$1,650 Winter Poker Open Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 75/150

As expected, Steven Bennett is in the thick of the action during the early stages of the series’ championship event and looks to finish the 2015 Winter Poker Open in the same place he started it — the winner’s circle.

The 46-year-old carded his second-career tournament victory in the opening tournament of the WPO, a $350 deep stack no limit hold’em tournament that drew a stacked field of 741 entries. In addition to a seat into today’s finale, Bennett, of Deerfield Beach, FL ,earned $24,583 following a six-way ICM chop.

“It feels great. I never win anything,” Bennett laughed following Event 1. “I chop a decent amount, but I never win anything.”

As of now, the Championship clock shows 74 players registered with other preliminary event winners Anthony Pellegrini (Event 5) and Dean Morris (Event 9) among them. We will take a closer look at their victories later.