2020 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 1
$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 335
Prize Pool: $83,750
December 2, 2020

The Winter Poker Open returned to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa on December 2 and it had a great kickoff. Event 1 of the series had a $300 buy-in with a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and it attracted an incredible 335 entries on the first day of the series.

Those entries combined to push the prize pool up to $83,750 with more than $18,000 set aside for the champion. The tournament drew a slew of our local regulars and past champions including David Dibernardi, Mario De La Puente, Peter Walsworth, Bryce McVay, Josias Santos, Karl Manouchakian, and Wally Maddah.

The last 34 players were set to take home some cash and they made the money soon after the dinner break. The field steadily dropped until they formed the final table with everyone eyeing the big money and guitar trophy.

Dan Hanselman and Justin Howard were quickly eliminated from the final table and the last five settled in for a long grind with deep stacks. Ken O’Donnell, Carlos Aranda, and Jeremy Zides all took turns with the chip lead but it came down to a heads-up match between Austin Reilly and Irfan Khairi.

Reilly, a two-time WSOP Circuit winner, held nearly a 2-to-1 chip lead at the start of heads-up play but that changed when Khairi turned a full house to best Reilly’s flopped trip sixes. Soon after, Khairi made another full house to take the rest of Reilly’s chips for the win.

Reilly took home $11,390 for his runner-up finish while Khairi earned $18,063 and the Hard Rock Guitar Trophy. The Orlando resident had several close calls in the past but booked his first career tournament win with his victory.

Congrats to Irfan and thanks again to all of our players who came out to support the Poker Room in our first event of the series.

Event 1 results:

1st: Irfan Khairi – $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: Austin Reilly – $11,390
3rd: Ken O’Donnell – $7,349
4th: Jeremy Zides – $5,025
5th: Carlos Aranda – $3,936
6th: Patrick Hamilton – $3,059
7th: Justin Howard – $2,596
8th: Dan Hanselman – $2,178
9th: Mario De La Puente – $1,851
10th: Anthony Askey – $1,591
11th: Vanessa Waich – $1,591
12th: Vaughn Wagner – $1,591
13th: David Dibernardi – $1,382
14th: Rickey Evans – $1,382
15th: Josias Santos – $1,382
16th: Daniel Chandler – $1,214
17th: Jonmikel MacNichols – $1,214
18th: Jeremy Becker – $1,214
19th: Czeslaw Szerszen – $1,131
20th: Kevin Rodriguez – $1,131
21st: Judes Chenet – $1,131
22nd: Christina Read – $1,047
23rd: Tracy Allen – $1,047
24th: Karl Manouchakian – $1,047
25th: Derrick Cutler – $984
26th: Julie McCrary – $984
27th: Jerome Hall Jr – $984
28th: Alexander Chiang – $888
29th: David Edwards – $888
30th: Ryan Luker – $888
31st: Thomas Koscak – $888
32nd: David McElroy – $888
33rd: Wilfor Marentes Pinto – $888
34th: Jason Javino – $888

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante

Irfan Khairi began heads-up play with Austin Reilly looking to double back into contention. That chance came early.

With the board reading , Reilly checked and Khairi bet 275,000. Reilly raised to 550,000 and Khairi called after a short think.

The river came and Reilly announced all in. Khairi called  for 1,895,000 and showed for the turned full house. Reilly showed for flopped trip sixes, not good enough to prevent him sending the lead across the table.

Irfan Khairi – 5,375,000 (67 bb)
Austin Reilly – 1,325,000 (17 bb)

Soon after, Reilly had his stack in the middle and Khairi had a chance to lock up the title.

Khairi:
Reilly:

Reilly was live but Khairi smashed the flop for trip nines. The turn and river completed the board and we had our first 2020 WPO champion.

Congrats to Irfan on his first career win and thanks to everyone who came out today.

1st: Irfan Khairi – $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: Austin Reilly – $11,390

Full tournament recap will be posted on Thursday afternoon.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 335

With the elimination of Ken O’Donnell in third place, Irfan Khairi and Austin Reilly were heads up for the title with the latter holding a nice lead.

