$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries: 105
The entry count pipped up over 100 before the second break and we sure to top the number from last year’s Flight B with ease.
Some new faces in the field including WPT Champ Nitis Udornpim, Rusty Wadsworth, Wasim Assaf, Ken O’Donnell, Ryan Hogan, and Tony Hoang.
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1B Entries: 83
Players returned to action after the first break and put another ten on the board while they were away. A great turnout on a Friday afternoon and tomorrow is really going to be something.
Roberto Melo looks like the early front-runner with just shy of 150K after three levels. Nice spin-up. Here’s a look at some of the other counts around the room:
Robert Melo – 149,500 (299 bb)
Jennifer Frankenstein – 80,600 (161 bb)
Tyler Beaver – 78,300 (157 bb)
David Sweeley – 66,000 (132 bb)
Sun Choi – 60,400 (121 bb)
John O’Neal – 59,900 (120 bb)
Aaron Speer – 54,100 (108 bb)
Wayne Leonard – 51,400 (103 bb)
Julio Delgado – 48,200 (96 bb)
Mitch Garshofsky – 46,900 (94 bb)
Brian Arbaugh – 43,600 (87 bb)
Mitch Mitchell – 43,200 (86 bb)
Mark Zhang – 37,600 (75 bb)
Mo Alhalwani – 36,000 (72 bb)
Hassan Hakim – 35,900 (72 bb)
Tony March – 35,900 (72 bb)
Harvey Vandeven – 24,800 (50 bb)
Matthew Leecy – 24,500 (49 bb)
Brian Ray – 24,500 (49 bb)
Fred Paradis – 20,600 (41 bb)
Ricardo Eyzaguirre – 18,500 (37 bb)
Gabe Fuller – 16,300 (33 bb)
John Dolan – 8,500 (17 bb)
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1B Entries: 72
Flight B is just about ready to take their first break and the entry is already over the complete total from yesterday. A great turnout and even more are showing up as the afternoon moves on.
Some early friends in action include Ricard Eyzaguirre, Hassan Hakim, Mitch Mitchell, Tony March, Brian Arbaugh, Sun Choi, Matthew Leecy, and John Dolan.
The last time Eyzaguirre played a hand in the Poker Room, he won the DeepStack Challenge title.
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 100/200 with a 200 ante
Day 1B Entries: 36
Cards are in the air for Flight B of the WPO Championship with 36 players in their seats and many more expected on a busy Friday.
They will play the first three levels before getting a break and we’re seeing people already moving the registration desk.
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 100/200 with a 200 ante
The second of three flights of the 2026 Winter Poker Open Championship gets underway at 11 am and looks to build on a solid start yesterday. The $1,700 buy-in tournament has a $300,000 guaranteed prize pool and slow, deep structure.
Players start with 40K in their stacks and all levels last 40 minutes. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 10 at 5:45 pm.
Play will continue until the field drops to 12.5% and those with chips will return on Sunday at 11 am for Day 2.
Primary Event Schedule
11AM: Day 1B – $1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
Secondary and Satellite Schedule
3PM: $200 Championship Satellite (1-in-10)
6PM: $200 Championship Satellite (1-in-10)
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Return to Level 14: 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 71
Flight A: 71 Entries; 9 Advanced
Flight B: Friday at 11 am
Flight C: Saturday at 11 am
Day 2: Sunday at 11 am
| Rank | First Name | Last Name | City | State | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris | Dombrowski | Wesley Chapel | FL | 598,000 |
| 2 | Robert | LeBeau | Tampa | FL | 494,000 |
| 3 | Rafael | Reis | Winter Garden | FL | 423,000 |
| 4 | Ye | Yao | Lutz | FL | 352,000 |
| 5 | Sandro | Vianna De Sa | Winter Garden | FL | 331,000 |
| 6 | Justin | Fawcett | Gainesville | FL | 229,000 |
| 7 | Nicholas | Squitiro | Palm Harbor | FL | 219,000 |
| 8 | Ronald | Surenkamp | Port Richey | FL | 104,000 |
| 9 | Cornelius | Walker | Ormond Beach | FL | 91,000 |
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining: 9 of 71
Action ended for Flight A at the midpoint of Level 14 and Chris Dombrowski bagged the overall lead with 598,000. Robert LeBeau was second and Rafael Reis is lingering not too far back.
Flight B gets underway on Friday at 11 am and we have two huge satellites with ten combined seats guaranteed.
Chris Dombrowski – 598,000 (120 bb)
Robert LeBeau – 494,000 (99 bb)
Rafael Reis – 423,000 (85 bb)
Ye Yao – 352,000 (70 bb)
Sandro Vianna De Sa – 331,000 (66 bb)
Justin Fawcett – 229,000 (46 bb)
Nicholas Squitiro – 219,000 (44 bb)
Ronald Surenkamp – 104,000 (21 bb)
Cornelius Walker – 91,000 (18 bb)
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12: 1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining: 17 of 71
Cards are back in the air after (what should be) the last break of Flight A. Sandro Vianna is the late leader after chunking off a lot of chips from Peter Walsworth and Chris Dombrowski, seated to his left, has the second biggest stack.
Robert LeBeau and Rafael Reis are also in contention for the overall lead later this evening.
Sandro Vianna – 385,000 (96 bb)
Chris Dombrowski – 320,000 (80 bb)
Robert LeBeau – 300,000 (75 bb)
Rafael Reis – 277,000 (69 bb)
$1,700 WPO Championship
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12: 1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining: 17 of 71
Flight A of the Championship is nearing another break as tournament staff pull the purple chips out of play. This will most likely be the last break of their day, with nine of them moving on to Day 2, but crazier things have happened.