$250 Big Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 90

After a few orbits of little action, Event 6 hit the money shortly before their next break.

They got there when Scott Riddell called all-in with after E.J. McVetty three-bet with . The flop was no damage to Riddell but the turn was bad news.

No luck on the river and the remaining nine players hit the money.

$250 Big Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 90

After a bit of a slow down getting there, the last ten players have formed up as one at the Event 6 final table with Michael DeMahy way out in front.

They still have a little work to get done, only nine of these ten players will take home some of the prize pool.

Seat 1: E.J. McVetty – 145,000 (24 bb)
Seat 2: Michael DeMahy – 414,500 (69 bb)
Seat 3: Kent Dokendorf – 70,000 (12 bb)
Seat 4: Joseph Abdo – 103,500 (17 bb)
Seat 5: Anthony Swedberg – 111,000 (19 bb)
Seat 6: Roseli Godbey – 140,500 (23 bb)
Seat 7: Scott Riddell – 140,000 (23 bb)
Seat 8: Wayne Brown – 98,000 (16 bb)
Seat 9: Alan Phillips – 55,000 (9 bb)
Seat 10: David Kolaskey – 67,500 (11 bb)

$250 Big Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 13 of 90

With two of today’s trophy already awarded, it’s time to take a look at the last tournament of the day. Event 6 is down to the last two tables with only 13 players around with a shot at the title and nine getting paid.

Event 6 payouts:

1st: $6,035 + $1,650 Championship seat
2nd: $3,278
3rd: $2,070
4th: $1,553
5th: $1,208
6th: $1,035
7th: $863
8th: $690
9th: $518

2016 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, FL
Event 5
$250 Pot Limit Omaha
Entries: 107
Prize Pool: $20,820
December 7, 2016

The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa poker room is known for some of the best Pot Limit Omaha games in the state and the 2016 Winter Poker Open schedule gave the PLO players a chance at a tournament title. After outlasting more than 100 entrants, Jordan Holt stacked all the chips for a WPO winner’s photo and nearly $7,000.

Event 5 drew 107 entries into the $250 PLO tournament, an increase from last year’s run, and they created a prize pool worth $20,820 to surpass the $15,000 Guarantee. The last 11 players earned a piece of the money and they quickly played down towards the money.

Two tables remained when they went on their dinner break and they were on the money bubble soon after. John Alegria made the final two tables of the opening event of the series but he was the unfortunate bubble in Event 5. He was followed by former SHRP champ Peter Walsworth to set up the final table.

Len Nhoung began the final table with a huge lead but it slipped away thanks to the fickle nature of PLO. She had to settle for a fifth place result and short stacked John Shuler was sent to the rail on her heels.

Alex Ivan, Chun Wang, and Holt all took turns holding the three-handed lead until Ivan took out Wang in two big hands. Ivan had the lead going into heads up lay but Holt kept the pressure on to take his chips.

In the end, it was as close to as a PLO cooler as you can find to end it. Holt’s aces held against Ivan’s kings and a turned straight draw to earn every chip in play. It was a hard-fought battle when the Clermont resident was up against some tough opponents.

Now Holt is the new owner of a Winter Poker Open guitar trophy, a WPO Championship seat, and a nice $6,975 payout for one day’s work.

This win gives Holt the biggest cash of his career, only $6 over his payout for a deep run in a WSOP Circuit Main Event last February. During the entire final table, Holt had his eye on the trophy and expressed his desire to take it home. He did just that and now will return in a week to play in the Winter Poker Open $300,000 Guarantee Championship.

Event 5 results:

1st: Jordan Holt – $6,975 + $1,650 Seat
2nd: Alex Ivan – $3,893
3rd: Chun Wang – $2,623
4th: John Shuler – $1,874
5th: Len Nhoung – $1,395
6th: Oliver Agostini – $1,083
7th: Coré Diniz – $833
8th: John Holley – $666
9th: Frank Gomez – $562
10th: Peter Walsworth – $479
11th: Jeanette Robinson – $437

$250 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 12,000/24,000

Alex Ivan began heads up play with the lead but the chips migrated to Jordan Holt’s side of the table after one level of play. Ivan still had plenty of chips to wield and it took a cooler to end it early.

