Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 6: 200/400/50 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 150

There’s a pair of past Winter Poker Open Main Event champions in the Flight A field. 2015’s winner, John Templeton, is in search of another title after scoring more than $134,000 just two years ago. Preceding him to the WPO winner’s circle was the 2014 champ, A.J. Kelsall. Kelsall defeated a slightly smaller field and went home with just over $124,000.

Defending champion David Bradshaw is on site, but we haven’t seen him take his seat yet.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 5: 150/300/50 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 142

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa poker ambassador Wally Maddah was on the button. The cutoff raised to 1,075 and Maddah called. Next up was the small blind that also called while the big blind released. They were three-handed to the flop

Flop: — It checked to Maddah who bet 1,800. Both players called and the pot remained three-handed.

Turn: — It checked to Maddah again. He continued to bet, this time 2,500. Both the small blind and the cutoff released and Maddah took the pot without confrontation.

The hand moved Maddah comfortably over starting stacks and he’s off to a good start here in the opener.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 5: 150/300/50 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 137

Karl Manouchakian has been a staple on the Tampa tournament scene for the past couple years. He hit it hard early, recording first- and second-place finishes during the 2016 WPTDeepStacks ultimately earning Player of the Series honors. Additionally, he recorded a final table appearance at last June’s WPTDeepStacks Main Event ultimately bowing out ninth.

He’s had some small cashes as of late, finishing 51st in last week’s $570 opener, but is in search of another big score here in the Main Event.

Below is the final report from Event 4 of the Winter Poker Open which concluded just after 1am Thursday

2017 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 4
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Entries: 546
Prize Pool: $163,800
December 11-13, 2017

One-time Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year David Prociak continued to dominate the SHRP scene during the early morning hours of Thursday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa. Prociak, a resident of nearby Orlando, scored an outright win in Event 4 of the property’s Winter Poker Open, a $350 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry tournament. For the impressive feat, he was rewarded with $40,787 and, remarkably, his seventh SHRP trophy.

The tournament drew a big field of 546 entries generating a total prize pool of $163,800. That figure easily surpassed the $100,000 guarantee and ultimately saw the top 54 players finish in the money. Day 2 restarted with 101 remaining and Prociak held a top-20 stack. Play moved fast with the bubble bursting after the first break and the field quickly narrowing to the final few tables. Prociak beat up the late stages of the tournament taking the chip lead to the final table and never looking back.

Prociak is 35 years old donned his POY title during the 2016 season. The WPO Event 4 win grew his recorded earnings to over $800,000 and added to an impressive tournament resume that also includes a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. In addition to his poker income, Prociak is a business owner.

Here’s a look at the tournament’s final results:

1st: David Prociak – $40,787 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: Timothy Forsberg – $22,932
3rd: Tom Nguyen – $14,742
4th: Robert Irby – $11,712
5th: Chris Whitney – $9,173
6th: Toby Boas – $7,535
7th: Jack McIntyre – $5,979
8th: Sumit Mantaporm – $4,668
9th: Thomas Jackson – $3,276
10th: Rasam Mohammadian – $2,129
11th: Elizabeth McKane – $2,129
12th: Anthony Guagliardo – $2,129
13th: Ryan Luker – $1,638
14th: Charlie Riley – $1,638
15th: Earl Coggin – $1,638
16th: Anatoly Zharnitsky – $1,229
17th: Qinghao Zheng – $1,229
18th: Anthony Dianaty – $1,229
19th: Giang Nguyen – $901
20th: Danny Lobato – $901
21st: Jim Farnsworth – $901
22nd: Clark Hamilton – $901
23rd: Hyndi Khomutetsky – $901
24th: Josias Santos – $901
25th: Dominick Minaya – $901
26th: Brian Rand – $901
27th: Blake Hanes – $901
28th: Erik Zika – $819
29th: Ross Ward – $819
30th: Steven Pellingra – $819
31st: Manny Minaya – $819
32nd: Joseph DiChiaro – $819
33rd: Amelio Amato – $819
34th: Michael Gallo – $819
35th: Sean Haywood – $819
36th: Richard Petrovic – $819
37th: Donald Brown – $737
38th: Wesley Skinner – $737
39th: Michael Cohen – $737
40th: Joseph Orsino – $737
41st: Oscar Zeledon – $737
42nd: Abdel “AB” Bouanani – $737
43rd: Bryce McVay– $737
44th: Martin Markov – $737
45th: John Deignan – $737
46th: Michael Tomic – $655
47th: Sherrie Williams – $655
48th: Jeffrey Kichman – $655
49th: Alex Ivan – $655
50th: Remedios Patalinghug – $655
51st: Barbara Cardin – $655
52nd: Joseph Dinardo – $655
53rd: Joseph Buonodono – $655
54th: Brian Menefee– $655

• Download: Final Results (PDF)

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 4: 100/200/25 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 131

Victor Nassif and Terri Ann Crawford both doubled their stacks over the course of the first three levels of the day. Nassif got the best of it with holdings of about 70,000 while Crawford has a stack of 60,500.

The clock shows 132 entries in the game and Flight A is all but assured to surpass last year’s figure of 142 entries. Registration and re-entry in this flight are available until about 7:15pm with Flight B and C still to come Friday and Saturday at 11am.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Heading to Level 4: 100/200/25 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 127

Players in the Main Event are on their first 15-minute break of the day. We’ll take a look at some of the big stacks while the tables are cleared and report back afterward.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 3: 75/150/25 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 123

Anthony Astarita is one of a few players in the Flight A game that’s claimed a Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Main Event title. His crowning poker achievement came in the property’s 2016 WPTDeepStacks Main Event besting 538 entries in the $1,100 buy-in event. Astarita earned better than $130,000 and sparked a nice streak of tournament cashes that included an $18,000 score a few months later.

He’s back on the Tampa felt and among the hopeful here in Flight A of the Winter Poker Open Main Event.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 2: 75/150 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 108

Tom Nguyen and Robert Irby put in a long, 13-hour Wednesday, but they would have liked it to be a bit longer. The pair went deep in the $350 restart, but ultimately finished just shy of the top spot exiting third and fourth respectively. Nguyen earned a consolation prize of $14,742 while Irby pocketed $11,712.

Despite the long hours, both are in the game here in Flight A of the Main Event eying another big score.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 2: 75/150 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 103

There’s been a steady uptick on the entry count since cards went in the air just about 50 minutes ago. Kicking off Level 2 is a 103-entry field putting the tournament comfortably ahead of pace of last year’s event.

There’s a number of notable Tampa regulars filling up the seats as well as some out-of-town travelers. We’ll take a look at a few of the familiar faces in a bit.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 1: 50/100 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 94

Brett Apter of Washington D.C. is one of the early entries here in Flight A of the Winter Poker Open. To get in the game, Apter entered the property’s Win a Seat promotions which gave away one $1,650 seat at random. He simply provided his name, e-mail address and zip code and was chosen for a free entry. After flying in from the East Coast last night, Apter is in his seat and in the midst of a total freeroll for the lion’s share of the event’s $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

I can’t believe that I was the one winner of this contest! I am appreciative and excited to sit down for this event right now. @SHRTPoker @SHRTampa #shrpo pic.twitter.com/Q7WXOmu5kk

— Brett Apter (@BrettApter) December 14, 2017

Congratulations, Brett! Stay tuned for future Seminole Hard Rock Poker Win a Seat promotions as they are run for all major series at the Seminole Hard Rock here in Tampa, Hollywood and during Coconut Creek’s event’s.