Below is a recap of Event 11 of the Winter Poker Open, the $180 Seniors Classic Rockers event, that concluded during the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 14.

2016 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, FL
Event 11
$180 Seniors Classic Rockers 50+
Entries: 145
Prize Pool: $19,375
December 13, 2016

Billy Dubay became the latest Winter Poker Open guitar trophy winner at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa during the early morning hours of Wednesday. Dubay’s title came at the hands of 145 “seniors” in the $180 Seniors Classic Rockers event and was the result of a heads-up chop with Andrew Butte. The duo split the prize pool evenly — each pocketing $4,503 — but Dubay went home with a $1,650 Championship seat and, of course, the trophy to boot.

There was plenty of play late in the tournament with big stacks and 30-minute levels. In fact, play was so deep that the bubble lasted 27 hands. After the better part of an hour, it was none other than Seminole Hard Rock Tampa ambassador Wally Maddah who busted 19th and went home with the unenviable honor of bubble boy. Maddah got short when he ran his fullhouse into an opponent’s better full house, then got his last 13,000 in during the 4,000/8,000 level. His pair was no good.

With Maddah’s exit, the remaining 18 locked up a score and play picked up. Notables to work their way into a scored include World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Andre Boyer and Tampa regular Marvin Karlins.

Dubay started the final table as one of the short stacks, but quickly busted Byron Schenk 10th and Pete Kosakowski ninth. From there, he watched as Wes Skinner went out eighth, Randy Spain seventh, Debra Dorcy sixth and Lenny Rubin fifth. He went back into action busting Brenda Worley fourth and Elton “Skunk” Hates third. Dubay and Butte played a couple hands heads up, but quickly agreed to the aforementioned chop.

Dubay is a regular of the Tampa property and has recorded multiple cashes including an eighth-place finish in this very event in 2014. The win marks his first major tournament win and moves him to over $35,000 career earnings.

The Seniors Classic Rockers event was open to all participants age 50 or older. The 145-entry field generated a prize pool of $19,375.

Seniors Classic Rockers final results:

1st: Billy Dubay – $4,503 + Championship seat
2nd: Andrew Butte – $4,503
3rd: Elton “Skunk” Hayes – $1,841
4th: Brenda Lane-Worley – $1,550
5th: Lenny Rubin – $1,163
6th: Debra Dorcy – $969
7th: Randy Spain – $775
8th: Wes Skinner – $581
9th: Pete Kosakowski – $436
10th: Byron Schenk – $388
11th: Daniel Wilson – $388
12th: Ben Van Klink – $388
13th: Andre Boyer – $339
14th: George Bailey – $339
15th: Marvin Karlins – $339
16th: Michael Simon, Sr. – $291
17th: Peter Martin – $291
18th: Robert Brandl – $291

2016 Winter Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, FL
Event 12
$150 Deep Stack Turbo
Entries: 95
Prize Pool: $11,400
December 13, 2016

Event 12 was the last tournament on the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open schedule before the $300,000 Guarantee Championship kicks off on Thursday. It brought out a bunch of familiar faces and it ended with John Pishos defending his 2015 WPO Event 12 title for a $3,875 payout.

The 95 entries in the $150 Turbo No Limit Hold’em tournament surpassed last year’s numbers as well as the $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. Seminole Hard Rock Tampa ambassador Wally Maddah was the last player to jump in, after bubbling the Seniors Classic Rocker event, but he did not play a part in the end.

The last ten players earned a piece of the $11,400 prize pool and they wasted no time getting there after registration closed. It was a fast, one-handed money bubble and there were some familiar faces at the final table beside Pishos including Alex Ivan, John Ryan, Onder Ekinci, and Andrew Phillips (son of Event 8 Turbo winner Alan Phillips).

They dropped out one after another in quick succession until Pishos was heads up with a commanding chip lead against Helge Wallem. Wallem tried several times to make a dent in Pishos’ chip stack but it didn’t take long for Pishos to finish it off and give him another WPO Event 12 title.

“I won this tournament last year?” was Pishos’ only laughing comment when asked how it felt to win it back-to-back.

It was a dominant run in the fast-paced game and Pishos earned his second career Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open title.

Event 12 results:

1st: John Pishos – $3,875
2nd: Helge Wallem – $2,109
3rd: Andrew Phillips – $1,471
4th: Onder Ekinci – $1,083
5th: Joseph Farrar – $809
6th: David Pierce – $616
7th: Chris Brodock – $479
8th: Alex Ivan – $388
9th: John Ryan – $308
10th: Scott Sanford – $262

$150 Deep Stack Turbo NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)

While the Rockers Classic final table was playing out, the Turbo event ran right past it and settled on an outright winner. The final table featured several regular faces including Alex Ivan, Odner Ekinci, and John Ryan but it was John Pishos dominating the final table to win back-to-back title in the Winter Poker Open Event 12 Turbo event.

