$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  29 of 71

Shocking absolutely nobody, reigning PPO Champ and DeepStack Challenge runner-up, Rafael Reis, leads Flight A of the WPO Championship late in Flight A.

He has over 200K while former leader Patrick Harder is not far behind with 197,500. Here are some more random counts from the four remaining tables.

Rafae Reis – 205,000 (103 bb)
Patrick Harder – 197,500 (99 bb)
Peter Walsworth – 160,000 (80 bb)
Jared Penney – 158,000 (79 bb)
Nick Scholz – 156,000 (78 bb)
Carlo Amenta – 154,000 (77 bb)
Robert LeBeau – 124,500 (62 bb)
Justin Fawcett – 81,500 (41 bb)
Kyle Rogers – 66,500 (33 bb)
Donna Stutts – 59,500 (30 bb)
Drew Dodge – 52,000 (26 bb)
Brian Barnes – 52,000 (26 bb)
Manny Minaya – 47,000 (24 bb)
Brian Arbaugh – 44,000 (22 bb)
James Calderaro – 30,500 (15 bb)

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  29 of 71

Registration closed for Flight A of the 2026 Winter Poker Open Championship with 71 entries, putting $106,500 toward the $300K guarantee with two big weekend flights to go.

Action will continue until nine players remain and they will advance to Day 2 on Sunday at 11 am. Players must bag chips to cash in the tournament.

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 9:  800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  68

Level 9 is here and time is running out this afternoon if you want to bag an early bag in the Championship. They wil play out this level, take a 15-minute break and reg will close at 5:45 pm.

We have another flight tomorrow at 11 am and the last Saturday at 11am. We also have a $200 satellite at 6 pm with two seats guaranteed and more tomorrow, at 3 pm and 6 pm, with ten combined seats guaranteed.

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  63

Championship players returned from their second break, facing a brand new chip leader. Patrick Harder had the biggest stack after six levels, with 154K, and then added another 64K and change after sitting back down.

He leads Flight A while first break leaders Donna Stutts and Peter Walsworth are still up there. Here’s a look at some random counts from around the five tables in play.

Patrick Harder – 220,000 (220 bb)
Donna Stutts – 134,100 (134 bb)
Peter Walsworth – 98,700 (99 bb)
Kyle Rogers – 97,900 (98 bb)
Manny Minaya – 91,900 (92 bb)
Gabe Fuller – 74,400 (74 bb)
Ken Fishman – 74,300 (74 bb)
Drew Dodge – 73,100 (73 bb)
Carlo Amenta – 69,400 (69 bb)
Justin Fawcett – 61,000 (61 bb)
Nick Scholz – 58,300 (58 bb)
Fred Paradis – 56,700 (57 bb)
Alan Thomas – 43,300 (43 bb)
Rafael Reis – 41,300 (41 bb)
Brett Apter – 40,700 (41 bb)
Tarun Gulati – 32,900 (33 bb)
Rober LeBeau – 31,600 (32 bb)

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  54

All the betting was done on Table 10 before we were drawn over there by a series of increasingly louder exclamations.

Nick Scholz was all in for about 22,300 and Kyle Rogers had him at risk and dominated.

Rogers:
Scholz:

Scholz needed help and he found it when he made a set on the flop. But Rogers turned it around and found a two-out king on the turn to take a big lead.

Scholz was out of his chair, starting to move away, when the one-out case four hit the river for his unlikely double.

Nick Scholz – 46,600 (58 bb)
Kyle Rogers – 82,000 (103 bb)

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  52

The entry count topped the half-century mark heading into Level 6, and it’s building nicely. There are still three hours to get down to the Poker Room to find an early bag in the Championship.

We found two former Tampa champs in the field so far. Matthew Leecy captured the Pinktober Poker Open Championship title in 2022 and Rafael Reis is the current PPO Champ after winning the one this past October.

2026 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 7
$400 Pot-Limit Omaha
Entries:  78
Prize Pool:  $25,740
January 28, 2026

The WPO $400 Pot-Limit Omaha was the last warmup before the Championship and it drew 78 entries for a prize pool worth $25,740. After knocking out a few tough opponents at the final table, Jeremy Parker took the top spot for $6,800 after a three-way deal.

Congrats Jeremy!

* – Denotes results of a three-way deal

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  41

We had a handful of players not make the first break, which meant a few players stacked up big in the first two hours.

Donna Stutts was the biggest beneficiary of early action, coming back from break with 109,300. Peter Walsworth is second in the early action with 101,700 and a few more are hovering near the six-digit mark.

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1A Entries:  35

The first break of the day is just about here, time for the players to step away from the action for 15 minutes and regroup.

They will return and the field will continue growing until reg closes at 5:45 pm.

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1A Entries:  28

More people are waking and making their way to the Poker Room for the starting flight of the Championship.

Some early friends include Gabe Fuller, Karl Manouchakian, Eli Kiwan, Manny Minaya, Alan Thomas, Fred Paradis, and John Alegria.