$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Entries: 137
Bryce McVay is another member of the WPO Championship field that earned his seat during the prelims. McVay was the last player standing among 119 entries in the $250 Deep Stacks Event 9. It was his second career Seminole Hard Rock Tampa title and this would be a very nice third.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Entries: 137
You won’t find a lot of soft spots in a Championship of this caliber but Table 41 at the front of the room seems to be especially tough.
That’s a lot of skill at one table this early in the tournament and it will not break this evening.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Entries: 134
Chip leader Chase Madden limped from middle position and Ladies Event champion Kirsten Olieberg jammed her last 11,225 from the small blind. It was back on Madden and he verified the count before he called.
Madden: 
Olieberg: 
Runout: 
Madden’s ace-king was best and the Ladies champ was eliminated. The 11,000 chips were nice, but didn’t account for much in Madden’s stack which sits at over 200,000.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Entries: 132
There was a middle position raise and the small blind called. It was on John Holley in the big blind and he defended. The trio saw a flop of 
and they checked it down. The turn was the 
and the small blind lead for 2,500. Holley called as did the middle-position player. The river was the 
and they checked it down before tabling their hands.
Holley: 
for a pair of aces
Small blind: 
for a pair of twos
Middle position raiser: 
for five-high
Holley’s pair of aces was best.
“You raised with five-high?” he said playfully to the middle position player.
“I was trying to get something going,” the middle position player said.
“You would have had me all screwed up if you’d hit,” Holley said referencing the players’ draw on the turn.
The hand helped grow Holley’s stack which now sits at roughly 90,000,
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Entries: 126
It’s unclear exactly how the action went down, but it was heads up on a board of 
. An early position opponent checked it to Allen Kessler who bet 3,500. The early position opponent called and Kessler flipped over pocket jacks. The fullhouse was good.
With the win, the man they call “Chainsaw” sits at about 28,000.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Entries: 126
Winter Poker Open Ladies Event Champion Kirstein Olieberg is shortstacked after she got caught with a small pair.
The board was 
and Olieberg lead for 13,000 from the small blind. An opponent in middle position contemplated the decision for some time before he found a call. Olieberg turned over 
for a pair and a missed straight draw. The opponent claimed and was best.
The hand knocked Olieberg’s stack down to 7,500.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Entries: 126
The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa team is complete with the recent entry of John Racener. Racener, who appeared as a member of the November Nine alongside John Dolan in the 2010 Main Event, owns over $9,000,000 in career earnings.
He’s one of the newest entries in today’s Flight A and lost a few chips after leading out for 2,500 on the river only to see a late position player throw in a raise. Racener mucked and got below starting stack.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400 with a 50 ante
Entries: 120
Fresh off a runner-up finish in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open, Lewis Gallo is back in action at his home casino. Gallo is a multiple final tablist here in Tampa and earned the largest score of his career during June’s WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Main Event. Others from that final table — defending champion Anthony Astarita and third-place finisher Justin Fawcett — are among the Winter Poker Open Flight A field as well.
Like Fawcett, Gallo has enjoyed some time atop the counts today. He currently sits on about 108,000 chips and is one of the biggest stacks in the room.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400 with a 50 ante
Entries: 117
The Seminole Hard Rock Poker team is filing in slowly but surely. Sheddy Siddiqui was here early, getting in on the first few levels of play. Matt Stout, meanwhile, took his time registering just a few minutes ago.
Jessica Dawley is among the other team members expected to come out for the event.
$1,650 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Level 5: 150/300 with a 50 ante
Entries: 113
With Seminole Hard Rock Tampa ambassador Wally Maddah in the fray as well, John Racener is the property’s lone patch player yet to take his shot in the series final. Racener took to Twitter yesterday letting everyone know he’d be in attendance for today’s Flight A. There’s still some time with late registration and re-entry available until 7pm.
MUST PLAY @SHRTPoker I’ll be there tomrw for flight 1A reppin my home casino and poker room #LFG https://t.co/uOm7kbuM5a
— John Racener (@racener) December 15, 2016