2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  1,165
Prize Pool:  $3,728,000
June 18-22, 2021

The WPT main tour came to Tampa for the first time and we headlined our inaugural series with the $2,000,000 guaranteed WPT Tampa Championship. The tournament drew players from around the world and it was Brian Altman outlasting them all for his third WPT title along with $613,225.

“My experience playing WPT Tampa for the first time was fantastic,” Atman said. “The venue is beautiful, the staff is great, and the tournaments are well-run. I’ve had a blast down here.”

The $3,500 buy-in tournament featured two starting flights and combined for 1,165 entries creating a prize pool worth $3,728,000. Both those numbers were records for our tournaments; our biggest Championship field and the top prize pool in our history.

Altman came into the last day of the tournament with a big lead and went wire-to-wire at the final table as players dropped around him. In addition to Altman, two other players came to the final table with a chance to win another WPT title. Jonathan Jaffe fell short in fourth place followed by Zachary Smiley in third.

With a nearly four-to-one chip lead to start heads up with Gabriel Abusada, Altman quickly won the match and became only the seventh player to earn a third WPT title.

“This is a really special World Poker Tour title for me,” Altman said after his win. “I’m joining the elusive club of three-time champions, which only a few people have done.”

“To be among that company makes me feel really proud.”

Congratulations Brian!

Final table results:

1st: Brian Altman – $613,225
2nd: Gabriel Abusada – $408,825
3rd: Zachary Smiley – $302,200
4th: Jonathan Jaffe – $225,675
5th: John Haas – $170,275
6th: Will Berry – $129,825
7th: Dave Berman – $100,030
8th: Steve Queen – $77,900
9th: T.K. Miles – $61,325

2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 20
$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries:  98
Prize Pool:  $32,830
June 22, 2021

“I’m so grateful and so happy that I got to play the last tournament,” said Davy Jones Ridout. “I was the last guy here, and I’m walking out with a nice guitar trophy.”

Event 20 wasn’t the final tournament that began during the 2021 WPT Tampa series, but it was the last one to finish, highlighted by more than an hour of three-handed play with nobody busting in an empty tournament room.

But eventually the dam burst, with Ben Miner busting in third place, and then Ridout defeated Wilmer Chavira heads-up for the title, the trophy, and $11,162.

“The final table was fantastic,” said Ridout, who was smiling and laughing through most of the final table regardless of the size of his chip stack.. “The other players were really fun, and I had a great time.”

Ridout’s final words were in appreciation of the staff here at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa.

“The tournament was awesome, and the dealers were amazing,” said Ridout. “The staff was really awesome. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

1st:  Davy Jones Ridout  –  $11,162 + Trophy
2nd:  Wilmer Chavira  –  $6,402
3rd:  Ben Miner  –  $4,005
4th:  Eric Tarikas  –  $2,708
5th:  Justin Fulbright  –  $2,052
6th:  Mark “Bud” Wiser  –  $1,642
7th:  Rishi Srivastava  –  $1,445
8th:  Sherman Supley  –  $1,313
9th:  Grant Missonis  –  $1,116
10th:  Eric Mutschler  –  $985

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  20,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 98

A little while after Ben Miner was eliminated in third place, Wilmer Chavira got it all in from the button for about 300,000 with , but he was dominated by the of Davy Ridout, needing to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Ridout won the pot — and the final event of the 2021 WPT Tampa series — with an ace-high straight.

Congratulations to Davy Ridout!

1st:  Davy Ridout  –  $11,162 + Trophy
2nd:  Wilmer Chavira  –  $6,402
3rd:  Ben Miner  –  $4,005
4th:  Eric Tarikas  –  $2,708
5th:  Justin Fulbright  –  $2,052
6th:  Mark “Bud” Wiser  –  $1,642
7th:  Rishi Srivastava  –  $1,445
8th:  Sherman Supley  –  $1,313
9th:  Grant Missonis  –  $1,116
10th:  Eric Mutschler  –  $985

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  20,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 98

There was a full hour after the elimination of Eric Tarikas in fourth place where the final three players seemed to be playing cautiously. There were some all-in bets, but no calls.

They started out three-handed play nearly even in chips, but Ben Miner slowly lost chips until he was the clear short stack.

Eventually, Davy Ridout got it all in from the button for 680,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Wilmer Chavira in the big blind.

The board came , and Ridout paired his king on the flop to win the pot and double up in chips.

