$350 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 2: 50/100 Flight A Entries: 76
Karl Manouchakian
We continue to see a nice run of players entering Event 3 on a Monday morning. We are only 20 entries away from topping last year’s first flight number and it should be no problem hitting triple digits.
Karl Manouchakian took his seat in the first level and he’s already pushing players around. With a board reading , he moved all in to test his opponent. He thought for a few moments before folding the hand and sending the pot to Manouchakian.
$350 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 1: 25/50 Flight A Entries: 52
We are underway in the poker room with the first flight of Event 3 already running ahead of the pace last year. We had 37 entries at the start in 2017 and that flight topped out at 98 entries. It looks like we will continue the series trend with bigger numbers year-to-year.
Monday morning hits the reset button on the WPTDeepStacks series. The first two events are complete and we start a brand new one with another multi-day tournament.
Event 3 is a $350 buy-in tournament with four starting flights over two days featuring a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool. It kicks off at the top of the hour and the second flight runs this evening at 6pm.
Each entrant will start out with a 20,000 stack and all Day 1 levels last 30 minutes. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 3:30pm and they will continue through 14 full levels. Anyone with chips at that point will put them in a bag for a return on Wednesday for Day 2.
We are set to go in the poker room and anticipate a fine start to the week.
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Players begin with 20,000 in chips
Day 1 levels last 30 minutes; Day 2 levels last 40 minutes
Late registration available until start of Level 9
Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
Players participating in multiple Day 1’s may choose their best stack for start of Day 2
2018 WPTDeepStacks Tampa Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 1 $200,000 Guaranteed $570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Entries: 797 Prize Pool: $398,500 June 7-10, 2018
Andrew Pacifico
The 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Tampa WPTDeepStacks series kicked off with a multi-day tournament that hit big marks along the way. Event 1 crushed the $200,000 Guarantee and Andrew Pacifico took home the biggest piece of the prize pool after going from short stack to final table domination. He earned more than $60,000 along with a seat in the $1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event.
Pacifico was down to only a half dozen big blinds late in the day but ran it up, hit the final table with the chip lead, and rode it to the victory.
“When you’re down to that short of a stack it’s very easy to play,” he commented after his win. “The first all-in I was behind but the next four all-ins I was ahead.”
“It put me in a position to kind of chill out and pick my spots.”
Event 1 featured six starting flights over the first three days of the series and they combined to put 797 entries into the game. The players generated a prize pool just shy of $400,000 and the last 100 players shared some of that money.
Day 2 saw 152 players return and each had a shot at the title. Pacifico held a top ten stack for the return after bagging the Flight E chip lead but there were plenty of tough players trying to chase him down. Wally Maddah, Vitor Coelho, Carlos Loving, Derek Bowers, and 2016 WPTDeepStacks Tampa Main Event champion Anthony Astarita were among those vying for the title.
The tournament quickly made into the money before the first Day 2 break and there was a steady parade to the payout desk. Event 1 was down to 16 players at the dinner break and the final table not long after they returned.
Pacifico had the lead to start the final table but Yong Liu was not far behind. One big hand swung even more chips to Pacifico while it was a shocking end for Liu. His turned set ran into Pacifico’s turned straight sending Pacifico further out in front. He held 6.6 million of the 16 million in play with eight players still in contention.
“I had to recheck my cards,” Pacifico said of the hand. “I had to make sure I had the nuts. And I did.”
“I was actually pretty shocked that he had out. I thought he was drawing dead, I’m glad the board didn’t pair.”
Liu wasn’t drawing dead but he was out in ninth and Pacifico held 6.6 million of the 16 million in play with eight players remaining.
Paul Lenkeit saw his aces get cracked with seven players remaining and that set the table for some negotiations. Pacifico earned the title along with the lion’s share of the prize pool courtesy of his huge lead. His official payout was $60,395 plus his WPTDeepStacks Main Event seat.
“I guess I have to drive back down,” Pacifico laughed.
Pacifico transitioned from playing Magic the Gathering into poker after meeting some players who were involved with both. He’s been playing for two decades and was a professional for six years. Now he does real estate and poker training when he’s not at the tables.
It was a great start to the WPTDeepStacks series and we expect to maintain the momentum as we head into the three remaining tournaments.
Congratulations to Pacifico on his biggest career win and thanks to our players for kicking things off with a bang.
Final table results:
1st: Andrew Pacifico – $60,395 + $1,100 Main Event seat* 2nd: Nick Avena – $35,255 * 3rd: Charlie Kapetanakos – $34,111 * 4th: Juan Rodriguez – $30,779 * 5th: Oscar Lindo – $29,811 * 6th: Nick Luczyk – $18,755 * 7th: Paul Lenkeit – $11,902 8th: Ahmad Hamoush – $9,466 9th: Yong Liu – $7,098 10th: Robert Urspruch – $5,842 * – denotes results of a six-way deal
$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining: 6 of 797
Andrew Pacifico
After Paul Lenkeit was eliminated in seventh place, the six remaining players went into serious negotiations to divide up the remaining prize pool. They took a few minutes to work out the deal with Andrew Pacifico holding a huge chip lead.
An agreement was reached with Pacifico earning $60,395 for the title along with the $1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event seat and the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa guitar trophy.
Tournament report to come later this evening.
1st: Andrew Pacifico – $60,395 + $1,100 Main Event seat 2nd: Nick Avena – $35,255 3rd: Charlies Kapetanakos – $34,111 4th: Juan Rodriguez – $30,779 5th: Oscar Lindo – $29,811 6th: Nick Luczyk – $18,755
2018 WPTDeepStacks Tampa Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 2 $20,000 Guaranteed $250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Entries: 160 Prize Pool: $32,500 June 10, 2018
Jose Amezquita
Most players wanted to take part in the big Event 1 restart going in the other part of the poker room but some took their shot at a one-day trophy event in its place. The first turbo tournament on the 2018 WPTDeepStacks Tampa schedule played quickly and Jose Amezquita walked away with the top prize after the last four players agreed to a deal.
The $250 buy-in Turbo Event 3 had a $20,000 guaranteed prize pool that was bested by the 160 entries who took part in the game. It was a mix of players coming in just for this tournament and those who busted early from Event 1. They created a prize pool worth $32,500 with the last 20 spots being paid.
They had a short dinner break and the money bubble burst shortly after their return. Ten eliminations later and they were at the final table where Julio Marerro-Sosa held a huge chip lead. He could not hold onto to all his chips and he was sitting in second position when they hit four-handed play.
Amezquita had taken the lead at that point and the four remaining players worked out a deal to chop up on the remaining prize pool. With the biggest stack, he earned the win and the guitar trophy along with $5,748 for the efforts.
The turbo event was a great way to make some money and earn some honors all in one day. We have another one running next Sunday to close out the series and it should be another fun tournament.
Event 2 results:
1st: Jose Amezquita – $5,748 + Guitar Trophy * 2nd: Julio Marerro-Sosa – $5,231 * 3rd: William Medina-Diaz – $5,231 * 4th: Terrance Patterson – $3,831 * 5th: Brandon Mitchell – $1,568 6th: Scott Queckboerner – $1,300 7th: Geneva Pinney – $1,129 8th: Bounleuth Soundara – $1,014 9th: Charlie Riley – $874 10th: Kerri Puckett – $764 11th: Edwin Ruiz – $764 12th: Ralph Dyer – $764 13th: David Vo – $658 14th: Padarath Lutchman – $658 15th: Millwood Motley – $658 16th: David Pamone – $556 17th: Joseph Orsino – $556 18th: Mansoor Kuder – $556 19th: Brian Holter – $455 20th: David Cochran – $455 * – denotes results of a four-way deal
$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining: 6 of 797
Paul Lenkeit
Paul Lenkeit opened from the button and Charles Lenkeit moved all in from the small blind for 1,390,000. Nick Luczyk folded his big blind and Lenkeit quickly called with a similar stack.
Kapetanakos: Lenkeit:
Kapetanakos was in trouble but the table came alive when the dealer spread the hearty flop. The turn changed nothing but the table erupted after the rivered finished the flush for Kapetanakos. Lenkeit had his aces cracked, he was left with 15,000 and hit the rail soon after.
Charles Kapetanakos – 2,950,000 (37 bb) Paul Lenkeit – Eliminated in 7th place ($11,902)
$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining: 7 of 797
Ahmad Hamoush
The players took a quick 15-minute break from the final table and Ahmad Hamoush immediately open-shoved for approximately 800,000 when they returned. It folded around to Paul Lenkeit in the big blind and he called.
“You got me,” Hamoush said.
Lenkeit: Hamoush:
Hamoush had an over and hearts but missed the save when it came to exit in eighth place.
Paul Lenkeit – 2,300,000 (29 bb) Ahmad Hamoush – Eliminated in 8th place ($9,466)
, he moved all in to test his opponent. He thought for a few moments before folding the hand and sending the pot to Manouchakian.
flop. The 
rivered finished the flush for Kapetanakos. Lenkeit had his aces cracked, he was left with 15,000 and hit the rail soon after.
flop moved him ahead. The board finished 
and 
to send Rodriguez the double up.
