2026 Pinktober Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 11
$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  272
Prize Pool:  $285,600
October 15-18, 2026

Registration closed for the 2026 PPO Championship with 272 entries in the $1,200 buy-in tournament, turning the $200,000 guarantee into a prize pool worth $285,600. The last 36 spots will be paid with $2,220 for a min-cash and $65,490 plus the PPO trophy to the winner.

1st: $65,490 + PPO Trophy
2nd: $40,470
3rd: $28,860
4th: $20,970
5th: $15,540
6th: $11,740
7th: $9,050
8th: $7,120
9th: $5,720
10th-12th: $4,700
13th-15th: $3,940
16th-18th: $3,380
19th-21st: $2,970
22nd-24th: $2,670
25th-27th: $2,450
28th-30th: $2,310
31st-33rd: $2,240
34th-36th: $2,220

$1,200 PPO Championship
Prize Pool:  $285,600  |  Structure
Level 15:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Day 1C Players Remaining:  19 of 147

With 20 players remaining and 19 advancing to Day 2, Pablo Valdivieso ran into a bad beat with his queens falling to ace-queen to drop him to 19,000. A few hands later, he was sent out on the bubble to send the rest into the money.

Pedro Perez ran hot early and late and bagged the Day 2 overall lead with 589,000.

We will post the Day 2 seat draw as soon as it is available.

Flight C counts:

Pedro Perez – 589,000 (98 bb)
Shane Dellus – 581,000 (97 bb)
Hetashri Shinde – 422,000 (70 bb)
Mike Ahmad – 384,000 (64 bb)
Caio De Lucca – 349,000 (58 bb)
Raymond Brady – 314,000 (52 bb)
Ahmad Al Kamme – 260,000 (43 bb)
Darleen Rahn – 215,000 (36 bb)
Juan Rodriguez – 196,000 (33 bb)
Tk Miles – 173,000 (29 bb)
Josias Santos – 163,000 (27 bb)
Ananth Ganesan – 154,000 (26 bb)
Ioannis Patsourakis – 149,000 (25 bb)
Dylan Cann – 127,000 (21 bb)
Edwards Muniz – 125,000 (21 bb)
Brian Ray – 76,000 (13 bb)
Anthony Lavalle – 75,000 (13 bb)
Roberto Melo – 54,000 (9 bb)
Francisco Gomez – 33,000 (6 bb)

$1,200 PPO Championship
Prize Pool:  $285,600  |  Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1C Entries:  147

Registration is closed for the final flight of the $1,200 buy-in PPO Championship with 147 entries, bringing the combined total to 272, surpassing the $200,000 guarantee and creating a prize pool worth $285,600. We’ll publish complete payout information after the bubble this evening.

Flight C will continue until 19 players remain and survivors will bag their chips for a Day 2 return tomorrow at 11 am.

$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 9:  800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Day 1C Entries:  145

We are now into the ninth level of play and the last chance for players to join this big final flight of the PPO Championship.

We have a huge turnout of 145 entries, the prize pool is over $280,000 and it will grow a bit before we close registration at 5:45 pm.

$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1C Entries:  134

The second break ended and players returned to action with 134 entries in the game and only two more hours to get down here to play. They will work through three more levels, take their third break, and we close registration for good at 5:45 pm.

Milind Naik is the new big stack in the room, sitting with a very comfortable 166,800. First break leader Pedro Perez is still doing fine and one of the few over 100K.