After two pot-sized bets, Ivan’s chips were in the middle with but he was in trouble against Holt’s .

It got worse for Ivan on the flop but he picked up an open-ended straight draw on the turn. Seven outs to keep the game going but he blanked the river to end the match and the tournament.

Ivan earned $3,893 for his efforts while Holt cashed out for $6,975 and the coveted guitar trophy along with his seat in the $1,650 WPO Championship.

1st: Jordan Holt – $6,975 + $1,650 Seat
2nd: Alex Ivan – $3,893

$250 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 22: 10,000/20,000
Players Remaining: 2 of 107

Alex Ivan dropped down as the short stack before he doubled through Chun Wang, then finished him off two hands later.

Wang called all-in after the flop and he was ahead with against . The turn improved Ivan to tens up and Wang missed the river to exit in third place.

Alex Ivan – 965,000 (48 bb)
Jordan Holt – 640,000 (32 bb)
Chun Wang – Eliminated in 3rd place ($2,623)

$250 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 21: 8,000/16,000
Players Remaining: 3 of 107

On the first hand after the break, John Shuler put his last five big blinds in the middle with kings and Jordan Holt called with and caught a straight per Shuler’s recollection.

He was the short stack for most of the final table but laddered up nicely to fourth place money.

Jordan Holt – 610,000 (38 bb)
John Shuler – Eliminated in 4th place ($1,874)

2016 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, FL
Event 4
$150 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 508
Prize Pool: $59,310
December 5-7, 2016

Kostas Papastavrou pulled off a convincing performance Wednesday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa winning Event 4 of the property’s Winter Poker Open. Papastavrou claimed the top spot in the $150 Deep Stack defeating a tough field of 508 entries. For his efforts, he went home with $13,071, a $1,650 seat in the $300,000 guaranteed Championship and a guitar trophy.

With 30-minute levels on Day 1 and 40-minute levels on Day 2, the event moved fast to start but offered plenty of play late. The final table was reached around 6:45pm but play didn’t conclude until nearly 10:45pm. There was some talk of a chop nine-handed, but Papastavrou insisited on playing it out. The one roadblock to an early night went on to take a massive chip lead when he played pot worth nearly 4,000,000 against the start-of-day leader Devaraj Munisekar. With six players left, Munisekar raised and Papastavrou made it 445,000 to go. Munisekar shoved and Papastavrou called off 1,944,000. It turned out to be a race — a race that Papastavrou’s ace-king won.

The hand catapulted Papastavrou into the lead and he bullied his way to a heads-up berth against Kevin Pahl. The pair debated briefly before deciding on a chop that saw Papastavrou take the top spot while Pahl went home with an even $10,000.

With a modest pricepoint and a super-sized field, one might be surprised to see the talent that made Day 2 of Event 4. Five-time WSOP Circuit ring winner John Holley, 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $350 winner Vitor Coelho, 2016 WPTDeepStacks-Tampe Main Event champion Anthony Astarita and Seminole Hard Rock Tampa ambassador Wally Maddah were among those who returned to compete for the top prize. While they each cashed, it was Papastavrou’s trophy for the taking.

Papastavrou is a 54-year-old professional poker player. He immigrated to the United States from Greece about 38  years ago and has spent much of his time Stateside in Florida. He’s been playing for a living for 21 years and has recorded two major victories prior to this.

Event 4 results:

