Main Event: Anthony Astarita’s Title Defense Underway

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Live Streamed Final Table
Level 5: 100/200/25 | Structure Sheet
Flight A Entries: 163

A slew of notables have contributed to a continued upward trend in the entry count. Now with 161 at the beginning of Level 5, the field is assured to pass last year’s number in the opening flight and will likely put the tournament in position to best the overall year over year figure.

Anthony Astarita

Most notable among the notables is the defending champion, Anthony Astarita. Astarita is a recent entry in the event and his title defense is officially underway.

Last year, Astarita bested 538 earning over $130,000. He went on to score another $18,000 a few months later in the property’s $570 Fall Deep Stack Poker Series.

Astarita hopes to continue his good play and add another notch to his tournament belt here in the 2017 WPTDeepStacks Main Event.

Event 3: Bob Gallo Dominates WPTDeepStacks $350, Earns $29K and the Guitar Trophy

2017 WPTDeepStacks
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event #3
$350 Deep Stack
No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries: 513
Prize Pool: $153,900
June 12-14, 2017

(Tampa, Fla.)Having left the 2016 WPTDeepStacks series on a high note with a final table appearance and seventh-place finish in the Main Event, Bob Gallo returned to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino hungry for another deep run. The Bradenton, Fla. business owner satisfied his appetite in Event 3, a $350 no limit hold’em tournament, late Wednesday night. Gallo dominated the late stages of the tournament, ultimately claiming the chip lead heads up before agreeing to an even chop that saw him earn $29,930 along with the guitar trophy.

The third of five events on the 2017 WPTDeepStacks schedule, Event 3 drew 513 entries marking a slight increase in attendance year over year. The prize pool smashed the $100,000 guarantee before topping out at $153,900. The top 54 players were paid with Zoltan Czinkota (12th, $2,001), Justin Fawcett (22nd, $846), Christine Holubeck (29th, $770) and Steve Trizis (42nd, $693) among the in-the-money finishers.

Joining Gallo at the final table were notables Joey Alegria, Herbert Woodbery and Rob Manjura. Gallo went on a heater, busting Rob Benford 10th, Alegria ninth and Manjura sixth. With five players remaining, Gallo and Chris Hyden owned the top two stacks and played an all-in pot that saw Hyden hit the rail speechless. Hyden was in the small blind and three-bet a Gallo late-position raise. The flop fell JdTh5d and Hyden lead for 575,000. Gallo called. The turn was the Kh and Hyden shoved for over 2,000,000. Gallo snapped and turned over AdQh for the nuts. Hyden owned KsJs for two pair and was stunned. The river was no help and he busted fifth. Gallo, meanwhile, raked a pot worth well over half the total chips in play. He cruised to heads up action before chopping with Collin Wilson.

Gallo is 55 years old and owns his own construction company. He’s a regular at Seminole poker events and earned over $19,000 for his seventh-place finish in last year’s WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Main Event.

Event 3 final results:

1st: Bob Gallo – $29,930 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: Collin Wilson – $29,930
3rd: Joe Buonodono – $13,851
4th: Herbert Woodbery – $11,004
5th: Chris Hyden – $8,618
6th: Rob Manjura – $7,079
7th: Frank Menendez – $5,617
8th: Stepas Tindziulis – $4,386
9th: Joey Alegria – $3,078
10th: Rob Benford – $2,001
11th: Quentin Jones – $2,001
12th: Zoltan Czinkota – $2,001
13th: John Redlitz – $1,539
14th: Harmeet Singh – $1,539
15th: Nicholas Owens – $1,539
16th: Joseph Ramsey – $1,154
17th: Larry Ram – $1,154
18th: Wesley Skinner – $1,154
19th: Glen Ballenger – $846
20th: Woodrow Pass – $846
21st: Kwi Paek – $846
22nd: Justin Fawcett – $846
23rd: Bruce Snell – $846
24th: Chris Boyle – $846
25th: Steven Zakarias – $846
26th: Sufian Soufan – $846
27th: Jason Lynn – $846
28th: Jody Keeling – $770
29th: Christine Holubeck – $770
30th: Richard Horswell – $770
31st: Adam Tencza – $770
32nd: Sanjib Acharya – $770
33rd: Rafik Abdel-Halim – $770
34th: Enzo Romano – $770
35th: Robert Woodward – $770
36th: Erik Zika – $770
37th: Stanley Tavanese – $693
38th: Michael Cohen – $693
39th: Daniel Lobato – $693
40th: Antuan Bunkley – $693
41st: Gholamreza Khoshkhou – $693
42nd: Steve Trizis – $693
43rd: Richard Doss – $693
44th: Khanh Le – $693
45th: Aaron Martin – $693
46th: Erik Eberts – $616
47th: Alexandru Ivan – $616
48th: Mark Smyrski – $616
49th: Albert Cohen – $616
50th: Nikolaos Costarelis – $616
51st: Pompy Luanglatbandith – $616
52nd: Larry Marklan – $616
53rd: Curtis Hoftyzer – $616
54th: Joseph Orsino – $616

