2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 2
$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries:  76
Prize Pool:  $15,960
June 9, 2021

With the opening flight for Event 1 playing in the background, the first trophy of the series was awarded tonight in Event 2, a $250 turbo event that finished in less than seven hours.

Eventual champion John McConnell doesn’t particularly like turbo events, but he outlasted the field of 76 entries to win $5,551.

“I actually like having a deep stack, with 30- or 60-minute blinds,” said McConnell. “In a turbo, I just feel too much pressure to do something early. But I’ve gotten a little more acclimated because I’ve been playing more online, so I think I was a little more ready for it than I would have been a year ago. So the pandemic might have helped me with this turbo.”

“This is so awesome,” said McConnell. “At one point, [runner-up][Alex][Vazquez] was trying to make a deal with me, and I almost did it. But then I thought, ‘No, how many chances in your life do you get to win a trophy? So I had to go for it.”

McConnell lives in Montverde, Florida, about 60 miles away, and plans to play several events over the weekend.

“I drove down today after work and jumped in this event,” said McConnell. “All I wanted to do was get a warm-up for the weekend, and I ended up winning it.”

Final Results:

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  20,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 76

Alex Vazquez got it all in from the big blind for about 350,000 with , but he needed to improve to stay alive against John McConnell’s .

The board came , and McConnell won the pot — and the trophy and the title — with his nine kicker.

Congratulations to John McConnell!

Stay tuned for a recap from this event. Here are the official payouts:

1st:  John McConnell  –  $5,551 + Trophy
2nd:  Alex Vazquez  –  $3,430
3rd:  Robert Vincent  –  $2,239
4th:  Randell Summers  –  $1,534
5th:  Ramses Rosa  –  $1,106
6th:  Mark Lynch  –  $842
7th:  Nicole Diaz  –  $678
8th:  Hristos Tsironis  –  $580

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 76

John McConnell got it all in from the button for 585,000 with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against the of Alex Vazquez.

The board came , and the pocket eights held up for McConnell to win the pot and double up into the heads-up chip lead.

John McConnell  –  1,195,000  (48 bb)
Alex Vazquez  –  325,000  (13 bb)

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 76

Alex Vazquez moved all in from the button, Robert Vincent called all in from the small blind for about 200,000, and John McConnell folded his big blind.

Vincent turned over , but he was dominated by the of Vazquez, needing to improve to stay alive.

The board came — Vincent flopped a gutshot straight draw to Vazquez’s pair of kings, but Vincent improved no further. Vazquez won the pot with two pair, kings and threes, to eliminate Vincent in third place.

Robert Vincent  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($2,239)

Here are the approximate chip counts for the start of heads-up play:

Alex Vazquez  –  825,000  (41 bb)
John McConnell  –  700,000  (35 bb)

And here is a look at the prizepool:

1st:  $5,551 + Trophy
2nd:  $3,430

3rd:  Robert Vincent  –  $2,239
4th:  Randell Summers  –  $1,534
5th:  Ramses Rosa  –  $1,106
6th:  Mark Lynch  –  $842
7th:  Nicole Diaz  –  $678
8th:  Hristos Tsironis  –  $580

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 76

Randell Summers was just knocked out when his failed to catch up to the of Alex Vazquez.

Alex Vazquez  –  825,000  (52 bb)
Randell Summers  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($1,534)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 507,000 (32 big blinds). The next player to bust will earn $1,534.

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 76

Ramses Rosa was all in from the button for about 95,000 with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against the of Randell Summers in the hijack.

The board came , and Summers spikes a queen on the river to win the pot and eliminate Rosa in fifth place.

Randell Summers  –  265,000  (22 bb)
Ramses Rosa  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($1,106)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 380,000 (32 big blinds). The next player to bust will earn $1,534.

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 76

Mark Lynch was all in from the big blind for about 55,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Alex Vazquez in the hijack.

The board came , and Vazquez won the pot with ace high to eliminate Lynch in sixth place.

Alex Vazquez  –  640,000  (53 bb)
Mark Lynch  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($842)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 304,000 (25 big blinds). The next player to bust will earn $1,106.

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 76

Nicole Diaz was all in from the small blind for about 85,000 with , and she needed to improve to stay alive against the of Randell Summers on the button.

The board came — Diaz flopped a gutshot straight draw, but improved no further. Summers won the pot with his ace to eliminate Diaz in seventh place.

Randell Summers  –  360,000  (36 bb)
Nicole Diaz  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($678)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is about 253,000 (25 big blinds). The next player to bust will earn $842.

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 76

Hristos Tsironis moved all in under the gun for 64,000, Nicole Diaz called from middle position, and Robert Vincent thought for a while before he called from the big blind.

The flop came , Vincent moved all in for 20,000, and Diaz called. These were their cards in descending order of chip counts:

Nicole Diaz:    (ace high)
Robert Vincent:    (pair of queens)
Hristos Tsironis:    (jack high)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and the pocket queens held up for Vincent to scoop the entire pot, doubling thru Diaz and eliminating Tsironis in eighth place.

Robert Vincent  –  247,000  (25 bb)
Nicole Diaz  –  110,000  (11 bb)
Hristos Tsironis  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($580)

With seven players remaining, the average chip stack is about 217,000 (22 big blinds). The next player to bust will earn $678.

$250 Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  8 of 76

After several players entered the pot, Alex Vazquez reraised from the button, and Yousef Nassr moved all in from the small blind. Action folded to Vazquez, who called with .

Nassr turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Vazquez was ahead the entire way, winning with a queen-high flush to eliminate Nassr in ninth place on the Money Bubble.

Alex Vazquez  –  285,000  (36 bb)
Yousef Nassr  –  Eliminated in 9th Place  ($0)

With eight players remaining, the average chip stack is about 190,000 (24 big blinds). The next player to bust will earn $580.