anthony Lambert called from the small blind with .

Shaw turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came — Shaw paired his four on the flop, but improved no further. The pocket queens held up for Lambert to win the pot and eliminate Shaw in fifth place.

Anthony Lambert  –  1,250,000  (50 bb)
David Shaw  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($9,444)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 1,010,000 (40 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $12,236.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 19: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  14 of 109

The end-of-day bubble coincides with the Money Bubble in this event, and the bubble burst with 25:00 remaining in Level 19, with blinds at 5,000-10,000 and a 10,000 ante.

Here are the official chip counts for the 14 survivors from Flight A:

1.  Jason Kapoor  –  484,000
2.  Bryan Hunter  –  388,000
3.  Ronnie Day, Jr.  –  351,000
4.  Massimo Dirienzo  –  311,000
5.  Richard Rossi, Jr.  –  283,000
6.  Karl Manouchakian  –  243,000
7.  Jonmikel MacNichols  –  236,000
8.  Nicholas Scholz  –  235,000
9.  Bryce Williams  –  225,000
10.  Robert Wuestner II  –  164,000
11.  Chris Dombrowski  –  124,000
12.  Frank Menendez  –  93,000
13.  Ryan Parsa  –  68,000
14.  Neal David  –  55,000

Flight B begins tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10:00 am, and Day 2 begins Wednesday at 10:00 am.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 202

Aaron Thivyanathan raised under the gun to 40,000, Mike Vela reraised from the cutoff to 125,000, and Thivyanathan quickly moved all in for 295,000.

Vela quickly called with , but Thivyanathan turned over .

The board came , and the pocket queens held up for Thivyanathan to win the pot and double up in chips.

Aaron Thivyanathan  –  620,000  (31 bb)
Mike Vela  –  130,000  (7 bb)

Two hands later, Vela moved all in under the gun for 130,000, and it folded to David Shaw in the big blind. Shaw peeled a look at one of his cards, and called based on that one card as he flipped it over — the .

Then Shaw flipped over his other card and woke up with .

Vela turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and the pocket aces held up for Shaw to win the pot and eliminate Vela in sixth place.

David Shaw  –  1,115,000  (56 bb)
Mike Vela  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($7,828)

After the hand, Vela smiled and said, “When I saw the ace of spades, I figured the worst case was that we were tied. Oops.”

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 810,000 (41 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $9,444.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 202

Anthony Lambert raised from the cutoff to 35,000, Mike Vela moved all in from the big blind for 210,000, and Lambert thought for a while before he called with .

Vela turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Vela won the pot with his ace to double up in chips.

Mike Vela  –  445,000  (30 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  945,000  (63 bb)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is about 675,000 (45 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $7,828.

2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 1
$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
Entries:  4,852
Prize Pool:  $2,086,360
June 9-13, 2021

“I’ve always heard that it was easier to win tournaments in Tampa,” said Event 1 champion Shawn Mohamed. With a laugh, he added, “It turns out it’s true!”

The opening event of the 2021 WPT Tampa series more than doubled the $1 million guarantee with a massive field of 4,852 entries from seven starting flights. There were 339 players who survived to Day 2, but Mohamed was the big stack when the final four players agreed to an ICM deal, giving him the title, the trophy, and $198,287.

The money is very meaningful to Mohamed, particularly after a tough year during the pandemic. Mohamed’s previous career high was a $28,600 runner-up finish last December down at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, and this victory was worth nearly seven times as much. Mohamed plans to use his winnings from this event to pay off his mortgage and buy his daughter a car.

Ironically, once he reached the final table, Mohamed was no longer concerned about the prize money.

“Even if I went out in ninth place,” said Mohamed, “I would have been perfectly happy.”

But the bigger pay jumps seemed to have an impact on his opponents.

“Everybody tightened up,” said Mohamed about the final table. “I was satisfied with the bottom payout, so I was able to play my game like any other final table. I noticed a lot of the aggressive players really tightened up once the pay jumps started coming. So it worked out to my advantage.”

Mohamed is from south Florida, and he usually plays at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. But he was equally impressed by his first visit to Seminole Hard Rock Tampa.

“Everything that the Hard Rock does here, and down in Hollywood is just on point,” said Mohamed. “They always run the most professional tournaments in Florida. You never have to worry about the structure or anything like that. Every dealer is on point. Every manager is on point. I really appreciate how much attention they put into doing things the right way.”

“I’ll be back,” said Mohamed. “Everyone should come to Tampa.”

Final Results: