Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 12: 800/1,600/200 | Structure
Flight B Players Remaining: 64/189

Cord Garcia kicked it off with a raise to 4,100. It was on Tom Nguyen who three-bet to 10,300. It folded back to Garcia and he called.

The pair saw a flop of . Garcia checked and Nguyen bet 13,000. Garcia called.

The turn fell the and both players checked.

The river completed the action with the . Garcia checked a third time. Nguyen bet 21,000. Garcia broke down his remaining stack and eventually found a call.

Nguyen: for top pair

Garcia’s hand hit the muck and Nguyen took a nice pot growing his stack. Garcia was knocked down to about average.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 12: 600/1,200/200 | Structure
Flight B Players Remaining: 75/189

Brett Apter flew to the Seminole Hard Rock on Wednesday after being randomly selected for a free entry in the property’s Win a Seat drawing. Yesterday’s play didn’t go as planned and he busted shy of a Day 2 berth. The East Coast resident decided to stay a bit longer and is mixing it up again here in Flight B.

Apter recently took a small pot after opening to 2,500 and getting a pair of callers. The trio checked the flop and it checked to Apter again on the turn. He threw a bet in the middle and took it down.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 11: 600/1,200/200 | Structure
Flight B Players Remaining: 88/189

Erik Christensen is one of a number of players that made the journey to Tampa from South Florida. So far so good as he’s had a steady Flight B that sees him holding 139,000 chips midway through Level 11. Christensen claims loads of cashes in his home region, but just one here in Tampa. He hopes to change that as he currently sits healthy with over 100 big blinds.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 10: 500/1,000/100 | Structure
Flight B Players Remaining: 91/189

From the big blind, Ory Hen check called the flop and turn on an board. The river fell the and Hen mixed it up, leading for 5,500. The opponent took a few moments to think it out before he folded.

Hen, the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year, took the pot and grew his stack to over 100,000.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 10: 500/1,000/100 | Structure
Flight B Entries: 189 | Total Entries: 354

The dinner break’s a wrap and registration is closed in Flight B of the Winter Poker Open Main Event. The second of three starting flights drew 189 entries marking an incredible year-over-year attendance increase of more than 68 percent. The two-flight total field stands at 353 entries easily surpassing the $500,000 guarantee with an unofficial prize pool of $529,500.

Flight C kicks off tomorrow and the tournament is all but assured to surpass the $800,000 figure.

Here’s a look at the breakdown:

Unofficial prize pool: $529,500

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
End of Level 9: 400/800/100 | Structure
Flight B Entries: 182 | Total Entries: 346

Players in the Main Event are on a one-hour dinner break. Play resumes at about 7:15pm and registration will close at that time.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 9: 400/800/100 | Structure
Flight B Entries: 179 | Total Entries: 343

Tom Nguyen, a familiar face to any player that spends time in the Tampa poker room, enjoys the chip lead just before dinner break in the Main Event. Nguyen, who just finished third in teh $350 two days ago, claims a stack of roughly 200,000 and is in good shape to find a bag in Flight B.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: 300/600/75 | Structure
Flight B Entries: 172 | Total Entries: 336

With the 170th Flight B entry, the $500,000 guarantee has officially been bested in the Winter Poker Open Main Event. Today’s flight specifically has seen a huge turnout as it’s currently in the midst of a 53-percent year-over-year attendance increase.

In the end, the prize pool should easily hit the $750,000 mark and will likely cross into the $800,000s.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 7: 250/500/75 | Structure
Flight B Entries: 163 | Total Entries: 327

David Prociak, the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year, has already had a nice success at this year’s Winter Poker Open. Just two days ago, he won the series’ $350, besting 546 entries and earning $40,787 in the process.

100k from 30k SS on second break of the $1650 @SHRTPoker $500k. Table full of PLO guys I’ve played with ????

— David Prociak (@DavidProciakPok) December 15, 2017

He’s in Flight B of the Main Event now, and returned from break about 30 minutes with one of the top stacks in the room. He took a hit after a quartet of players got 6,200 in the pot prelop. The flop fell nine-high and Alex Ivan lead for 11,200. Two others players folded and it was on Prociak who had Ivan covered. Prociak put a pile of gray in the middle and Ivan called off.

Ivan: for an over pair
Prociak: for a pair of sevens

The turn and river came blanks and Prociak’s six-figure stack took a notable hit as he shipped about 27,000 chips the way of Ivan.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 6: 200/400/50 | Structure
Flight B Entries: 157 | Total Entries: 321

Defending Winter Poker Open Main Event champion David Bradshaw put a hurt on the early stages of yesterday’s Flight A taking over 200,000 chips to the dinner break. He lead the field by a margin, but got a bit squirrely in a few pots late. Bradshaw got short when he risked a big portion of his stack with his pair and a flush draw, but never improved against an opponent’s two pair.

Bradshaw busted shy of a bag, but is back on the felt mixing it up again here in Flight B.