Main Event: What They’re Playing For

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Live Streamed Final Table
Level 3: 75/150 | Structure Sheet
Flight A Entries: 152

In addition to the lion’s share of the $300,000 guarantee, the WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Main Event champion is set to head home with the property’s token guitar trophy.

Players are about to go on their first break of the day with the clock showing 152 to this point.

Main Event: Primed for a Huge Turnout

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Live Streamed Final Table
Level 2: 50/100 | Structure Sheet
Flight A Entries: 143

With more than 140 entries in Flight A before Level 3, the WPTDeepStacks Main Event is in great position to pass last year’s turnout and is projected to surpass 600 total entries.

Registration in Flight A is open until 7:30pm tonight while Flight B and C begin tomorrow and Saturday at 12-noon.

Main Event: Win a Seat Winners Redeem Their Prizes

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Live Streamed Final Table
Level 1: 25/50 | Structure Sheet
Flight A Entries: 134

As with most Seminole Hard Rock Poker events, the staff at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa gave away free entries in the WPTDeepStacks series Main Event via a Win a Seat contest. Players simply visited HardRockPoker.com, provided their name and zip code along with their e-mail address and were entered in the contest. Entry was open for the better part of two months, and when it closed the property chose three names at random and presented them a free $1,100 buy-in to the Main Event.

The WPTDeepStacks winners were Jeffrey Tamulski, Charles Montgomery and Bryan Menendez.

Jeffrey Tamulski
Charles Montgomery
Bryan Menendez

All three promptly redeemed the entry and were in their seats before cards went in the air today.

While the WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Win a Seat contest is over, the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood is running one for their $5,250 buy-in Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship in August. Like in Tampa, the Hollywood property is giving away three entries.

Enter the SHRPO Win a Seat Contest HERE

Main Event: $300K Guaranteed WPTDeepStacks Main Event Underway

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Live Streamed Final Table
Level 1: 25/50 | Structure Sheet
Flight A Entries: 118

It’s the top of the hour as the clock strikes 12-noon at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, Florida. Freshly underway in the property’s new, state-of-the-art poker room, is Flight A of the $1,100 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed WPTDeepStacks Main Event. The event marks the 10th stop for Season 4 of the global tour and will see players from all over the map converge on Central Florida between now and Monday’s live streamed final table.

The event sees its participants take their seats to 25,000 starting chips and they are set to log 40-minute levels throughout. Late registration and re-entry are available until the start of Level 10 (that’s about 7:30pm).

Here are the details:

12pm: Main Event ($1,100 No Limit Hold’em) – Flight A

  • $300,000 guaranteed, live streamed final table
  • 25,000 chips and 40-minute levels
  • Late registration and re-entry available until the start of Level 10 (~7:30pm)
  • Play concludes following Level 15 (~11:45pm)
  • Flight B begins tomorrow at 12pm, Flight C Saturday at 12pm
  • Day 2 begins Sunday at 12pm
  • Structure Sheet

Updates throughout the event’s conclusion will be available throughout the day right here at SHRTPoker.com.

WPTDeepStacks Day 8 (Thursday, June 15)

LINK: WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Tournament Schedule

12pm: Main Event ($1,100 No Limit Hold’em) – Flight A

  • $300,000 guaranteed, live streamed final table
  • 25,000 chips and 40-minute levels
  • Late registration and re-entry available until the start of Level 10 (~7:30pm)
  • Play concludes following Level 15 (~11:45pm)
  • Flight B begins tomorrow at 12pm, Flight C Saturday at 12pm
  • Day 2 begins Sunday at 12pm
  • Structure Sheet

3pm: $140 Main Event Satellite (No Limit Hold’em)

  • 5 seats guaranteed
  • 7,000 chips and 20-minute levels
  • Late registration and re-entry available until the start of Level 9 (~6:10pm)
  • Structure Sheet

7pm: $140 Main Event Satellite (No Limit Hold’em)

  • 5 seats guaranteed
  • 7,000 chips and 20-minute levels
  • Late registration and re-entry available until the start of Level 9 (~10:10pm)
  • Structure Sheet

WPTDeepStacks Day 7 Updates Wind Down

Day 7 of the WPTDeepStacks at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa has concluded. Action resumes again Thursday at 12pm with Flight A of the $300,000 guaranteed Main Event.

