2022 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 1
$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 1,334
Prize Pool: $446,890
November 30 – December 4, 2022
The 2022 Tampa Winter Poker Open kicked off with a big multi-flight tournament and Event 1 drew 1,334 entries to blast the $250,000 guarantee. Tampa regular Julio Delgado took the lead midway through Day 2 and used his chip stack to push his way to the win after a three-way deal at the final table.
The turnout over the six starting flights generated a prize pool worth $446,890 and all 136 who advance to Day 2 began Sunday in the money. With no bubble to sweat, Day 2 sped along quickly, and they were down to the last two tables when they took a dinner break.
Once they were back, a series of big hands and coolers and bad beats dropped the tournament to the final table nine. Luke Torres ran his kings into aces, WSOP bracelet winner Chris Tryba ran out of time, John Bollette made a move against Delgado that fell short of success, and Shawn Sorgi flopped a set only to be rivered by a bigger one.
Tampa regular Wally Maddah had perhaps the most interesting path to the final table. He began Day 2 at the bottom of the counts, returning 133rd of 136. Maddah even thought his day was done early when he was holding a payout ticket for 134th place. But it turned out he earned the side pot in a big hand, was still in the game and finished in seventh place. Then it was a two-outer that got Maddah out of the game (a one-outer if Delgado was truthful).
Delgado had 25% of the chips in play with 15 remaining and nearly 40% when they formed the final table. Everyone had to go through him to get chips, and Shane Melert made the best run at the leader, getting within ten big blinds before he fell back.
With three players remaining, they decided to divide the rest of the prize pool based on the ICM numbers. Melert earned $47,309 for third place with Manny Minaya banking $51,121 for a runner-up finish.
Delgado took home $62,750 for the WPO Event 1 title, the biggest cash of his career, topping the $13K he won for a Triple 30s title in April.
Congrats to Julio for the dominant run!
Final table results:
| Place | First Name | Last Name | City | State | Prize Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julio | Delgado | Orlando | FL | $62,750 * |
| 2 | Manny | Minaya | Northdale | FL | $51,121 * |
| 3 | Shane | Melert | Mogadore | OH | $47,309 * |
| 4 | Joel | Deutsch | Hollywood | FL | $27,460 |
| 5 | Josh | Babcock | Clearwater | FL | $20,710 |
| 6 | Alan | Thomas | Irving | TX | $15,790 |
| 7 | Wally | Maddah | Tampa | FL | $12,160 |
| 8 | Jerry | Argento | New Port Richey | FL | $9,470 |
| 9 | Drew | Dodge | Spring Hill | FL | $7,450 |
* – denotes results of a three-way deal