$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 15: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 21 of 119

It’s unclear what went down, but Jay Ballentine ended up with the majority of Ted Wild’s stack. Ballentine is comfortably over 200,000 while Wild now sits with less than 100,000.

Ballentine’s stack doesn’t quite look to be the biggest left, but he’s definitely toward the top of the counts with the bubble right around the corner.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante
Players Remaining: 27 of 119

Play moved slow following break, but there was a three-way all-in recently that left yesterday’s turbo champion Alan Phillips bust.

Phillips got all-in holding and was against the of one opponent and the of another. With his adversaries each holding two of the others’ outs, and Phillips holding two of their straight cards, the turbo champ was a favorite to win.

A flop paired Phillips, but the turn gave his opponent’s a straight. Frustrated, he stood from the table. After a second or two to cool down, he pushed in his chair and left with a smile.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante
Players Remaining: 28 of 119

Cards are back in the air following a 30-minute dinner break. Out in front with only 28 players remaining is Ted Wild. Wild sits on 212,000 chips and leads the likes of Mohammad Affaneh, John Holley, Alan Phillips, Hank Zheng, Kirsten Olieberg and others.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 30 of 119

Action is narrowing quick and just three tables house the last 30 players. Only the top 18 go home with prize money and the money bubble is like just a couple levels away.

Here’s a glance at the final three tables followed by the remaining payouts:

1st – $7,004 + Championship seat
2nd – $3,851
3rd – $2,217
4th – $1,867
5th – $1,400
6th – $1,167
7th – $934
8th – $700
9th – $525
10th-12th – $467
13th-15th – $408
16th-18th – $350

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 35 of 119

With a couple limps already in the pot, Kirsten Olieberg raised to 7,600 from the button. The blinds folded as did all others except for the cutoff.

Olieberg and the cutoff saw a flop of . The cutoff checked and Olieberg bet 8,500. The cutoff called.

The turn was the . The cutoff checked again. Olieberg bet 16,000. The cutoff promptly moved and Olieberg rechecked her hole cards. She called and the hands were tabled.

Cutoff:
Olieberg:

Both players had a straight and the tension ceased as the dealer burned and turned the on the river. With that, there was no damage on the hand.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 9: 400/800 with a 100 ante
Players Remaining: 55 of 119

Registration is closed and the prize pool is finalized.

Event 9 of the Winter Poker Open, a $250 deep stack tournament, drew 119 entries. The $23,340 prize pool pays the top 18 finishers at least $350. From there, the prizes steadily escalate until topping out in the form of a $7,004 score. In addition, the tournament’s champion earns a $1,650 Championship seat and the guitar trophy.

Full payouts:

2016 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, FL
Event 9
$250 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 119
Prize Pool: $23,340
December 12, 2016

1st – $7,004 + Championship seat
2nd – $3,851
3rd – $2,217
4th – $1,867
5th – $1,400
6th – $1,167
7th – $934
8th – $700
9th – $525
10th-12th – $467
13th-15th – $408
16th-18th – $350

The clock currently shows 55 players remaining toward the end of Level 9. Among them are John Holley, Daniel Ramirez, Mark “Bud” Wiser, Claudemir Osorio, Wally Maddah, Brandon Byars, Ryan Dunn, Alan Phillips and Ladies Event champion Kirsten Olieberg.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Entries: 117

Brandon Byars has been a night owl through the Winter Poker Open concentrating his efforts in the 6pm installments of the multi-flight events. After a deep run in the $570 and a late night last night, he got a slow start this morning and just squeaked into today’s $250 in Level 8.

Byars, who won last April’s Spring Little Slick, has carded two cashes thus far at the WPO and is in the hunt for number three.

Players are about to go on their second break of the day. When they return, registration will officially close and the payout information will be posted shortly thereafter.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Entries: 110

Florida’s John Holley made his arrival at the Winter Poker Open during the middle of last week. He’s played nearly every event and today’s $250 is no exception.

Holley is a five-time World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring winner and owns more than $1,500,000 in career cashes. He’s off to a slow start in today’s WPO event sitting at about half starting stack. If he were to bust, players are permitted to re-enter anytime between now and 3:30pm.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400 with a 50 ante
Entries: 103

The guarantee was already bested, but the field continued growing and cracked 100 entries just moments ago. Late registration and unlimited re-entry are available for about another 90 minutes.

Complete payout and prize pool information will be posted after it’s finalized.

$250 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 5: 150/300 with a 50 ante
Entries: 96

The first 15-minute break concluded moments ago and players are back in their seats to blinds of 150/300 and a 50 ante. Greg White was a minute or so tardy getting back to his table and for good reason. White sits on over 70,000 chips and leads the way early in the event.