Event 7 Flight C: Rafael Reis Takes Big Lead Late in Level 12

$570 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante
Flight C Players Remaining: 25 of 80

Rafael Reis (left) and the all-in opponent

Rafeal Reis, who was already toward the top of the counts, raised to 3,600 only to see the player on his direct left shove for 16,400. It folded back around to Reis and he called.

Opponent: 9s9c
Reis: Ah4c

The flop brought a quick lead change in the hand as the dealer burned and turned the As6s6h. The turn fell the Jc and the river completed the action with the 8d. Reis scored the knockout and grew his stack. Reis justified calling the shortstack’s all-in bet while the rest of the table gave a friendly needle to him and his hot streak of cards.

The very next hand Reis’ ace-queen bested the ace-10 of local Mike Raimon in a modest pot. Reis’ stack now sits well over 200,000 and he is the chip leader late in the event.

Event 7 Flight C: Mohammad Affenah Smacks a Flop to Double

$570 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 ante
Flight C Players Remaining: 28 of 80

It was a raised pot with at least one caller and action was on Mohammad Affenah in the small blind. He called only to see the big blind jam. It folded around to Affenah who was covered by the all-in bet. He called off and the hands were tabled.

Big blind: Ac5c
Affenah: Qs9s

The flop nailed Affenah falling two queens — QhQd6d. The turn As and river 2c weren’t enough for the opponent and Affenah got the full double and then some. He now sits at just over 30,000 chips.

Event 7 Flight C: Prize Pool Crosses $100K in 11am Flight

$570 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 9: 400/800 with a 100 ante
Flight C Players Remaining: 47 of 80

Registration closed just a few minutes ago and tournament staff has finalized the numbers in Flight C of the Winter Poker Open $570.

The most recent of six start days drew 80 entries putting the three-flight total at 232 with three flights still to come. As is, the prize pool sits at $116,000 — more than halfway to its lofty target of $200,000.

Tournament breakdown:

FlightEntriesAdvanced
A7614
B7612
C80TBD
DTomorrow @ 6pm–
ESaturday @ 11am–
FSaturday @ 6pm–
Totals23226

Event 7 Flight C: Reigning Championship Winner John Templeton

$570 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Entries: 78

John Templeton

The reigning winner of the Winter Poker Open Championship is in the house. Just about 12 months ago, John Templeton defeated a field of 453 entries in the $1,650 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed finale. He ended up chopping three ways with David Lappano and Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Sheddy Siddiqui. In the end, Templeton went down as the champ and earned $134,000.

The champ recently picked up TsTc on a Jh9d3d6cQd board to scoop a nice pot. His stack currently sits at about 43,000.

Event 7 Flight C: Ryan Dunn Gets Value

$570 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Entries: 73

Ryan Dunn

Seminole Hard Rock Poker regular Ryan Dunn was in the big blind. A player had opened to 1,700 from middle position and a late-position player called. Dunn three-bet, making it 5,500 to go. The middle-position raiser took a minute, but mucked. The late-position player called and they saw a flop of Ad9h4c. Both players checked.

The turn was the 2s and both players checked again.

Dunn lead for 7,500 on the 3h river. The player in late position called and Dunn turned over AcKc for top-top to take a nice pot.

Event 7 Flight C: Defending Champion and SHRP Team Member Mike Laake

$570 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400 with a 50 ante
Entries: 67

Mike Laake

Mike Laake put the Seminole Hard Rock Poker team on the board during last year’s Winter Poker Open winning this very event for $54,756. Laake defeated a field of 634 entries and recorded what was then his eighth major tournament victory.

“It feels great,” Laake said back then. “I kind of let the tournament come to me. I didn’t press too many edges […] Everything kind of fell my way.”

Laake is back and his title defense begins in Flight C. He chipped up recently after C-betting a flop, but is still under starting stack.

Event 7 Flight C: Rafael Reis Searching for Another Score

$570 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200 with a 25 ante
Entries: 60

Rafael Reis

Just about three weeks ago, Rafael Reis turned a modest $360 investment into more than $155,000. The super-sized return came at the hands of an equally super-sized, 5,018-entry field in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open’s $360 buy-in, $1,000,000 guaranteed opener in Hollywood. The event went down in the books as the largest tournament in Florida state history and Reis’ win came following a nine-way chop.

With a fat wallet, Reis made his way to Tampa and has taken a shot in a few of the prelim events. He’s searching for that next score and hopes it comes in the Winter Poker Open $570.