$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 15: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante Players Remaining: 179 of 1,655
Eric Piderit
In one of the first pots of the tournament, Eric Piderit put his stack in the middle against Frank Brigham for a lot of chips.
Brigham: Piderit:
The king of coolers and Piderit was unable to find a save on the board. They counted down the stacks and Brigham was the player at risk. He doubled up, Piderit was left with 13K and was eliminated in 180th even after running it back up to 130,000.
Frank Brigham – 350,000 (70 bb) Eric Piderit – Eliminated in 180th Place ($600)
The series featured $605,000 in guarantees, not including all the seats from massive satellites, and our players put more than $1,000,000 on top of the amount we locked in. Outside our huge festivals in the Event Center, the series was the fourth biggest in terms of entries and prize pools despite fewer events.
For those who really like numbers, this was our biggest series in the Poker Room when you consider prize money per event, and that’s all a credit to the fantastic support from our players.
The series began with a $400 multi-flight event and Antuan Bunkley conquered a tough field to take the title along with $74,370. The headliner of the 2024 WPO series was the $1,700 buy-in Championship that turned a $300,000 guarantee into a prize pool worth $793,500.
Tampa favorite Ross Corless took the top spot after dominating the final day (and close friend Jake Ferro) to bank $130,230 and the title of WPO Champ.
It was another fun, fantastic series and we can’t thank our players enough for the incredible turnout. We love seeing our old friends and making new ones every day, we look forward to catching up with everyone at the next one in March for the 2024 Tampa Poker Classic.
2024 Winter Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 9 $250 Seniors 50+ (Re-Entry) $10,000 Guaranteed Entries: 245 Prize Pool: $50,225 February 5, 2024
Glyn Griffis, WPO Seniors champ
The last event on the 2024 WPO schedule was the popular $250 Seniors 50+ event with a $10,000 guarantee blasted times five for a prize pool over $50,000. It created a talented final table that ended up calling it a night with seven players remaining and Glyn Griffis holding a huge lead.
Griffis earned the title along with a cool $10,000 payout plus the last WPO trophy awarded for the series.
2024 Winter Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida $1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry) $300,000 Guaranteed Entries: 529 Prize Pool: $793,500 February 1 – 5, 2024
Ross Corless
The 2024 Winter Poker Open Championship headlined the two-week festival and the $1,700 buy-in tournament drew a talented group of players. After a fun final table, Ross Corless earned the WPO Champion title and $130,230 in a heads-up deal.
The tournament featured three starting flights and a $300,000 guarantee. It drew 529 entries to create a prize pool worth $793,500 for a fantastic turnout. We had 65 players return for Day 2, in the money, and they wasted no time since the money bubble was in the rearview mirror.
They quickly reached the final table with nine players remaining and four were left when they finished Day 2. Diego Uez and former WPT Player of the Year Jake Ferror were the leaders returning for the last day, but Corless never lost a hand.
Gal Yafrich doubled up on the first hand of Day 3 with aces but then ran his big slick into Corless’s aces to go out in fourth. Then Ferro lost his stack to his good friend before Uez and Corless decided to chop up the remaining prize pool.
Uez earned $124,000 in the deal and Corless is your 2024 Tampa Winter Poker Open Champion, banking $130,230 and the trophy for his efforts.
Final table results:
1st: Ross Corless – $130,230 + WPO Trophy * 2nd: Diego Uez – $124,000 * 3rd: Jake Ferro – $74,890 4th: Gal Yafrich – $55,750 5th: Mo Alhalwani – $41,920 6th: Chad Kitchen – $31,840 7th: Mark Milburn – $24,420 8th: Ryan Hogan – $18,910 9th: Jared Ingles – $14,790 * – results of heads-up deal
2024 Winter Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 9 $250 Seniors 50+ (Re-Entry) $10,000 Guaranteed Entries: 245 Prize Pool: $50,225 February 5, 2024
Registration closed for the $250 Seniors 50+ tournament with 245 entries, quintupling the $10,000 guarantee into a prize pool worth $50,225. The last 31 spots will be paid with $460 for a min-cash and $11,145 up top for the last champ of the series.
$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry) $300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 30: 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Ross Corless
After Jake Ferro was eliminated in third place, Ross Corless and Diego Uez took some time to look at the numbers. After some negotiation for the trophy, the two agreed on a deal to divide up the remaining prize money.
Uez earned $124,000 for a runner-up result, while Corless earned $130,230 and the trophy as our 2024 WPO Champion.
Congrats both!
Ross Corless – 13,800,000 (69 bb) Diego Uez – 7,275,000 (36 bb)
1st: Ross Corless – $130,230 + WPO Trophy 2nd: Diego Uez – $124,000
$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry) $300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 30: 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante Players Remaining: 4 of 529
Ross Corless
One short orbit after Gal Yifrach doubled, Ross Corless shipped in for 2,200,000 from under the gun and Diego Uez called in the big blind with another chance to knock out a player.
Corless: Uez:
It was a race and Corless needed his deuces to hold for his double. The dealer spread the board, Corless faded the over cards, and doubled up.
Ross Corless – 4,600,000 (23 bb) Diego Uez – 6,900,000 (35 bb)
$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry) $300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 30: 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante Players Remaining: 4 of 529
Gal Yifrach
On the first hand of the day, Gal Yifrach limped from the small blind, Diego Uez announced all in from the big, and Yifrach called as fast as actually possible.
Yifrach: Uez:
Short-stacked and needing something to happen, Yifrach caught aces right out of the gate and they held on the board for a double.
Gal Yifrach – 3,550,000 (18 bb) Diego Uez – 9,400,000 (47 bb)
board. They counted down the stacks and Brigham was the player at risk. He doubled up, Piderit was left with 13K and was eliminated in 180th even after running it back up to 130,000.
to send him out in third place.
board but did not catch enough and was eliminated in fourth place.
