2020 WSOP Circuit – February
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 10
$1,700 WSOPC Main Event (Single Re-Entry)$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  1,162
Prize Pool:  $1,760,430
February 14-17, 2020

When Isaac Kempton stumbled across some poker videos on YouTube four years ago, he had no idea that it would lead to him winning $290,974 and a WSOP Circuit Main Event ring in only the second live tournament he had ever played.

“I saw some YouTube videos,” said Kempton, “probably through the auto-recommendation algorithm. It recommended some poker hands from the old High Stakes Poker days.” Kempton watched those videos, and then continued down the rabbit hole, consuming more and more poker content until he was ready to play it himself.

“This game looks really fun,” Kempton said, as he reminisced about his first exposure to poker. “And they’re playing for a ton of money. Maybe I should try this.” And try it he did.

“I just played for fun for two years,” said Kempton, who started out by playing free-money games online and little sit-n-go tournaments in his college dorm. “And then I decided, ‘Hey, this is really fun, and I think I’m pretty good at it. I’m going to try taking it seriously.’ So I started studying and trying to get better. And I was able to grind my way up, and now I’m here.”

Kempton has been primarily a cash game player, and if you don’t count the sit-n-gos from the college dorms, this WSOP Circuit Main Event was just the second live poker tournament that Kempton played.

Kempton was the overall chipleader after Day 1, and when the final 25 players bagged up at the end of Day 2, Kempton was once again atop the leaderboard. But when the final table was down to four players, Kempton found himself as the short stack.

Kempton doubled up with pocket sixes against Paul Balzano’s ace-nine, and then won a big three-way pot to eliminate Rob Manjura in fourth place and catapult into the chip lead. One hand later, Kempton eliminated Balzano in third place to get heads-up with David Jackson with a 2.3-to-1 chip lead.

Jackson was able to gain some ground on Kempton, but the tournament ended when Jackson shoved the river with (jack-high) on a board of , and Kempton tank-called with to win the title with a pair of eights.

Along with the prize money and the coveted WSOP Circuit ring, Kempton receives an entry into the invitation-only WSOP Global Casino Championship. It won’t be easy, but if Kempton wins that event, he could have a WSOP Circuit ring and a WSOP Bracelet after playing only three live poker tournaments. And if that were to happen, you can bet that there would be a new generation of players inspired by watching videos of Isaac Kempton on YouTube.

Final Table Results:

1st:  Isaac Kempton  –  $290,974 + WSOP Circuit Ring
2nd:  David Jackson  –  $179,833
3rd:  Paul Balzano  –  $135,794
4th:  Rob Manjura  –  $103,434
5th:  James Calderaro  –  $79,480
6th:  Ioannis Patsourakis  –  $61,616
7th:  Francisco Gomez  –  $48,195
8th:  Brad Sailor  –  $38,039
9th:  Fares Santana  –  $30,297
10th:  John Ott  –  $24,353

2020 WSOP Circuit – February
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 14
$250 Double Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  455
Prize Pool:  $91,000
February 17, 2020

With the day off from his full-time job due to the national holiday, Presidents Day, Harmeet Singh entered the final event of this series, the $250 Double Stack. It ended up being a Presidents Day to remember, as Singh not only final tabled the event with a friend, but Singh went on to win his first WSOP Circuit ring and $17,990.

“It’s the best feeling for any poker player,” said Singh after his victory, “and I really appreciate it.

When the final river card hit, the fifth-place finisher, Siddharth Siddharth, seemed even more excited for Singh than Singh was for himself. Singh introduced Siddharth to poker, and taught him a lot about the game.

“I introduced him to poker,” said Singh, who then began speaking about the person who helped guide him through the poker world. “My teacher has been my uncle, Raminder Singh, who has already won a WSOP Circuit ring. He is my mentor. He’s a teacher, a poker player, he’s my friend, he’s my parent, he’s my everything.” (Raminder Singh not only has a WSOP Circuit ring on his resume, but he is one of the winningest players in Seminole Hard Rock history with six trophies. )

The $17,990 that Singh won in this event was the second largest cash of his career, but if poker continues for him the same way that it has for his Uncle Raminder, then he has many more victories to look forward to.

