$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 16:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  41 of 335

There are still 20 minutes remaining before the dinner break and the field is only seven eliminations away from making some money. It will be a close one.

Karl Manouchakian is making a bid for another Tampa win as the regular moved his stack up to 290,000 and looks like the leader heading towards the bubble.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 14:  2,000/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  56 of 335

The bust outs continue at a brisk pace and the tournament is down to the last eight tables. It’s still a race between the bubble and dinner break and it will be close.

Mark “Bud” Wiser is another regular running deep into the day and he’s looking for another big Tampa score. On a nearby table, the recently mention Josias Santos is spinning up his stack and sits with 195,000 to compete with the leaders.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 13:  1,000/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  77 of 335

The second break is over and players are back in action chasing two new big stacks. Carlos Aranda quietly pushed his stack up to 207,000 over 12 levels to sit with the chip lead while Justin Howard is a half dozen 1K chips behind in with 201,000.

Event 1 players will work through four more levels before taking a 30-minute dinner and the money bubble should be very close at that point.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining:  84 of 335

The 84 remaining players are heading on their third break of the day and will return with an eye towards the money bubble.

With the mask requirements, it is sometimes a little tough to recognize familiar faces. We ran across a popular regular as the day moved along with Josias Santos trying to pick up his fourth Tampa win. Santos won his first Tampa title in 2015 and his third this past February in the $160 Big Stack Special.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Players Remaining:  98 of 335

The field shrank under triple digits since before the tournament started and the next break is not far away. Tampa regular David Dibernardi is making a move in the middle of the day and recently picked up another nice pot.

He was in a four-way pot to a flop and checked. The player to his left bet 5,000 to get a fold followed by a raise to 10,000. Dibernardi was the only player to come along and both checked the turn. Dibernardi moved all in after the river and his opponent mucked before getting a count. The good-sized pot moved him up to 83,500 and in good position for a late run.

Dibernardi has a unique spot in Seminole Poker history. He is one of very few players who have won titles at all of the Seminole properties. Dibernardi has two titles in Hollywood, two in Coconut Creek, and three right here in Tampa including his second career WSOP Circuit ring in February.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining:  133 of 335

The second break came to an end and we have two new big stacks in the room. David McElroy came out on top of the second break counts with a healthy 129,500 but Marcus Ford is right on his tail with 129,000.

They are the two frontrunners as the field settles in for the march to the money.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Players Remaining:  168 of 335

The numbers are in and Winter Poker Open Event 1 drew 335 entries to put $83,750 in the prize pool. The last 34 spots will be paid with a min-cash earning $888 and the winner taking home $18,063 along with the Guitar Trophy.

Thank you to all our players for making the first tournament of the series a great success.

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390
3rd: $7,349
4th: $5,025
5th: $3,936
6th: $3,059
7th: $2,596
8th: $2,178
9th: $1,851
10th-12th: $1,591
13th-15th: $1,382
16th-18th: $1,214
19th-21st: $1,131
22nd-24th: $1,047
25th-27th: $984
28th-34th: $888

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Entries:  340

Tournament staff are still seating the remaining alternates while we wait on the official count. Once that is complete, we will post the prize pool and payouts for the opening event.

Among the late entrants, we found former Tampa champs David Dibernard, Bryce McVay, and Wally Maddah.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Entries:  340

The first break is complete and registration closed on the first tournament of the series. The unofficial total shows 340 but that will likely change but a couple before the accounting is complete and the last few alternates are seated.

Tracy Allen leads the field after running his 20,000 starting stack up to 83,000 with Debra Harrison (70,300) and Christina Read (70,200) not far behind.