Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open
Event 1:  $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
December 4-7, 2014

Entries: 769
Total Prize Pool: $230,700

RECAP

“It feels great!  I’m excited,” is how Yong Wolfer (Rochester, NY) summed up his experience winning this event.  When they reached the ten-handed final table, he had almost a quarter of all the chips in play.  The final ten decided on an chip-based chop with Wolfer collecting $39,273, the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open Signature Guitar Trophy, and the $1,650 seat in the Championship event.

The opening event of the Winter Poker Open was a two day event that featured six starting flights over three days.  Due to this, it was actually the third event of the series to reach a conclusion.   The total number of entries was 769 building a total prize pool of $230,700, which crushed the guarantee of $150,000.

Wolfer entered this event twice.  In Flight D, he had “a bad run of cards and played too aggressively with no cards”.  Things went better for him in Flight E and he bagged 167,000, putting him 29th out of 129 returning players.  Today, he played “very aggressively, picking his spots” and that helped him to build a huge chip lead over the final ten players.

He came down for vacation and to play poker, sort of a poker-cation, and is usually a cash-game player, preferring $2/$5 and $5/$10 No Limit.  This is his best career cash in a tournament and has sparked his desire to play more tournaments.

Wolfer has a home improvement business back home and has to get back to it, but would like to return to play more events during this series.  “I love Florida.  The area and the casino are very nice.  I just can’t get over the weather.”

FINAL RESULTS