Final Table Results:

1st:  Harmeet Singh  –  $17,990 + WSOP Circuit ring
2nd:  Kenneth Frey  –  $11,116
3rd:  David Tuthill  –  $8,140
4th:  Richard Porter  –  $6,042
5th:  Siddharth Siddharth  –  $4,546
6th:  James Soper  –  $3,469
7th:  Luke Speer  –  $2,685
8th:  Garth Fudens  –  $2,108
9th:  John Bossinger  –  $1,679
10th:  Chad Summers  –  $1,357

2020 WSOP Circuit – February
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 13
$600 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries:  374
Prize Pool:  $192,610
February 16-17, 2020

A year ago this month, David DiBernardi won his first WSOP Circuit ring down at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, but after busting out of the Main Event on Sunday, DiBernardi was prepared to call it a series.

“I almost didn’t play this event,” said DiBernardi. “I was waiting in line because I min-cashed the Main Event, and my buddy said, ‘Dude, you’ve got to hop in this.'”

DiBernardi did hop into it, and finished Day 1 third in chips. By the time the final table began, he had moved up the leaderboard to second in chips, and when the final river card hit, DiBernardi was victorious in winning his second WSOP Circuit ring in his own hometown.

When asked about the WSOP Circuit coming to Tampa, DiBernardi said, “I’m from Tampa, and I’ve been waiting for something like this. It’s awesome, what the Hard Rock has done. This room has been amazing. It was a great series, and I’m excited that it’s coming back in September.”

Final Table Results:

1st:  David DiBernardi  –  $40,079 + WSOP Circuit Ring
2nd:  Victor Nissim  –  $24,768
3rd:  Giedrius Bagdonas  –  $17,957
4th:  Bradley Coultas  –  $13,216
5th:  William Watson  –  $9,877
6th:  Rodney Turvin  –  $7,497
7th:  Gregory Masters  –  $5,780
8th:  Stephen Song  –  $4,529
9th:  Saehyun Kim  –  $3,606
10th:  Lily Kornik  –  $2,920

$1,700 WSOPC Main Event (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 1,162

After a flop of , Isaac Kempton checked, David Jackson bet 650,000, and Kempton called.

The turn card was the , Kempton checked, Jackson bet 2,500,000, and Kempton called.

The river card was the , Kempton checked, Jackson moved all in for 8,900,000, and Kempton asked for an exact count and went into the tank.

Eventually, Kempton quietly put out a single white chip (1,000,000) to indicate a call, and Jackson reluctantly showed his for a missed straight draw — jack high.

Kempton turned over to win the pot — and the WSOP Circuit Main Event — with a pair of eights.

David Jackson finished as the runner-up, earning $179,833.

Isaac Kempton won $290,974, a WSOP Circuit Championship ring, and a seat into the WSOP Global Casino Championship.

Stay tuned for a recap from this final table.

1st:  Isaac Kempton  –  $290,974 + WSOP Circuit Ring
2nd:  David Jackson  –  $179,833
3rd:  Paul Balzano  –  $135,794
4th:  Rob Manjura  –  $103,434
5th:  James Calderaro  –  $79,480
6th:  Ioannis Patsourakis  –  $61,616
7th:  Francisco Gomez  –  $48,195
8th:  Brad Sailor  –  $38,039
9th:  Fares Santana  –  $30,297
10th:  John Ott  –  $24,353

$1,700 WSOPC Main Event (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 35:  150,000/300,000 with a 300,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,162

The next hand after Rob Manjura was eliminated in fourth place, Paul Balzano moved all in from the button for 5,700,000, and Isaac Kempton called from the big blind with .

Balzano turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came — Kempton paired his ace on the flop to Balzano’s gutshot straight draw, but Balzano improved no further. Kempton won the pot with his pair of aces to eliminate Balzano in third place.

Paul Balzano  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($135,794)

There are less than 15 minutes left in the level, and the final two players ask to take their break now instead. Here are the official chip counts before heads-up play begins:

Isaac Kempton  –  24,350,000  (81 bb)
David Jackson  –  10,525,000  (35 bb)

And here is the final table prizepool:

1st:  $290,974 + WSOP Circuit Ring
2nd:  $179,833

3rd:  Paul Balzano  –  $135,794
4th:  Rob Manjura  –  $103,434
5th:  James Calderaro  –  $79,480
6th:  Ioannis Patsourakis  –  $61,616
7th:  Francisco Gomez  –  $48,195
8th:  Brad Sailor  –  $38,039
9th:  Fares Santana  –  $30,297
10th:  John Ott  –  $24,353