Seat 3: Austin Reilly – 4,250,000 (53 bb)
Seat 7: Irfan Khairi – 2,450,000 (31 bb)

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 335

Jeremy Zides open-shoved from under the gun for 550,000 and Austin Reilly called on the button. The blinds folded and Zides saw some trouble.

Reilly:
Zides:

Zides was looking for help but could not connect on the board to exit in fourth place.

Austin Reilly – 3,150,000 (39 bb)
Jeremy Zides – Eliminated in 4th place ($5,025)

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 335

Action folded around to Carlos Aranda and he moved all in from the button for ~320,000. Irfan Khairi folded his small blind and Ken O’Donnell called in the big.

O’Donnell:
Aranda:

Aranda had two live, suited cards, missed the flop, but picked up an open-ended straight flush draw. Most of those outs went out the door when the hit the turn to give O’Donnell a full house. Aranda could not hit one of his two outs on the river to go out in fifth place.

Ken O’Donnell – 1,900,000 (32 bb)
Carlos Aranda – Eliminated in 5th place ($3,936)

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 335

Ken O’Donnell opened the action from under the gun to 125,000 and Patrick Hamilton moved all in from the button. The blinds folded and O’Donnell called with the bigger stack.

O’Donnell:
Hamilton:

Hamilton’s pair was dominated and he couldn’t find a miracle on the board to exit in sixth place.

Ken O’Donnell – 1,650,000 (28 bb)
Patrick Hamilton – Eliminated in 6th place ($3,059)

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 335

There was a cooldown after Justin Howard was eliminated but Jeremy Zides heated it back up. He moved all in for 425,000 from the small blind after Ken O’Donnell raised to 125,000 from the button. O’Donnell called with a chance to send Zides out.

Zides:
O’Donnell:

Zides was ahead but had to dodge two live cards to double. The board ran out board and Zides pair of aces was good enough to double.

Jeremy Zides – 950,000 (19 bb)
Ken O’Donnell – 950,000 (19 bb)

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 335

Irfan Khairi opened the action from the cutoff and Justin Howard moved all in from the small blind. Jeremy Zides tanked several minutes but folded his big blind, later mentioning he folded pocket jacks in a tough spot. Khairi called and the hands were tabled.

Khairi:
Howard:

Both players had similar stacks and Khairi took the lead in the race on the flop. The turn and river were no help for Howard and they counted down the stacks. Khairi was all in for 585,000 and Howard had 595,000 to leave him with only 10K to play. He made it through a few hands but exited in seventh place for $2,596.

Irfan Khairi – 1,230,000 (41 bb)
Justin Howard – Eliminated in 7th place ($2,596)

The remaining players decided to forgo the next break to continue their march towards a champion.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 335

On one of the first hands at the final table, Dan Hanselman put his last ~320,000 in the middle and Carlos Aranda called to put him at risk.

Aranda:
Hanselman:

Hanselman needed to catch his ace or some magic to double up but Aranda locked up the hand when he flopped top set on the board. The turn and river completed the action and Hanselman collect $2,178 for his eighth place finish.

Carlos Aranda – 1,100,000 (37 bb)
Dan Hanselman – Eliminated in 8th place ($2,178)

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  8 of 335

With the elimination of Mario De La Puente in ninth place, tournament staff paused the clock and redrew the last eight players for the final table.

Below is the lineup and we will grab counts when they go on a break after this level.

Seat 1: Justin Howard
Seat 2: Jeremy Zides
Seat 3: Austin Reilly
Seat 4: Dan Hanselman
Seat 5: Patrick Hamilton
Seat 6: Carlos Aranda
Seat 7: Irfan Khairi
Seat 8: Ken O’Donnell

Remaining payouts:

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390
3rd: $7,349
4th: $5,025
5th: $3,936
6th: $3,059
7th: $2,596
8th: $2,178

9th: Mario De La Puente – $1,851
10th: Anthony Askey – $1,591
11th: Vanessa Waich – $1,591