1st: Kostas Papastavrou – $13,071 + $1,650 Seat
2nd: Kevin Pahl – $10,000
3rd: Mark “Bud” Wiser- $5,338
4th: Brandon Sinawi – $4,241
5th: Kevin Goldstein – $3,321
6th: Devaraj Munisekar – $2,728
7th: Angelo Valdez – $2,165
8th: Tony March – $1,690
9th: Will Dominguez – $1,186
10th: Onder Ekinci – $771
11th: Vitor Coelho – $771
12th: Daniel Ramirez – $771
13th: Mal O’Connor- $593
14th: Antonio Rangel – $593
15th: Jean Zabin – $593
16th: James Gibson – $445
17th: Wally Maddah – $445
18th: Anthony Astarita – $445
19th: Erik Zika – $326
20th: Christina Taylor – $326
21st: Eric Buel – $326
22nd: Sumit Mantaporn – $326
23rd: Michael Henin – $326
24th: Jimmy Davis – $326
25th: Michael Scott – $326
26th: James Smith – $326
27th: Carlos Loving – $326
28th: Jason Hamilton – $297
29th: Oscar Lindo Zeledon – $297
30th: David Hudick – $297
31st: Joao Figueiredo – $297
32nd: Robert Panetta – $297
33rd: Ryan Hughes – $297
34th: John Holley – $297
35th: Hank Zheng – $297
36th: Greg Osborne – $297
37th: John Ambrosi – $267
38th: Ian Pearson – $267
39th: Matthew Mirabella – $267
40th: Rina Coss – $267
41st: Michael Nostrame – $267
42nd: Chase Kinchen – $267
43rd: William Sanford – $267
44th: Brian Dokendorf – $267
45th: Mohammad Affaneh – $267
46th: Chad Kitchen – $237
47th: Vencent White – $237
48th: Vicki Holmes – $237
49th: Kenneth James – $237
50th: Jordan Keller – $237
51st: William McPhillips – $237
52nd: Anthony Thomas – $237
53rd: Jeffrey Kichman – $237
54th: James Wood – $237

$250 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 21: 8,000/16,000
Players Remaining: 4 of 107

The four remaining players are on a 15-minute break with three nearly equal stacks and John Shuler needing to make a move.

Seat 3: Alex Ivan – 495,000 (31 bb)
Seat 5: John Shuler – 73,000 (5 bb)
Seat 8: Jordan Holt – 537,000 (34 bb)
Seat 9: Chun Wang – 630,000 (39 bb)

$150 Big Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 28: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 508

Kostas Papastavrou and Kevin Pahl agreed to a heads up deal that saw Pahl pocket an even $10,000. Papastavrou, meanwhile, earned $13,071 along with the guitar trophy and a $1,650 seat in the $300,000 guaranteed Championship.

A full report on the event will be posted later tonight. In the meantime, here’s a look at the tournament’s final results:

1st: Kostas Papastavrou – $13,071 + $1,650 Seat
2nd: Kevin Pahl – $10,000
3rd: Mark “Bud” Wiser- $5,338
4th: Brandon Sinawi – $4,241
5th: Kevin Goldstein – $3,321
6th: Devaraj Munisekar – $2,728
7th: Angelo Valdez – $2,165
8th: Tony March – $1,690
9th: Will Dominguez – $1,186
10th: Onder Ekinci – $771
11th: Vitor Coelho – $771
12th: Daniel Ramirez – $771
13th: Mal O’Connor- $593
14th: Antonio Rangel – $593
15th: Jean Zabin – $593
16th: James Gibson – $445
17th: Wally Maddah – $445
18th: Anthony Astarita – $445
19th: Erik Zika – $326
20th: Christina Taylor – $326
21st: Eric Buel – $326
22nd: Sumit Mantaporn – $326
23rd: Michael Henin – $326
24th: Jimmy Davis – $326
25th: Michael Scott – $326
26th: James Smith – $326
27th: Carlos Loving – $326
28th: Jason Hamilton – $297
29th: Oscar Lindo Zeledon – $297
30th: David Hudick – $297
31st: Joao Figueiredo – $297
32nd: Robert Panetta – $297
33rd: Ryan Hughes – $297
34th: John Holley – $297
35th: Hank Zheng – $297
36th: Greg Osborne – $297
37th: John Ambrosi – $267
38th: Ian Pearson – $267
39th: Matthew Mirabella – $267
40th: Rina Coss – $267
41st: Michael Nostrame – $267
42nd: Chase Kinchen – $267
43rd: William Sanford – $267
44th: Brian Dokendorf – $267
45th: Mohammad Affaneh – $267
46th: Chad Kitchen – $237
47th: Vencent White – $237
48th: Vicki Holmes – $237
49th: Kenneth James – $237
50th: Jordan Keller – $237
51st: William McPhillips – $237
52nd: Anthony Thomas – $237
53rd: Jeffrey Kichman – $237
54th: James Wood – $237