$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  16 of 772

Tommy Bates opened to 125,000 from the cutoff and Kevin Ragusa three-bet to 350,000 from the button. The blinds released, Bates called, and the flop came .

Bates checked, Ragusa continued for 375,000 and Bates called. The turn was and Bates moved all in for 1,070,000. Ragusa took several minutes to think it through and called with the bigger stack.

Ragusa:
Bates:

Bates was caught and needed an ace on the river to stay around. It was a blank and Bates was a shocking exit after dinner while Ragusa took a big lead.

Kevin Ragusa – 3,780,000 (76 bb)
Tommy Bates – Eliminated in 17th Place ($9,230)

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  17 of 772

Cards are back in the air for the Main Event with 17 players remaining and Aaron Thivyanathan holding a slight lead over RJ Sullivan.

1st: $213,035 + WPO guitar trophy
2nd: $142,030
3rd: $104,850
4th: $78,230
5th: $58,995
6th: $44,980
7th: $34,675
8th: $27,025
9th-10th: $21,305
11th-12th: $16,985
13th-14th: $13,700
15th-16th: $11,180
17th: $9,230

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  17 of 772

Below you can find the current three-table lineup with updated counts. With one more elimination after dinner, Table 20 will break and disperse its players to the other two.

Table 20
Seat 1: Nick Agnew – 1,165,000 (23 bb)
Seat 2: — Empty —
Seat 3: Fred Cabral – 1,655,000 (33 bb)
Seat 4: — Empty —
Seat 5: T.K. Miles – 2,495,000 (50 bb)
Seat 6: — Empty —
Seat 7: Aaron Thivyanathan – 2,795,000 (56 bb)
Seat 8: Alex Rusinovas – 420,000 (8 bb)

Table 21
Seat 1: — Empty —
Seat 2: Eric Valerio – 480,000 (10 bb)
Seat 3: Frank Weigel – 1,030,000 (21 bb)
Seat 4: — Empty —
Seat 5: RJ Sullivan – 2,725,000 (55 bb)
Seat 6: Cody Hernandez – 2,485,000 (50 bb)
Seat 7: Henry Fischer – 805,000 (16 bb)
Seat 8: Maurice Hawkins – 890,000 (18 bb)

Table 22
Seat 1: Robert Michener – 1,035,000 (21 bb)
Seat 2: — Empty —
Seat 3: Tommy Bates – 1,845,000 (37 bb)
Seat 4: Kevin Ragusa – 1,935,000 (39 bb)
Seat 5: Rodney Turvin – 195,000 (4 bb)
Seat 6: Howard Feingold – 525,000 (11 bb)
Seat 7: — Empty —
Seat 8: Tarun Gulati – 695,000 (14 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $213,035 + WPO guitar trophy
2nd: $142,030
3rd: $104,850
4th: $78,230
5th: $58,995
6th: $44,980
7th: $34,675
8th: $27,025
9th-10th: $21,305
11th-12th: $16,985
13th-14th: $13,700
15th-16th: $11,180
17th: $9,230

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  17 of 772

Level 23 came to an end and tournament staff sent the 17 remaining players on their 60-minute dinner break. They will return with only one elimination separating them from the last two table.

18th: Filipp Khavin – $9,230
19th: Peter Vitantonio – $9,230
20th: Brian Arbaugh – $9,230
21st: Ronnie Day Jr – $7,710
22nd: Nick Blackburn – $7,710
23rd: Kevin Ho – $7,710
24th: Sean Miller – $7,710

2021 Tampa Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 12
$300 + $100 Black Chip Bounty (Re-Entry)
$20,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 196
Prize Pool:  $49,000
Bounty Prize Pool: $19,600
December 9-12, 2021

1st: $13,180 + WPO trophy
2nd: $8,140
3rd: $5,630
4th: $4,000
5th: $2,920
6th: $2,190
7th: $1,690
8th: $1,350
9th-10th: $1,100
11th-12th: $930
13th-14th: $810
15th-16th: $730
17th-20th: $690

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  21 of 772

On Table 21, Frank Weigel got his 410,000 stack in the middle against Peter Vitantonio looking for a double.

“I slammed it in,” Weigel told the room. “Slammed with capital letters.”

Weigel:
Vitantonio:

Weigel was in great shape to hold for a double and improved on the flop. The dealer finished it off with the turn and river to send Weigel the double.

Weigel finished 82nd in this year’s WSOP Main Event and challenged us to find someone in the room that went deeper. We’re checking the Black Chip Bounty event for Jeff Trudeau Jr.

Frank Weigel – 895,000 (30 bb)
Peter Vitantonio – 250,000 (8 bb)

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  22 of 772

With a lot of chips in the pot and the board reading , Tommy Bates put his last 530,000 in the middle and Robert Michener snapped in a call to put Bates at risk.

Bates:
Michener:

Michener out flopped Bates with his smaller pair with a boat with nines full of deuces and Bates was left with two outs on the river.

Bates jumped out of his chair when the came on the river for a bigger boat and he celebrated before stacking up.

“With play like that, it’s no wonder you run poker rooms,” Howard Feingold joked with Bates.

Tommy Bates – 1,630,000 (54 bb)
Robert Michener – 775,000 (26 bb)

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  24 of 772

With David Hunt going out in 25th, tournament staff paused the clock and they are redrawing new seats at the last three tables. There are 24 players remaining and all guaranteed at least $7,710.

25th: David Hunt – $6,520
26th: Victor Nissim – $6,520
27th: Loni Hui – $6,520
28th: Sebastian De Narvaez – $6,520
29th: Ryan Wyant – $6,520
30th: Jacob Ferro – $6,520
31st: Juan Carlos Ramirez – $6,520
32nd: Phillip Krnyaich – $6,520

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  26 of 772

Loni Hui was knocked down to around 400,000 after a hand against Alex Rusinovas and put her stack in the middle from middle position. T.K. Miles called from the small blind and the cards were tabled.

Hui:
Miles:

Hui was in trouble but picked up a straight draw on the for more outs. The turn was no help and she was sent out after the river.

T.K. Miles – 1,225,000 (41 bb)
Loni Hui – Eliminated in 27th Place ($6,520)

$1,700 WPO Main Event (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  28 of 772

Courtesy of his double knockout earlier, Ronald Sullivan leads the Main Event following the color-up break with Alex Rusinovas, Aaron Thivynathan, Cody Hernandez, and Tommy Bates rounding out the top five with 28 remaining.

Ronald Sullivan – 1,775,000 (71 bb)
Alex Rusinovas – 1,640,000 (66 bb)
Aaron Thivyanathan – 1,525,000 (61 bb)
Cody Hernandez – 1,265,000 (51 bb)
Tommy Bates – 1,240,000 (50 bb)