2016 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, FL
Event 12
$150 Deep Stack Turbo
Entries: 95
Prize Pool: $11,400
December 13, 2016

Event 12 was the last tournament on the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open schedule before the $300,000 Guarantee Championship kicks off on Thursday. It brought out a bunch of familiar faces and it ended with John Pishos defending his 2015 WPO Event 12 title for a $3,875 payout.

The 95 entries in the $150 Turbo No Limit Hold’em tournament surpassed last year’s numbers as well as the $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. Seminole Hard Rock Tampa ambassador Wally Maddah was the last player to jump in, after bubbling the Seniors Classic Rocker event, but he did not play a part in the end.

The last ten players earned a piece of the $11,400 prize pool and they wasted no time getting there after registration closed. It was a fast, one-handed money bubble and there were some familiar faces at the final table beside Pishos including Alex Ivan, John Ryan, Onder Ekinci, and Andrew Phillips (son of Event 8 Turbo winner Alan Phillips).

They dropped out one after another in quick succession until Pishos was heads up with a commanding chip lead against Helge Wallem. Wallem tried several times to make a dent in Pishos’ chip stack but it didn’t take long for Pishos to finish it off and give him another WPO Event 12 title.

“I won this tournament last year?” was Pishos’ only laughing comment when asked how it felt to win it back-to-back.

It was a dominant run in the fast-paced game and Pishos earned his second career Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open title.

Event 12 results:

1st: John Pishos – $3,875
2nd: Helge Wallem – $2,109
3rd: Andrew Phillips – $1,471
4th: Onder Ekinci – $1,083
5th: Joseph Farrar – $809
6th: David Pierce – $616
7th: Chris Brodock – $479
8th: Alex Ivan – $388
9th: John Ryan – $308
10th: Scott Sanford – $262