$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  81 of 811

The three starting flights of WPO Event 2 are locked up and we have 81 players returning this morning for Day 2 already in the money. In fact, thanks to two players with multiple bags, they’ve already made a pay jump.

Roberto Molina bagged a massive 814,000 in Flight B for a big lead with Bryce McVay in second with 506,000. That’s a good start for his day but there’s a lot of talent trying to chase him down.

Play resumes with 20:36 remaining in Level 15 with the average stack at 200,000 (50 big blinds). With the deep stacks, players can settle in and take their time going for the title.

Top ten returning stacks:

1. Roberto Molina – 814,000 (204 bb)
2. Bryce McVay – 506,000 (127 bb)
3. Frank Weigel – 489,000 (122 bb)
4. AJ Kelsall – 448,000 (112 bb)
5. Nancy Dang – 418,000 (105 bb)
6. Brandon Sinawi – 393,000 (98 bb)
7. James Wong – 379,000 (95 bb)
8. Brian Walsingham – 366,000 (92 bb)
9. Jonmikel MacNichols – 364,000 (91 bb)
10. Jeffrey Kaplan – 355,000 (89 bb)

Day 2 Chips | Day 2 Seats | Payouts

Primary Event Schedule

12PM: Event 2 Day 2 – $400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• Event 2 Day 2 Chip Counts
• Event 2 Day 2 Table and Seat Assignments
• Event 2 Payouts

2PM: Event 3- $200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• Players begin with 20,000 in chips and 20-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until the start of Level 7
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 3 Structure Sheet

2020 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 2
$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 811
Prize Pool: $267,630
December 3-6, 2020

The first big multi-flight tournament on the Winter Poker Open blew expectations out of the water. The $400 buy-in tournament had a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool that was beat before action kicked off in the second of three flights.

The tournament combined to draw 811 entries to create a huge $267,630 prize pool with the last 83 spots getting paid. A min-cash is worth $656 while the Event 2 champ will take home $49,574 and the WPO Guitar Trophy.

Christopher Perry and Emmanuel Dimaano Jr bagged twice to earn a $656 min-cash for their smallest bag and will play their biggest bag on Day 2.

1st: $49,574 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $34,757
3rd: $22,403
4th: $16,307
5th: $12,498
6th: $10,001
7th: $8,289
8th: $6,600
9th: $4,957
10th-12th: $4,119
13th-15th: $3,278
16th-18th: $2,730
19th-21st: $2,237
22nd-24th: $1,889
25th-27th: $1,598
28th-36th: $1,311
37th-45th: $1,151
46th-54th: $1,017
55th-63rd: $910
64th-72nd: $814
73rd-81st: $728
82nd: Christopher Perry – $656
83rd: Emmanuel Dimaano Jr – $656

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  81 of 811

Flight A:  203 Entries; 21 Advanced
Flight B:  252 Entries; 25 Advanced
Flight C: 356 Entries; 35 Advanced
Day 2:  Sunday at noon

Note: Christopher Perry and Emmanuel Dimaano Jr bagged twice, will play their biggest stack on Day 2 and receive a min-cash for smallest.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  81 of 811

Flight A:  203 Entries; 21 Advanced
Flight B:  252 Entries; 25 Advanced
Flight C: 356 Entries; 35 Advanced
Day 2:  Sunday at noon

Note: Christopher Perry and Emmanuel Dimaano Jr bagged twice, will play their biggest stack on Day 2 and receive a min-cash for smallest.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  36 of 356

It took a little while to get there but Flight C made it into the money and on to Day 2. Nancy Dang made a late push to bag the Flight C lead with 418,000 with Brandon Sinawi not far behind.  Other notables advancing were Justin Zaki, Cheri Beatty, Anthony Askey, Shawn Sorgi, and Jeffrey Kaplan.

Complete Day 2 chip counts, seat assignments, and full payouts will be posted as soon as they are available.

Top ten Flight C bags:

• Nancy Dang – 418,000
• Brandon Sinawi – 393,000
• James Wong – 379,000
• Jeffrey Kaplan – 355,000
• Israr Khan – 328,000
• Harmeet Chawla – 314,000
• “Bud” Waggoner – 305,000
• Rasam Mohammadian – 303,000
• Shawn Sorgi – 301,000
• Timothy Buckley – 296,000

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 14:  2,000/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  52 of 356

Flight C is down to 52 players with the goal of hitting 36 to make some money. That puts them very close to the bubble and calling it a night.

Tampa legend Justin Zaki is still in the running for a Day 2 seat and adding to his credentials. He has $2.7 million in career earnings along with WPT and WSOP final table appearances including third place in the 2011 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship. In local news, Zaki finished second to David Moses last December in the 2019 Winter Poker Open Championship.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 13:  1,000/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  77 of 356

The (probable) final break of the day is complete after tournament staff pulled the 500 units out of play and tightened up some stacks.

Bud Waggoner is still leading the field with a stack up to 235,000. There are a few with a chance to catch him but it will be tough for anyone to catch Roberto Molina as the overall Day 2 leader with his 800+ bag.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12:  1,000/2,000 with a 1,500 ante
Players Remaining:  98 of 356

Flight C is down under 100 players remaining on the road to the last 36 for Day 2. This session will go later into the evening but we expect only one more break today.

It looks like poker room favorite Russell Waggoner, the man everyone calls “Bud”, is the leader late in the day. One of our Event 1 big leaders (and 12th place finisher) has built his stack up to 185,500 and looks to be having a great time.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  500/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Players Remaining:  133 of 356

The player count is dropping quickly with a lot of tables broken over the first level back from break. They are down to 133 of the starting 356 and zooming along. But there’s still a long ways to go with only 36 of them advancing to Day 2.

Fred Dabus is one of those trying to book his seat tomorrow. He has plenty of big scores to his credit but looking for his first Tampa win. Dabus won a Big Stack Special in Hollywood, nearly won the Coco Poker Open Championship in 2016, and made a WSOP final table in 2015 where he finished eighth out of 2,497 players.