Below is the final report from Event 4 of the Winter Poker Open which concluded just before 12:30am Thursday

2018 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 4
$350 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 502
Prize Pool: $150,600
December 10-12, 2018

(Tampa, Florida) — There was an outright winner during the early morning hours of Thursday at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open. James “Ping” Kerr of Sterling Park, FL outlasted more than 500 entries in Event 4, a $350 multi-flight no limit hold’em tournament, earning $30,602 a trophy and $1,650 Main Event seat in the process. Kerr, 33, is a past champion at this property having previously won the Tampa Summer Poker Open Championship in 2014.

The Event 4 field was 502 entries generating a $150,600 prize pool — well in excess of the $100,000 guarantee. Over the course of four starting flights and 14 early levels, the tournament narrowed to just 74 advancers. Kerr held a top-10 stack on Day 2 and watched as notables like start-of-day chip leader Fred Paradis hit the rail shy of the money. Kerr kept his cool eventually working his way to the top stack with three tables left. He retained the lead with two tables left and relinquished it just slightly by the time action reached 10-handed.

The final table moved fast and after less than three hours it was heads-up between Kerr and Nelder De Carvalho without a peep of a chop. The pair played aggressive, getting in multiple all-in pots before Kerr found himself with the top stack and holding the best of it all-in preflop — versus . A blank runout officially anointed Kerr the champion while De Carvalho placed 2nd for $21,441.

Kerr is 33 years old and resides nearby in Sterling Park with his wife and three children. He is a restaurant owner by trade, but has more than $165,000 in reported poker tournament earnings.

Complete Event 4 results:

1st: James Kerr – $30,602 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd: Nelder De Carvalho – $21,441
3rd: David Ashkenasi – $13,787
4th: Cedric Tercy – $9,175
5th: Michael Nguyen – $7,060
6th: Sean Tansey – $5,846
7th: Juan Rodriguez – $4,908
8th: Richard Kincaid – $3,984
9th: Al Krux – $3,061
10th: Joseph Acquavella – $2,577
11th: Joe Godbolt – $2,577
12th: Landon Brown – $2,577
13th: Michael Hassab – $2,160
14th: Chris Williams – $2,160
15th: David Brookman – $2,160
16th: Aaron Kerns – $1,773
17th: Duff Charette
18th: Anthony Astarita
20th: Nick Avena – $1,475
21st: Sam Harvey – $1,475
22nd: Li Zhou – $1,241
23rd: Mickey Ma – $1,241
24th: Jacob Naumann – $1,241
25th: Alex Ribeiro – $1,035
26th: Robert Johnson – $1,035
27th: Jean Nascimen – $1,035
28th: Kevin Blewitt – $842
29th: Andrew Mazzurco – $842
30th: Andrew Lanoue – $842
31st: Kevin Pahl – $842
32nd: Warren Jurkowitz – $842
33rd: Tomasz Szymecki – $842
34th: Antonio Fernandez – $842
35th: Robert Panetta – $842
36th: Simon Verkhovsky – $842
37th: Steven Worr – $751
38th: Daniel DeDomenico – $751
39th: Samuel Schenker – $751
40th: Huicun Qiao – $751
41st: Robert Irby – $751
42nd: Cheri Beatty – $751
43rd: Doyle Elliott – $751
44th: Russell Waggoner – $751
45th: Daniel Lobato – $751
46th: Tony Tran – $661
47th: Ahmed Gomez – $661
48th: Herbert Woodbery – $661
49th: Karl Manouchakian – $661
50th: Charles Kahrs – $661
51st: Thang Phu – $661

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 80,000/160,000 with a 160,000 ante
Players Remaining: 1 of 502

After about 45 minutes of heads-up play, the final hand was dealt in the $350 buy-in Winter Poker Open trophy event.

James Kerr worked his way to the chip lead and called from the button. Nelder De Carvalho shoved 4,315,000 from the big blind and Kerr snapped with the title within reach.

Kerr:
De Carvalho:

Runout:

With that, Kerr scored an outright win and $30,602. De Carvalho was sent home with 2nd-place money worth $21,441.

A complete report on the event will be posted Thursday afternoon. In the meantime, here’s a look at the final table results:

1st: James Kerr – $30,602 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd: Nelder De Carvalho – $21,441
3rd: David Ashkenasi – $13,787
4th: Cedric Tercy – $9,175
5th: Michael Nguyen – $7,060
6th: Sean Tansey – $5,846
7th: Juan Rodriguez – $4,908
8th: Richard Kincaid – $3,984
9th: Al Krux – $3,061

Full results are available throughout the posts below.

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 502

James “Ping” Kerr and Nelder De Carvalho are heads-up with De Carvalho leading the way.

1st: – $30,602 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd: – $21,441

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 502

Short stack David Ashkenasi called from the small blind and James Kerr raised the big to 275,000. Ashkenasi promptly moved all-in for about 1,900,000 and Kerr called even more promptly.

Kerr:
Ashkenasi:

Runout:

Kerr’s kings were best and Ashkenasi was eliminated in 3rd place.

David Ashkenasi – Eliminated in 3rd place ($13,787)

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 502

After holding on for numerous doubles, Cedric Tercy has found the rail in fourth place.

On the button, David Ashkenasi open-shoved for just under 3,400,000. Tercy called off about 830,000 from the small blind and it was on James Kerr in the big. He verified the amount Tercy was all-in for and called off about 2,200,000 shortly thereafter. The hands were exposed with Ashkenasi able to eliminate two players.

Kerr:
Ashkenasi:
Tercy:

Runout:

Kerr’s pair held and he scooped the main and the side pot.

James Kerr – 5,430,000
Tercy – Eliminated in 4th place ($9,175)

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 502

Here’s a look at the four-handed scene with Nelder De Carvalho in first, David Ashkenasi second, James Kerr third and Cedric Tercy the short stack.

1st – $30,602 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd – $21,441
3rd – $13,787
4th – $9,175

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 502

Minutes after David Ashkenasi eliminated Sean Tansey in 5th place, he sent Michael Nguyen home in 5th. Nguyen earned $7,060 while Ashkenasi stacked more chips.

Michael Nguyen – Eliminated in 5th place ($7,060)

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 502

Sean Tansey was in the cutoff and his last 600,000 made it in the middle. David Ashkenasi had him at risk from the small blind and the hands were up.

Ashkenasi:
Tansey:

Runout:

Ashkenasi’s pair of aces was best and he Tansey went to the rail 6th.

David Ashkenasi – 3,620,000
Sean Tansey – Eliminated in 6th place ($5,846)

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 502

Seat 1: Cedric Tercy – 1,620,000
Seat 2: James “Ping” Kerr – 2,250,000
Seat 3: Nelder De Carvalho – 3,875,000
Seat 4: Sean Tansey – 1,200,000
Seat 5: — Empty —
Seat 6: Michael Nguyen – 1,900,000
Seat 7: — Empty —
Seat 8: — Empty —
Seat 9: David Ashkenasi – 1,700,000

1st – $30,602 + Trophy and $1,650 seat
2nd – $21,441
3rd – $13,787
4th – $9,175
5th – $7,060
6th – $5,846

$350 Deep Stack NLH Re-Entry
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 502

While shortstack Cedric Tercy found a double, Juan Rodriguez wasn’t so lucky. He recently hit the rail in 7th place earning $4,908.

Juan Rodriguez – Eliminated in 7th place ($4,908)