Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 13: Blinds 1,200/2,400/300 ante
27 Players Remaining, 81k avg (34 bb)
Players are back from the final break of the day and Tony March (Tampa, FL) is the chip leader with 195k.
There’s one more hour of play (two levels) left for Flight A.
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 11: Blinds 800/1,600/200 ante
31 Players Remaining, 70k avg (44 bb)
Unlike the ice cream shop, not all the 31 remaining players are a sweet treat.
The field will play Levels 11 & 12, take a break before finishing the last two levels of the flight. Bag and tag will fall at ~6:45 pm.
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 10: Blinds 600/1,200/200 ante
40 Players Remaining, 55k avg (46 bb)
We’re down to four tables and the players aren’t messing around.
Julio Novo (Tampa, FL) has two players covered, with all three in the 30-40 BB range when he makes the double all-in call.
Novo is in great shape with AK against both players holding AQ.
The board runs clean and Novo is up to 70k after starting the hand with 30k.
The field of more than 100 entries is down to 40 players
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 9: Blinds 500/1k/100 ante
109 Entries
The first flight of Event 1 of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open ends up with 109 entries as registration is now closed.
The big stacks are in the 100k+ range with recent West Coast transplant Gil Levy (San Diego, CA) leading the way with 120k.
Chip Leaders
Gil Levy 120k
Miles Wessler 107k
Matt Rose 98k
Ben Thompson 98k
Robert Rosetta 90k
Tony March 85k
Robert Melo 80k
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 8: Blinds 400/800/75 ante
100 Entries
We just hit 100 entries for the opening event of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open. That means time is running out to register or re-enter.
The cage is open until ~3:30 pm and players can enter until the start of Level 9.
There’s also a 6 pm flight as well as two flights Friday and Saturday to get in on this $150,000 Guaranteed event.
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 6: Blinds 200/400/50
90 Entries
“I couldn’t miss this,” says Stephen Diamantas (Tampa, FL), who won the Championship Event here a year ago for $122,000.
Diamantas is a full time pro who loves playing here at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa casino, especially after earning another six-figure score in the June Championship Event, finishing third for an additional $102,000.
“I need to grind more,” says Diamantas, who hasn’t played as much poker as he should. “I need to be a better boss.”
So far, so good as last year’s winner is up to 35k.
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: Blinds 100/200
85 Entries
After two hours of play, the field is heading to the first break of the day.
There’s still plenty of time to jump in this event as registration and re-entry is open until ~3:30 pm (start of Level 9).
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 3: Blinds 75/150
72 Entries
“Table change,” are the first words out of Robert Melo’s mouth, this after seeing cousin Frank Gomez already at the table; both are from Lakeland, FL.
Melo, originally from New York, has been an East Coast grinder for many years with nearly $100,000 in tournament earnings, while Gomez is new to the game.
Gomez made a splash earlier this year at the Coconut Creek Lucky Hearts poker open when he took home $10,000 for his third place finish. Melo was on the rail for Gomez’s second career recorded tournament cash.
“No fireworks,” in this event says Melo who check-raised his cuz a couple of times.
“I had to fold,” adds Gomez, “I had nothing.”
Both players are above the 20k starting stack with Melo up to 31k.
“Final table,” Gomez says is the only table that matters when the two play head-to-head.
Day 1A $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: Blinds 50/100
61 Entries
We’re only 35 minutes into the opening event of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open and we’ve doubled the number of entries since play began.
61 entries are in the field as we’ve already seen one elimination and a re-entry.
Chadrick Thomasson (Warner Robins, GA) says he based a Tampa trip around Event 1.
“Nice getaway,” says Thomasson who plans to be here four days, including for Sunday’s Day 2.
That’s a long way away as we have six flights to navigate.