2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 2
$400 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries: 135
Prize Pool: $45,225
September 6, 2023

A field of 135 entries entered the $400 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event on opening night at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Signature Poker Series, creating a prizepool worth more than $45,000. The final battle between local players Doug Marro and Hoang Tran proved to be the toughest match of the night, with Marro doubling up four times to claim his spot at the top of the tournament.

“It’s definitely ironic, because the guys here know that I give a lot of action in PLO normally, so it’s going to be funny that I won,” said Marro after the victory.

There was a fun community feeling at the final table, especially when things got down to three-handed action; and even more so when it was heads-up for the title. There were even players from Flight B in Event 1 shouting across the room for chip count updates at different times.  Various local players kept stopping by to peek in on the action as well.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t like too much of that, but it was fun. I’m a big fan of the guy that I was playing with, he just moved here recently and we had joked around the last couple months so it was cool that we were heads-up like that. I’m glad it was him because I was actually able to have fun, and not be too serious” said Marro when he was asked about the heads-up final against Tran. He continued, “As the guys know, I like to say ‘trust the process’ and they’ll know what that means [laughs].”

“I think we have a really good poker director Pablo. I have a good relationship with him, and he definitely understands poker, which is very important. He made our cash room a lot better. I normally play cash, and he did a really good job with that so shout out to him,” said Marro when he was asked what he enjoys about consistently returning to the SHR Tampa poker scene.

Even though he primarily plays cash, Marro also said that he will definitely be back for the Championship event and a few other tournaments during the SPS series. He also wanted to say one last thing at the end of his winner’s interview, “Everything that I learned in PLO I learned from Charlie K [laughs].”

Final Results:

1st: Doug Marro – $11,565 + SPS trophy
2nd: Hoang Tran – $7,710
3rd: Zee Kurdi – $5,390
4th: Marshall Morris – $3,870
5th: Michael Laake – $2,860
6th: Daquon Wilson – $2,180
7th: John Casaubon – $1,710
8th: Alexandru Ivan – $1,380
9th: Jonathan Gold – $1,150
10th: Dustin Peglow – $1,150
11th: Barry Blakely – $1,000
12th: Matthew Tedesco – $1,000
13th: Wally Maddah – $900
14th: Alexander Orlov – $900
15th: William Wallace – $820
16th: Joseph Battaglia – $820
17th: Braedon Brown – $820

$400 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 23:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1/135

Hoang Tran was at a disadvantage in chips when he moved all in with in the hole, and Doug Marro had him covered holding .

The final board read , and Tran was eliminated in second place, good for $7,710. That makes Marro the champion of the tournament, and he takes home $11,565 and the SPS trophy for the victory. Stay tuned for the winner’s interview.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 23:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2/135

The flop read when Doug Marro got all in holding , and Hoang Tran had him covered holding . The turn and river fell , and Marro doubled up again to the tune of 1.25 million. Tran was at 2,125,000 after the hand.

Hoang Tran – 2,125,000 (42 bb)
Doug Marro – 1,250,000 (25 bb)

$400 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 22:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2/135

Doug Marro has claimed back-to-back double ups to give him a fighting chance in the heads-up finale.

His first dance with the devil in the pale moonlight that made it through came when he held against the of Hoang Tran on a final board reading . That got Marro up to 530,000 with Tran at 2,845,000.

The second double up saw Marro all in on a flop reading with in the hole. Tran covered him once again holding   this time around, and the turn and river fell .

Marro doubled up again with a second flush to take his stack up to 1.4 million, and Tran held 1,975,000 after the dust settled.

Doug Marro – 1,400,000 (35 bb)
Hoang Tran – 1,975,000 (49 bb)

$400 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 21:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2/135

Zee Kurdi was all in short for 100,000 preflop holding , and Doug Marro had him covered holding . The final board read , and Kurdi was eliminated in third place, good for $5,390.

That gave Marro 470,000 heading into the final match against Hoang Tran. Marro will have his work cut out for him facing the stack of 2,905,000 held by Tran.

Doug Marro – 2,905,000 (96 bb)
Zee Kurdi – Eliminated in Third Place ($5,390) 

$400 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 20:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3/135

Marshall Morris was all in short for 100,000  preflop from the big blind with , and Doug Marro had him covered holding on the button.

The final board read , and Morris was eliminated in fourth place, good for $3,870. Marro stacked up 525,000 after collecting the pot.

Doug Marro – 525,000 (21 bb)
Marshall Morris – Eliminated in Fourth Place ($3,870)