2018 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Tampa, Florida
Event 1
$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 867
Prize Pool: $433,500
December 6-9, 2018

(Tampa, Florida) — Aaron Speer is a poker champion following a win in Event 1 of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open. The victory came following a four-way chop and earned Speer, a Tampa native that now lives in Orlando, $62,008 as well as a $1,650 Main Event seat and the token guitar trophy.

A 37-year-old roofer, Speer masterfully maneuvered through a big, 867-entry field in the $570 buy-in event. The field easily surpassed the $300,000 guarantee with a final prize pool of $433,500. After six starting flights and 14 levels of Day 1 play, the competition was narrowed to only 158 by Day 2. Just the top 87 were set to score a payday and defending champion Gil Aboodi as well as Tampa standout John Dolan and Wally Maddah were among those to bust shy of a score.

Speer began the day with a good stack and stayed toward the top of the counts as the field narrowed around him. By the time play dwindled to the 10-handed final table, though, all eyes were Tony Tran. Tran went on a heater busting a number of the final table participants before Speer tamed his hot run.

On Speer’s most crucial hand, he held versus Tran’s . There was three-way action and the flop fell . It wasn’t until the turn that Speer and Tran got Speer’s last 2,670,000 in the middle and Tran saw the bad news — he flopped the bottom end while Speer had the top. The hand gave Speer 6,940,000 chips and proved pivotal in catapulting him into the winner’s circle a short time later.

Ultimately, Speer was chip leader at the time a chop was decided. As such, he went down as the champion and gave up an unknown amount of money to the other participants — Tran, William Kopp and Alex Ribeiro — due to the $1,650 Main Event seat reserved for first.

Here are the results of the chop:

1st: Aaron Speer – $62,008 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd: Tony Tran – $51,224
3rd: William Kopp – $46,425
4th: Alex Ribeiro – $37,228

Speer has modest tournament results with each of his previous four reported cashes coming right here at the Seminole Hard Rock and totaling just over $4,700. The win and $62,008 score in Event 1 marks far and away his most notable poker accomplishment.

Final results:

1st: Aaron Speer – $62,008 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd: Tony Tran – $51,224
3rd: William Kopp – $46,425
4th: Alex Ribeiro – $37,228
5th: Carlos Guerrero – $20,081
6th: Jordan Robinson – $16,009
7th: Joseph Orsino – $13,258
8th: Joseph Skarzynski – $10,554
9th: Abdel Bouanani – $7,924
10th: Karl Manouchakian – $6,564
11th: Michael McCarthy – $6,564
12th: Jason O’Loughlin – $6,564
13th: Kharlin Sued – $5,251
14th: Timothy Gualandri – $5,251
15th: Carlos Loving – $5,251
16th: Joshua Fulford – $4,366
17th: William Muniz – $4,366
18th: Bob Gallo – $4,366
19th: Jordan Holt – $3,576
20th: Anthony Dianaty – $3,576
21st: Amin Akhlaghi – $3,576
22nd: Richard Carr – $3,019
23rd: Huicun Qiao – $3,019
24th: Chuck Lum – $3,019
25th: Christopher Placko – $2,544
26th: Talesh Patel – $2,544
27th: Alex Ivan – $2,544
28th: Roberto Sanchez Silva – $2,073
29th: Sara Hall – $2,073
30th: Corey Liple – $2,073
31st: Earl Vanlandingham – $2,073
32nd: Andrew Kelsall – $2,073
33rd: David Algava – $2,073
34th: Witold Wasik – $2,073
35th: Edward Gibbs – $2,073
36th: Lawrence Kiang – $2,073
37th: Joseph Acquavella – $1,827
38th: Harry Johnson – $1,827
39th: Femi Fashakin – $1,827
40th: Rob Manjura – $1,827
41st: Lawrence Dowling – $1,827
42nd: Austin McLean – $1,827
43rd: David Arkeilpane – $1,827
44th: Robert Benford – $1,827
45th: Sherriee Williams – $1,827
46th: Kristopher Villanueva – $1,615
47th: JUlio Delgado Reyes – $1,615
48th: Jefferson Hightower – $1,615
49th: Mehdi Adibi – $1,615
50th: Mark Wiser – $1,615
51st: William Wolf – $1,615
52nd: Christopher David – $1,615
53rd: Joel Pridgen – $1,615
54th: Donald Anderson – $1,615
55th: Randolph Spain – $1,442
56th: Matthew Leecy – $1,442
57th: Harvey Vandeven – $1,442
58th: Joseph Doyle, Jr. – $1,442
59th: Kevin Blewitt – $1,442
60th: Jeffrey Bradford – $1,442
61st: Max JOnes – $1,442
62nd: Noe Acosta – $1,442
63rd: Antuan Bunkley – $1,442
64th: Tom Nguyen – $1,291
65th: Timothy Chakos – $1,291
66th: Israr Khan – $1,291
67th: Marcus Gurley – $1,291
68th: Michael Petty – $1,291
69th: James Kerr – $1,291
70th: Alex Beece – $1,291
71st: Daniel Hutter – $1,291
72nd: William London – $1,291
73rd: Sean Tansey – $1,175
74th: Nicholas Avena – $1,175
75th: John Armatas – $1,175
76th: Robert O’Rourke – $1,175
77th: John Utley, Jr. – $1,175
78th: Marvin Karlins – $1,175
79th: James Rumptz – $1,175
80th: William Billups – $1,175
81st: Li Zhou – $1,175
82nd: Christopher Laieta – $1,062
83rd: Steve Trizis – $1,062
84th: Brian Kinser – $1,062
85th: Robert Panetta, Jr. – $1,062
86th: James Renehan – $1,062
87th: Chris Adams – $1,062