Here’s a look at Thursday’s upcoming schedule:

  • 12pm: Main Event ($1,100 No Limit Hold’em) – Flight A
  • 3pm: $140 Main Event Satellite (No Limit Hold’em)
  • 7pm: $140 Main Event Satellite (No Limit Hold’em)

Goodnight and see you in the morning!

LINK: WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Tournament Schedule

Event 3: Bob Gallo Wins in Heads-Up Chop ($29,930); Collin Wilson Takes 2nd ($29,930)

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed
| Payouts
Level 28: 30,000/60,000/10,000
Players Remaining: 2/513

After a couple hands of heads-up play, Bob Gallo and Collin Wilson decided to chop it up. Gallo had a slight chip advantage, but opted for an even split, each player going home with $29,930. As chip leader, Gallo went down as the champion earning the top spot along with the trophy.

Bob Gallo

For Wilson, the runner-up finish was a sweet deal after beginning the restart 91st of the 102 returning players.

Collin Wilson

A full report on the event will be posted Thursday. In the meantime, here’s a look at the final results:

1st: Bob Gallo – $29,930 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: Collin Wilson – $29,930
3rd: Joe Buonodono – $13,851
4th: Herbert Woodbery – $11,004
5th: Chris Hyden – $8,618
6th: Rob Manjura – $7,079
7th: Frank Menendez – $5,617
8th: Stepas Tindziulis – $4,386
9th: Joey Alegria – $3,078
10th: Rob Benford – $2,001
11th: Quentin Jones – $2,001
12th: Zoltan Czinkota – $2,001
13th: John Redlitz – $1,539
14th: Harmeet Singh – $1,539
15th: Nicholas Owens – $1,539
16th: Joseph Ramsey – $1,154
17th: Larry Ram – $1,154
18th: Wesley Skinner – $1,154
19th: Glen Ballenger – $846
20th: Woodrow Pass – $846
21st: Kwi Paek – $846
22nd: Justin Fawcett – $846
23rd: Bruce Snell – $846
24th: Chris Boyle – $846
25th: Steven Zakarias – $846
26th: Sufian Soufan – $846
27th: Jason Lynn – $846
28th: Jody Keeling – $770
29th: Christine Holubeck – $770
30th: Richard Horswell – $770
31st: Adam Tencza – $770
32nd: Sanjib Acharya – $770
33rd: Rafik Abdel-Halim – $770
34th: Enzo Romano – $770
35th: Robert Woodward – $770
36th: Erik Zika – $770
37th: Stanley Tavanese – $693
38th: Michael Cohen – $693
39th: Daniel Lobato – $693
40th: Antuan Bunkley – $693
41st: Gholamreza Khoshkhou – $693
42nd: Steve Trizis – $693
43rd: Richard Doss – $693
44th: Khanh Le – $693
45th: Aaron Martin – $693
46th: Erik Eberts – $616
47th: Alexandru Ivan – $616
48th: Mark Smyrski – $616
49th: Albert Cohen – $616
50th: Nikolaos Costarelis – $616
51st: Pompy Luanglatbandith – $616
52nd: Larry Marklan – $616
53rd: Curtis Hoftyzer – $616
54th: Joseph Orsino – $616

Event 3: Joe Buonodono Eliminated in 3rd Place ($13,851)

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed
| Payouts
Level 28: 30,000/60,000/10,000
Players Remaining: 2/513

Joe Buonodono

Joe Buonodono was at about 1,000,000 chips and got them in in a blind-versus-blind battle against Collin Wilson.

Wilson: KsKd
Buonodono: 4s4c

Buonodono could only watch as the dealer burned and turned the runout. He never spiked his set and was eliminated in third place leaving Wilson and Bob Gallo to battle it out.

Joe Buonodono – Eliminated in 3rd place ($13,851)