More details and tournament report to come soon.

Event 12 results:

1st: John Pishos – $3,875
2nd: Helge Wallem – $2,109
3rd: Andrew Phillips – $1,471
4th: Onder Ekinci – $1,083
5th: Joseph Farrar – $809
6th: David Pierce – $616
7th: Chris Brodock – $479
8th: Alex Ivan – $388
9th: John Ryan – $308
10th: Scott Sanford – $262

$180 Seniors Classic Rockers 50+ (Re-Entry)
Level 26: 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 145

Andrew Butte was able to find a small double up at the start of heads up play but it wasn’t a big dent for Dubay’s stack. The two decided to split the remaining prize pool right down the middle with Dubay taking the title, guitar trophy, and $1,650 WPO Championship seat courtesy of his massive lead.

Seniors Rocker Classic recap yet to come.

1st: Billy Dubay – $4,503 + Championship seat
2nd: Andrew Butte – $4,503
3rd: Elton “Skunk” Hayes – $1,841
4th: Brenda Lane-Worley – $1,550
5th: Lenny Rubin – $1,163
6th: Debra Dorcy – $969
7th: Randy Spain – $775
8th: Wes Skinner – $581
9th: Pete Kosakowski – $436
10th: Byron Schenk – $388

$180 Seniors Classic Rockers 50+ (Re-Entry)
Level 26: 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 145

Elton “Skunk” Hayes was tough to knock out. He was giving the table all he could, doubling up multiple times but never building a stack back up to put Billy Dubay at risk.

The final hand came when he called a 125,000 raise from Dubay leaving 140,000 behind. Hayes put those in the middle after the flop and was ahead with versus Dubay’s .

This time is was Dubay coming from behind thanks to the turn and Hayes could not return the favor on the river to exit in third place.

Billy Dubay – 2,625,000 (66 bb)
Andrew Butte – 275,000 (7 bb)
Elton “Skunk” Hayes – Eliminated in 3rd place ($1,841)

$180 Seniors Classic Rockers 50+ (Re-Entry)
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 145

Billy Dubay continued to apply pressure with his huge stack and the short stacks were forced to take a stand to double up. Brenda Lane-Worley was the first to give it a shot.

Dubay:
Lane-Worley:

It was bad luck running into a dominant hand from the big stack and the (mostly) red board never gave her a sweat. It was a great run but Lane-Worley was the next out, gone in fourth place.

Billy Dubay – 2,400,000 (80 bb)
Brenda Lane-Worley – Eliminated in 4th place ($1,550)

$180 Seniors Classic Rockers 50+ (Re-Entry)
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 145

Lenny Rubin had zero good luck and a lot of bad luck against Elton “Skunk” Hayes. First it was Rubin running his smaller boat into the bigger boat of Hayes, then they got it in with Rubin dominating holding against only to have the board run out to chop the pot.

Rubin got his chips in good once again but it followed the same pattern.

Hayes:
Rubin:

Rubin hit the flop while Hayes picked up a gutshot draw and backdoor flush draw. The turn gave Hayes more outs and he hit both draws on the river. His flush knocked Rubin down under one big blind and he was eliminated on the next hand.

Elton “Skunk” Hayes – 340,000 (11 bb)
Lenny Rubin – Eliminated in 5th place ($1,163)

$180 Seniors Classic Rockers 50+ (Re-Entry)
Returning to Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 145

Five players remain in the Seniors Classic Rocker event with Billy Dubay holding more than half of the chips in play.

Seat 2: Lenny Rubin – 165,000 (6 bb)
Seat 4: Brenda Lane-Worley – 430,000 (14 bb)
Seat 5: Billy Dubay – 1,500,000 (50 bb)
Seat 6: Andrew Butte – 530,000 (18 bb)
Seat 9: Elton “Skunk” Hayes – 155,000 (5 bb)

$180 Seniors Classic Rockers 50+ (Re-Entry)
Level 24: 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 145

Debra Dorcy open/shoved for 192,000 and Brenda Lane-Worley called from the button. The blinds released and the hands were flipped over.

Lane-Worley:
Dorcy:

Lane-Worley had the bigger ace and never had a sweat as the board ran out to eliminate Dorcy from her second final table of the series.

Brenda Lane-Worley – 480,000 (20 bb)
Debra Dorcy – Eliminated in 6th place ($969)