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 867

As they returned from break, the players worked out a modified ICM chop deal. Aaron Speer was the chip leader and went down as the champion. As such, he earned the title, a guitar trophy and a $1,650 Main Event seat.

1st: Aaron Speer
2nd: Tony Tran
3rd: William Kopp
4th: Alex Ribeiro

A more detailed report with the exact payout amounts will be posted shortly.

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 867

Seat 1: Alex Ribeiro – 4,800,000
Seat 2: William Kopp – 5,950,000
Seat 3: Tony Tran – 6,650,000
Seat 4: Aaron Speer – 8,750,000

1st – $79,228 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd – $55,549
3rd – $35,813
4th – $29,295

5th: Carlos Guerrero – $20,081
6th: Jordan Robinson – $16,009
7th: Joseph Orsino – $13,258
8th: Joseph Skarzynski – $10,554
9th: Abdel Bouanani – $7,924
10th: Karl Manouchakian – $6,564

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 867

Carlos Guerrero was in a heads-up pot versus William Kopp. Kopp was out of position in the big blind while Guerrero occupied the button. The board was dealt through the turn — . Guerrero got his last roughly 1,150,000 in the middle and was at risk against Kopp.

Guerrero: for the nut flush
Kopp: for tens-up

River:

Kopp did the unthinkable filling up on the river and leaving Guerrero’s flopped flush second best. Guerrero hit the rail fifth while Kopp stacked a pile of chip.

Carlos Guerrero – Eliminated in 5th place ($20,081)

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 867

Aaron Speer was under the gun and opened to 225,000. Alex Ribeiro called from the button and so did Tony Tran from the big blind.

The trio saw a flop of . Tran checked and Speer bet 225,000. Ribeiro called from the button and Tran came along, too.

Still a trio, the turn fell the . Tran checked again. Speer bet 500,000. Ribeiro called. It was back on Tran who calmly announced, “One point seven,” for a raise to 1,700,000. Speer shoved for 2,670,000 and Ribeiro promptly folded. Tran alluded to a sick beat and called turning over for a flopped straight. Sure enough, Speer had the other end of it turning over for Broadway.

River:

Tran took the beat in stride cutting out double-up chips and sending them Speer’s way.

Aaron Speer – 6,940,000
Tony Tran – 8,450,000

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 867

Jordan Robinson – Eliminated in 6th place ($16,009)

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 867

Start-of-day chip leader Joseph Orsino just became the most recent casualty of Tony Tran. Orsino hit the rail seventh earning $13,258 while Tran piled on some more chips. He now holds 9,900,000 of the 26,010,000 chips in play.

Tony Tran – 9,900,000
Joseph Orsino – Eliminated in 7th place ($13,258)

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 867

Joseph Skarzynski shoved all-in under then gun. It folded to Abdel Bouanani in the cutoff and he shoved for less. The button and small blind let it go while Tony Tran called from the big. Tran had both players covered and was in great shape to send a pair home.

Tran:
Bouanani:
Skarzynski:

Tran held on the runout and Skarzynski busted eighth while Bouanani bowed out ninth.

Tran took a massive chip lead seven-handed.

Joseph Skarzynski – Eliminated in 8th place ($10,554)
Abdel Bouanani – Eliminated in 9th place ($7,924)

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 867

After beginning the unofficial final table with less than 10 big blinds, Tampa regular Karl Manouchakin was first out. He bowed 10th earning $6,564.

Karl Manouchakian – Eliminated in 10th place ($6,564)

$570 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 867

Seat 1: Carlos Guerrero – 2,700,000
Seat 2: Abdel Bouanani – 1,510,000
Seat 3: Alex Ribeiro – 1,700,000
Seat 4: William Kopp – 7,225,000
Seat 5: Tony Tran – 5,835,000
Seat 6: Joseph Skarzynski – 2,360,000
Seat 7: Joseph Orsino – 1,480,000
Seat 8: Aaron Speer – 1,295,000
Seat 9: Jordan Robinson – 1,600,000
Seat 10: Karl Manouchakian – 450,000