Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 10: 500/1,000/100 | Structure
Flight A Players Remaining: 90/174

After finding the felt early, Marie Harrell re-entered and proceeded to run up a stack. It’s now late in Level 10 and she finds herself having accumulated about 45,000 worth of chips. That puts her at about average with just over two more hours remaining in the day.

There’s a tough field still in with the likes of John Racener, Bruce Snell, Mike Raimon, Austin Buchanan and others all remaining. Anthony Astarita and John Dolan, meanwhile, have hit the rail.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 9: 400/800/100 | Structure
Flight A Players Remaining: 106/174

Registration is closed and the field is final in the first of six flights of the Winter Poker Open $570 buy-in, $300,000 guarantee. A strong field of 174 entries ponied up the buy-in generating $87,000 toward the guarantee.

Flight A is slated to play six more levels before wrapping. Those unable to make this 11am installment are able to get in the game tonight at 6pm.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 8: 300/600/75 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 171

Level 8 is nearly a wrap and opportunities to get in on the Winter Poker Open $570 Flight A are drawing slim. Registration is available until about 3:30pm and at that time the desk will close. As is, the clock shows 171 entries marking a huge turnout in the series opener.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 7: 250/500/75 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 165

Rafael Reis claimed victory in the state’s largest-ever poker tournament, the 2016 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open’s $360 event in Hollywood. Reis, a staple in Tampa’s tournament scene, defeated over 5,000 entries in that tournament scoring over $155,000 in the process.

He’s in the mix of it here in Event 1 of the Winter Poker Open, too,after more than doubling his starting holdings. He sits on chips of 44,500.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 6: 200/400/50 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 159

John Racener got a seat in the action before first break while John Dolan sat down in the game just after break. The Tampa locals combine for more than $14,000,000 in career earnings and shared a deep run in the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event both final tabling the game’s championship that year.

Racener’s big payday came in the form of a runner-up finish to Jonathan Duhamel for more than $5,500,000. Dolan, meanwhile, finished sixth pocketing $1,700,000.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 5: 150/300/50 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 147

Nicholas Raio separated himself from the pack over the first four levels of the day. After taking his seat at Table 12 with 20,000 starting chips, he ran it up to 49,500 and leads the way early in the $300,000 guarantee.

Marie Harrell is among those to have found the rail as her seat sits now sits empty.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
End of Level 4: 100/200/25 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 144

Players are on their first 15-mintue break of the day. We will take a look at the big stack while tables are cleared.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 4: 100/200/25 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 140

No Seminole Hard Rock Tampa series would be complete without a visit from Anthony Astarita. Astarita plays in the room weekly and recently took down the Friday night $10,000 guarantee. The Tampa-area resident burst onto the Central Florida poker scene back in 2016 when he won the property’s WPTDeepStacks Main Event for over $131,000. From there, he finished fourth in a $570 event for over $18,000.

Astarita is in the field here in Flight A and we expect it’s just his first appearance in what will be daily visits between now and the Main Event.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 3: 75/150 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 127

It’s a friendly vibe in Flight A of the Winter Poker Open kickoff as a slew of local players are in the poker room taking their shot at a big score.

Over at Table 13, Tampa’s Anthony Dianaty recently chopped with fellow Floridian Mark “Bud” Wiser when Dianaty’s had the of Weiser faced off on a king-queen-high board. Dianaty was already above starting stack and piled up half of that medium-sized pot as well.

Also on Table 13 is Marie Harrell. Harrell lives nearby, is a regular in the room and has claimed a handful of cashes in the state including a final table appearance in a WPTDeepStacks event in northern Florida earlier in this year.

Event 1A: $570 Deep Stack, $300K Gtd
Level 2: 50/100 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 111

Level 2 is underway with the clock showing a strong field of 100 entries so far. The stout start puts it well ahead of pace last June’s WPTDeepStacks $570 opener and the figure is expected to steadily grow until registration closes at about 3:30pm.

With the big number comes a big top prize in this event. Additionally, the winner will snag the property’s token guitar trophy pictured above and below.

We’ll take a look at some of the notables in the early action shortly.