$1,700 WPO Championship
Prize Pool:  $628,500  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  53 of 419

The 2026 Winter Poker Open Championship drew 419 entries over three starting flights and 53 players returned this morning at 11 am to play it out for the title. They more than doubled the $300,000 guarantee to a $628,500 prize pool, with $133K up top.

Ken O’Donnell went huge in the last flight and returns with a chip lead that is more than second-place John Two-Bears and third-place Joseph Orsino’s stack combined.

But there is a lot of poker to play and everyone is coming for O’Donnell.

Top ten returning stacks:

1. Ken O ‘Donnell – 1,440,000 (288 bb)
2. John Two-Bears – 628,000 (126 bb)
3. Joseph Orsino – 627,000 (125 bb)
4. Chris Dombrowski – 598,000 (120 bb)
5. John O’Neal – 563,000 (113 bb)
6. Kyle Sturgis – 556,000 (111 bb)
7. Charlie Burns – 548,000 (110 bb)
8. Brian Harris – 511,000 (102 bb)
9. Curtis King – 507,000 (101 bb)
10. Robert Lebeau – 494,000 (99 bb)

Day 2 Seats  |  Day 2 Chips  |  Payouts

Primary Event Schedule

11AM: Day 2 – $1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)

• Championship Day 2 Table and Seat Assignments
• Championship Day 2 Chip Counts
• Championship Payouts

1PM: Event 9 – $400 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Levels last 30 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (5:30pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and play to completion
• Event 9 Structure Sheet

$1,700 WPO Championship
Prize Pool:  $628,500  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Return to Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  53 of 419

Flight A:  71 Entries; 9 Advanced
Flight B:  143 Entries; 18 Advanced
Flight C:  205 Entries; 26 Advanced
Day 2:  Sunday at 11 am

$1,700 WPO Championship
Prize Pool:  $628,500  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Return to Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  53 of 419

Flight A:  71 Entries; 9 Advanced
Flight B:  143 Entries; 18 Advanced
Flight C:  205 Entries; 26 Advanced
Day 2:  Sunday at 11 am

2026 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 8
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  419
Prize Pool:  $628,500
January 29 – February 1, 2026

Registration closed for the 2026 Winter Poker Open Championship with 419 entries, more than doubling the $300,000 guarantee into a prize pool worth $628,500. The last 53 spots will be paid with $3,290 for a min-cash and $133,430 plus the WPO trophy up top for the Champion.

Thanks to everyone for coming out!

1st: $133,430 + WPO Trophy
2nd: $82,440
3rd: $59,470
4th: $43,580
5th: $32,460
6th: $24,570
7th: $18,910
8th: $14,810
9th: $11,790
10th-12th: $9,560
13th-15th: $7,880
16th-18th: $6,620
19th-21st: $5,670
22nd-24th: $4,940
25th-27th: $4,390
28th-30th: $3,980
31st-33rd: $3,680
34th-36th: $3,470
37th-45th: $3,350
46th-53rd: $3,290

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 16:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Day 1C Players Remaining:  26 of 205

Flight C ended with one big stack above them all. Ken O’Donnell ran away late in the day and put 1,440,000 in his bag, more than double of second-place John Two-Bears’s 628,000.

We will post the Day 2 seat draw and chip counts as soon as they are available.

Flight C counts:

Ken O ‘Donnell – 1,440,000
John Two-Bears – 628,000
Charlie Burns – 548,000
Brian Harris – 511,000
Michael Hollander – 433,000
Bradley Robertson – 415,000
Yan Jiang – 407,000
Thad McNulty – 381,000
Merritt Kuhn – 346,000
Tk Miles – 327,000
Riley Price – 323,000
Kumar Kantamaneni – 311,000
James Calderaro – 274,000
Drew Dodge – 240,000
Dmitrii Shub – 237,000
Zachary Rogalski – 203,000
Guillermo Hamilton – 192,000
Ananth Ganesan – 149,000
William Parker – 149,000
James McKinnon – 133,000
Jean Zabin – 129,000
Adam Weingard – 120,000
Juan Rodriguez – 90,000
Patrick Hopman – 79,000
Daniel Kasper – 79,000
Giancarlo Disalvo – 58,000

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Day 1C Players Remaining:  35 of 205

We caught up with a big hand after a flop and three-way action. The big small blind player was all in for 135K, the cutoff was also at risk for 156,000 and John Two-Bears had them both covered.

Two-Bears:
Cutoff:
Small Blind:

Two-Bears was ahead with his flopped set of queens, the small blind player needs a club, and the cutoff was drawing all but dead to running quads.

The turn changed nothing and Two-Bears had a double knockout after the river.

John Two-Bears – 565,000 (113 bb)

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1C Entries:  205

Registration closed for the final flight of the WPO Championship, with 205 entries, bringing the combined total to 419 and the prize pool to $628,500.

We will post complete payout information, chip counts, and the seat draw as soon as the bubble bursts this evening.

Action will continue this evening until 26 players remain and they will return tomorrow at 11 am for Day 2. Players must bag chips to cash in the tournament.

Chip counts through Flight B

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1C Entries:  186

Midway through Level 8 and we got our 186th entry of the day, the combined count hit 400, and the prize pool officially doubled the $300,000 guarantee into a prize pool worth $600,000 and counting.

Registration is open until 5:45 pm so plenty of time to get down here.

A few later arrivals include John Two-Bears, Filipp Khavin, James Claderaro, Adam Weingard, Brett Apter, Jennifer Frankenstein, and 2021 WPO Champ TK Miles.

$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 7:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1C Entries:  176

Cards are back in the air after the second break with 176 entries in the game, and ten more are needed to double up the guarantee. It shouldn’t take long to get there.

We found two big stacks already in the field, both would be solid already for Day 2. Joe Young leads the way with 283,900 followed by Thad McNulty’s 263,600.