Here are the leaders and some other counts from around the room at break:

Milind Naik – 166,800 (167 bb)
Joao Figueiredo – 127,600 (128 bb)
Ben Paul Chelladurai – 125,600 (126 bb)
Juan Rodriguez – 118,600 (119 bb)
Pedro Perez – 109,900 (110 bb)
Mike Ahmad – 93,100 (93 bb)
Pablo Valdivieso – 88,100 (88 bb)
Nick Scholz – 85,000 (85 bb)
David Nathaniel – 72,400 (72 bb)
Anthony Lavelle – 67,200 (67 bb)
Aaron Thivyanathan – 65,000 (65 bb)
Mo Alhawani – 59,600 (60 bb)
Josias Santos – 54,800 (55 bb)
Adam Weingard – 53,800 (54 bb)
David Piccolo – 50,400 (50 bb)
Juan Catala – 47,300 (47 bb)
Tony March – 45,200 (45 bb)
TK Miles – 45,000 (45 bb)
Grant Missonis – 41,200 (41 bb)
David Piccolo  –  39,000 (39 bb)
Roberto Melo – 38,300 (38 bb)
Dan Clemente – 38,100 (38 bb)
Maribeth Hilliard – 36,800 (37 bb)
Ok Haselton – 34,100 (34 bb)
Justin Fawcett – 28,000 (28 bb)
Robert LeBeau – 25,300 (25 bb)
Manny Minaya – 23,200 (23 bb)
John Gordon – 21,800 (22 bb)

$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1C Entries:  114

We are up to Level 6 in Flight C of the PPO Championship with 114 entries and a great, talented group on a Saturday afternoon. Football on the TV, some Rays playoff baseball later tonight, and a lot of cash to be won.

Some recent additions to the field include Josias Santos, John Gordon, Nick Scholz, and TK Miles.

Miles ranks second on our all-time money-winner list with $774,499 in earnings, just behind Tampa legend Fred Paradis. Among his 21 cashes here, he already has two Championship wins: the $3,500 Championship during the 2014 Tampa Summer Poker Open and the $1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship in 2021.

$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1C Entries:  93

Players returned from their first break and we got a look around the empty tables to check the stacks.

Pedro Perez is the early leader, knocking on the door of a 100K stack, and Tony March is second with a big group trying to catch them.

Here’s a look at some stacks from around the room:

Pedro Perez – 96,000 (192 bb)
Tony March – 68,900 (138 bb)
Maribeth Hilliard – 63,500 (127 bb)
Mo Alhawani – 63,100 (126 bb)
Robert LeBeau – 54,100 (108 bb)
Ok Haselton – 53,800 (108 bb)
David Nathaniel – 43,700 (87 bb)
Grant Missonis – 41,200 (82 bb)
Juan Rodriguez – 38,700 (77 bb)
Dan Clemente – 34,500 (69 bb)
Pablo Valdivieso – 30,100 (60 bb)
Karl Manouchakian – 29,000 (58 bb)
Jerry Silva – 27,800 (56 bb)
Brian Ray – 27,600 (55 bb)
Don Linsky – 24,900 (50 bb)
Anthony Lavelle – 24,600 (49 bb)
Justin Fawcett – 24,200 (48 bb)
Richard Smith – 19,000 (38 bb)
Aaron Thivyanathan – 12,500 (25 bb)

$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1C Entries:  66

With a hundred seconds left in Level 2, the 66th entry of the day hit the registration cage and the PPO Championship prize pool officially topped the $200,000 guarantee.

It will continue to go up until we close registration at 5:45 pm.

$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1C Entries:  55

We have a great turnout this morning before we even hit the afternoon hours, with 55 entries so far and growing as more people wake up and make their to The Draper Room. It won’t take much longer to surpass the $200,000 guarantee and start building that prize pool.

Some early familiar faces include Pedro Perez, Juan Catala, Mo Alhawani, Jerry Silva, David Nathaniel, Manny Minaya, Robert LeBeau, and Tony March.

Nathaniel is a former Pinktober Poker Open Champion, winning this tournament back in 2019 for $93,545.

$1,200 PPO Championship
$200,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 1:  100/200 with a 200 ante
Day 1C Entries:  24

Action is underway for the final flight of the 2026 Pinktober Poker Open with 24 entries and the $200,000 guarantee hitting before too long.

They will play 40-minute levels all day with 15-minute breaks every three levels until they make the money and Day 2.