$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 5: 150/300 with a 50 ante Entries: 152
First break chip leader Vicki Holmes
The first break came and went and cards are back in the air for Flight E of the $350 Winter Poker Open Event 1. The Ladies Event was yesterday, but that hasn’t stopped the fairer sex from making their presence known here in the opener.
Following the first four levels of play, Vicki Holmes has assumed the top spot with a stack of 75,000. Close on her heels is Len Nhoung with 54,000.
Len Nhoung
Both players have experienced success on the poker felt, Holmes with over $36,000 in career earnings and Nhoung with a runner-up finish in WPT regional event nearby.
The Flight E entry count ticked up over the 98 threshold early in Level 2 and that officially renders the $150,000 guarantee a thing of the past. The field now tops 500 combined entries ensuring a prize pool in excess of the six-figure guarantee.
The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa series always draw a mix of faithful grinders and out-of-towners. Early on, it’s been a lot of the former and one of those faithful grinders is Marvin Karlins.
“Flying Duckman”, as his shirt reads, is a regular of the Tampa property and hit it pretty big in northern Florida just over a year ago finishing fourth in a $5,000 WPT Main Event for nearly $120,000. The score wasn’t just a flash in the pan, though. He’s logged 11 more cashes in the time since and has become a staple in most Seminole Hard Rock Poker-branded events.
Karlins is among the field in Flight E and updates on his progress will be provided throughout the day.
WPTDeepStacks-Tampa tournament director, Byron Rodriguez announces Shuffle Up and Deal
The clock strikes 11am and cards are in the for Flight E of the Winter Poker Open $350 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed opening event. With a combined field of 402 to this point, this morning’s flights needs only to draw 98 entries to match the six-figure target. Given it’s the weekend at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, a flight that hits triple digit entries is basically a certainty. We’ll keep an eye on the field as it continues to expand in the early stages of Flight E.
As players did yesterday, those in action today take their seats to 20,000 starting chips. Blinds begin at 25/50 and levels are 30 minutes. Registration and re-entry are available until about 3:30pm with play concluding around 6:45pm.
Here are the details on the day:
11AM: Event 1 Day 1E – $350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$150,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Players begin with 20,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
Day 2 of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open is in the books and all tournaments are closed down for the evening.
Event 1 ran two more flights of the $350 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament adding another 204 entries into the game. Karl Manouchakia, Tommy Nguyen, Dmitry Agrachov, and Steve Trizis were only a few of our regulars booking their spot in Day 2 along 34 total for the day.
Event 2 was a special tournament limited to our female competitors. The $150 buy-in Ladies Event drew 40 entries and tournament staff added a $1,650 WPO Championship to the winner. Kirsten Olieberg (pictured above) outlasted them all to earn her first guitar trophy.
Day 3 presents the final two flights of Event 1 and we expect big crowds to show up for both the afternoon and evening runs. They should hit the $150,000 in the first flight and begin pushing the prize pool higher.
We’ll be here all day long once again, bringing all the action from start to finish.
$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry) End of Level 13: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante Flight D Players Remaining: 16 of 106
Dmitry Agrachov
Flight D has come to an end with 16 players advancing to Day 2. Dmitry Agrachov bagged the biggest stack in the early morning hours, putting away 258,500 for his return on Sunday.
Combined with the first three flights, we now have 73 players moving on with a chance at the Event 1 title.
Full chip counts will be posted when they are available.
$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante Flight D Players Remaining: 18 of 106
Dmitry Agrachov
Taking a look back at the Flight D field for Event 1, they began with 106 entries but only 18 of them remain as they head into the final level of the day.
SHRP regular Dmitry Agrachov is still among them, ready to continue a nice run that saw him cash three times during the recent RRPO series including a final table appearance.
2016 Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa, FL Event 2: $150 Ladies Event Re-Entry Entries: 40 Prize Pool: $4,800 December 1, 2016
Kirsten Olieberg, Ladies Event champion
(Tampa, FL) – The second day of the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open brought out the Ladies Event and a nice crowd on a Friday evening. The $150 buy-in tournament drew 40 entrants to the field and Kirstin Olieberg dominated late to earn the title.
Those 40 entries into the tournament matched the 2015 number and created a prize pool worth $4,800. In addition to the prize money, Seminole Hard Rock Tampa poker added a $1,650 Championship seat for the winner.
The tournament quickly played down and they were at the final table after less than seven hours of action. Olieberg was the leader at the start of the final table along with Seminole Hard Rock Tampa regular Cheri Beatty and Anna Tran.
With only five of the ten final table players getting paid, they still had some work to do. They traded chips for an hour before breaking things open. They fell in quick succession until Tran and Diana Rossi were eliminated by Beatty to put them in the money.
Olieberg continued to run her stack up while Beatty lost two big coolers to end her run in fourth place. The three remaining players began a deal discussion with both Olieberg and Edie Jo Norman very interested in both the guitar trophy and Championship seat.
They finally worked things out and Olieberg was declared the champion courtesy of her huge chip lead.
“My husband told me I better bring home the guitar,” Olieberg laughed. “He’ll be happy now.”
She’ll also be happy to be playing the WPO Championship in less than two weeks. Olieberg is no stranger to success here with her biggest cash coming in the 2014 WPO. She made the final table and cashed out more than $4,700 for finishing tenth out of 469 in the $350 Deep Stack opening tournament.
