Byron Rodriguez – Tournament Director
Seminole Hard Rock Tampa is happy to welcome their new Tournament Director, Byron Rodriguez. Byron is in the middle of moving his family from New Jersey to Tampa. He spent many years running tournaments at a large casino in Atlantic City and now he’s bringing that expertise to the Hard Rock!
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 21: Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000 ante
End of level 21 and the final 13 players are off for a one hour dinner break. Average stack is 402k.
Play will resume at 6:45pm.
Seating and chip counts as of dinner:
Table 49
Table 50
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 21: Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000 ante
Brenda Lane-Worley – 14th Place – $4,698
On a flop of J T x, Brenda Lane-Worley got all-in against Natasha Barbour Raimon. Brenda’s AQ needed a King (gutshot) or Queen to beat Natasha’s AJ (top pair).
The last two were bricks and Natasha took the pot, chipping up to ~600k.
Brenda was eliminated in 14th place, earning $4,698.
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 21: Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000 ante
Paul Stanechewski – 15th Place – $4,698
Paul Stanechewski got all-in with AQ with action from the big stack Jean ‘Prince’ Gaspard, who held 76. Jean flopped a 6 and the rest of the board made no difference. Price’s stack got bigger.
Paul busted out in 15th place, earning $4,698.
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 21: Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000 ante
Stephen Diamantas (pictured) won this event during the Winter Open back in December, so he’s looking to repeat with a win here today.
He got lucky earlier today when he was all-in against Chris Dombrowski holding AK against Chris’ pocket Queens. Stephen caught a King on he river to survive, doubling up to over 500k when there were 16 players remaining.
Stephen is now up to over 700k, even after shipping a small double-up to Ronald Touruny, who shoved with QJ offsuit. Stephen looked him up with pocket 6s. Ronald flopped a Jack and rivered a four-flush to double-up to about 170k.
Still at 15 players.
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 21: Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000 ante
Blinds are up with 15 players remaining. Average stack is 348k.
Jean Gaspard still leads.
They will take a one-hour dinner break at the end of this level (about 5:45pm).
$210 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Player Appreciation
Level 5: Blinds 150/300/25
Registration has closed with a total of 68 entries. Total prize pool comes to $11,900. The final seven will get paid as follows:
Place – Payout
In addition, to show their appreciation for the players, the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa is giving $100 gas cards to all players at the final table.
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 20: Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000 ante
Amaury Lopez – 16th Place – $4,111
Amaury Lopez got all-in holding pocket 7s and was called by Stephen Diamantas holding pocket 3s. The board ran out A T 6 6 J — with four hearts — and Stephen had the only heart. He took the pot, busting Amaury in 16th place ($4,111).
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 20: Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000 ante
Rod Rodriguez – 17th Place – $4,111
Rod Rodriguez was next to go, busting out in 17th place.
With his departure, Barbara Cardin was moved from table 50 to table 49 to balance. Now all three remaining women are on the same table.
Sixteen players remain. Average stack is 326k.
$1,650 No Limit Hold’em WPT Championship
Level 20: Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000 ante
Players are back from the break.
Here are the final two tables with approximate chip counts:
Table 49
Table 50