Davy Ridout  –  1,410,000  (47 bb)
Wilmer Chavira  –  380,000  (13 bb)

A few minutes later, Ben Miner was all in from the big blind for 140,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against Davy Ridouts’s in the small blind.

The board came , and Miner paired his jack on the turn to stay alive and double up in chips.

Ben Miner  –  310,000  (10 bb)
Davy Ridout  –  1,250,000  (42 bb)

About five minutes later, Ben Miner was all in from the big blind for about 200,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against Davy Ridout’s in the small blind.

The board came , and Ridout turned an ace-high flush to win the pot and eliminate Miner in third place.

Ben Miner  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($4,005)

Here are the approximate chip counts for the start of heads-up play, followed by the payouts:

Davy Ridout  –  1,525,000  (51 bb)
Wilmer Chavira  –  425,000  (14 bb)

1st:  $11,162 + Trophy
2nd:  $6,402

3rd:  Ben Miner  –  $4,005
4th:  Eric Tarikas  –  $2,708
5th:  Justin Fulbright  –  $2,052
6th:  Mark “Bud” Wiser  –  $1,642
7th:  Rishi Srivastava  –  $1,445
8th:  Sherman Supley  –  $1,313
9th:  Grant Missonis  –  $1,116
10th:  Eric Mutschler  –  $985

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 98

Eric Tarikas was all in from the big blind for 80,000 with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against Ben Miner’s in the small blind.

The board came , and Tarikas won the pot with a flopped pair of queens to double up in chips.

Eric Tarikas  –  175,000  (12 bb)
Ben Miner  –  650,000  (43 bb)

A few minutes later, Tarikas was once again all in from the big blind, this time for about 190,000 with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against the of Davy Ridout on the button.

The board came , and Ridout flopped two pair and turned a full house to win the pot and eliminate Tarikas in fourth place.

Davy Ridout  –  725,000  (48 bb)
Eric Tarikas  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($2,708)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 655,000 (44 big blinds), and the remaining players are all guaranteed at least $4,005 each.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 98

Justin Fulbright was all in from the button for about 200,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Wilmer Chavira in the small blind.

The board came — Fulbright paired his deuce on the flop, but improved no further. The pocket jacks held up for Chavira to win the pot and eliminate Fulbright in fifth place.

Wilmer Chavira  –  660,000  (44 bb)
Justin Fulbright  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($2,052)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 490,000 (33 big blinds), and the remaining players are all guaranteed at least $2,708 each.

2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 21
$5,000 Eight-Max NLH (Re-Entry)
Entries:  33
Prize Pool:  $156,750
June 22, 2021

On the final day of the 2021 WPT Tampa series, the final event was an afternoon $5,000 buy-in eight-max no limit hold’em event, and it attracted 33 players to generate a total prizepool of $156,750.

The final four players finished in the money, and Zhuang Ruan defeated Filipp Khavin heads-up for the title, the trophy, and $66,837.

1st:  Zhuang Ruan  –  $66,837 + Trophy
2nd:  Filipp Khavin  –  $41,309
3rd:  Arthur Conan  –  $27,114
4th:  Philip Shing  –  $21,490

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 98

Wilmer Chavira moved all in under the gun for 190,000, and Eric Tarikas moved all in over the top from the small blind with . Chavira turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Chavira paired his ten on the turn to win the pot and double up in chips.

Wilmer Chavira  –  410,000  (27 bb)
Eric Tarikas  –  260,000  (17 bb)

A few minutes later, Justin Fulbright was all in from the big blind for 110,000 with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against the of Tarikas.

The board came — Tarikas paired his queen on the flop to give himself additional outs, but Fulbright turned a set of kings to clinch the pot and double up in chips.

Justin Fulbright  –  235,000  (16 bb)
Eric Tarikas  –  135,000  (9 bb)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 392,000 (26 big blinds), and the remaining players are all guaranteed at least $2,052 each.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 98

Mark “Bud” Wiser raised under the gun to 31,000, Wilmer Chavira reraised from the cutoff to 62,000, and chipleader Davy Ridout moved all in from the button.

Wiser tanked for a while before he called all in for about 43,000, and Chavira quickly folded.

Wiser turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive against Ridout’s .

The board came — Ridout flopped a set of queens and Wiser turned a club flush draw, but he improved no further. Ridout won the pot with his set to eliminate Wiser in sixth place.

Davy Ridout  –  810,000  (68 bb)
Mark Wiser  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($1,642)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 392,000 (33 big blinds), and the remaining players are all guaranteed at least $2,052 each.