$2,200 High Roller Day 1 | 2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Hard Rock Tampa

02-12-2020 12:43 UTC-4

WSOP Circuit Makes Big Splash in Tampa as $2,200 High Roller Kicks Off Today at 4 p.m.

Jeff McMillan

It is time for PokerNews’s coverage of the first-ever WSOP Circuit stop in Tampa with the $2,200 High Roller, which gets underway at 4 p.m. local time at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino.

The High Roller will be Event #8 on the schedule in what has already been a successful and busy venture for the WSOP Circuit into the new territory of Tampa.

Players will receive a starting stack of 30,000 for each $2,200 buy-in. Re-entry is allowed up until the start of Level 13, which is the beginning of Day 2, as Day 1 will consist of 12 levels of play, each lasting 40 minutes, with breaks every three levels (after two hours of play).

The players who survive the day will return to play on Day 2, which is slated for a 2 p.m. start on Thursday, February 13th.

PokerNews will provide all the Day 1 coverage today for this event and will keep the action going here in Tampa as coverage of Thursday's Event 9: $3,250 High Roller 8-handed will also be picked up.

Tags: WSOPC Tampa

02-12-2020 17:20 UTC-4

Michael Raimon Victorious in Event #2: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha

Jeff McMillan

Level 1 : 100/100, 0 ante

PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event and two high roller tournaments here at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Hard Rock Tampa, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.

In Event #2: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha, 166 runners created a $54,780 prize pool that was paid out to the top 25 players including Austin Clanton (3rd - $5,985), Blake Whittington (8th - $1,428), Melisa Singh (13th - $834), Duff Charette (20th - $674), and David Prociak (25th - $619).

In the end, Michael Raimon bested Likang Berninger in heads-up play to win the title for $13,894 and his second gold ring.

“It’s nice. I don’t really play Circuit events anymore, mostly cash,” the 48-year-old Raimon said after his win while also commenting on three-handed play. “We just played slow all three of us. This guy [Austin Clanton] had 2 million, we each had like 150,000 for about an hour and a half and a we all picked our spots. He kept doubling everybody up one after another, then I finally got one big hand with him where he flopped a straight and I turned a full house.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Michael Raimon	Bradenton, Florida	$13,894
2	Likang Berninger	Lafayette, Indiana	$8,586
3	Austin Clanton	N/A	$5,985
4	Ramses Rosa	Florida	$4,274
5	Joseph Orsino	Tampa, Florida	$3,127
6	Bruce Gans	Ooltewah, Tennessee	$2,346
7	Peter Walsworth	Sarasota, Florida	$1,807
8	Blake Whittington	Jacksonville, Florida	$1,428
9	Jessica Francis	Erie, Pennsylvania	$1,161

Tags: Michael Raimon

02-12-2020 18:55 UTC-4

David Tuthill Wins Second Gold Ring Nearly 7 Years After the First

Jeff McMillan

Level 3 : 100/200, 200 ante

PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event and two high roller tournaments here at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Hard Rock Tampa, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.

In Event #3: $400 NLH Turbo, 190 runners created a $62,700 prize pool that was paid out to the top 29 players including Brad Albrinck (5th - $3,506), Chad Kitchen (10th - $1,070), Spencer Hubbell (16th - $794), Eric Emerson (21st - $712), Andrew Kelsall (25th - $624), and Andre Greene (29th - $610).

Coming out on top was David Tuthill, who bested Jesse Carter in heads-up play to win a $15,272 top prize and his second gold ring (his first came back in 2013).

“I’m happy I won the money. It was a turbo so I just won a bunch of all ins, I got very lucky and fortunate to win,” Tuthill said after his win.

He added: “In 2017, I started working for a nonprofit and I don’t play full time anymore. I’ve still had some nice success part-time. There is so much great poker in Florida now and with this amazing new ballroom in Tampa, Tampa is on fire. I still play a lot of great tournaments every year without having to travel like I used to, and I can have stability and a regular family life which is what I was looking for as I got older.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	David Tuthill	St. Petersburg, Florida	$15,272
2	Jesse Carter	Blaine, Tennessee	$9,438
3	Michael Mccray	Naples, Florida	$6,637
4	Jonathan Walsky	Vestavia Hills, Alabama	$4,770
5	Brad Albrinck	Cincinnati, Ohio	$3,506
6	Sean Smith	Thomasville, Georgia	$2,636
7	Adamastor Santos	Jacksonville, Florida	$2,029
8	Travis Cathey	Houston, Texas	$1,599
9	Patrick Eskandar	Ladera Ranch, California	$1,292

Tags: David Tuthill

02-12-2020 19:27 UTC-4

Byron Johnson Credits Maurice Hawkins for Help Winning $166,176 Prize in WSOPC Tampa Opener

Jeff McMillan

Level 4 : 100/200, 200 ante

PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event and two high roller tournaments here at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Hard Rock Tampa, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.

In Event #1: $600 NLH Double Stack, 2,433 entrants competed over five starting flights to create a $1,252,995 prize pool. That was paid out to the top 355 spots and among those to make deep runs were Corey Zedo (5th - $47,378), John Racener (8th - $23,410), Filipp Khavin (9th - $18,797), Andrew Brinkley (13th - $12,410), Marsha Wolak (18th - $10,205), Frank Covich (51st - $2,868), and Cord Garcia (52nd - $2,868).

In the end, 35-year-old Bryon Johnson of Wesley Chapel, Florida bested Fabian Foster in heads-up play to win the title and a $166,176 first-place prize.

“This means a lot, especially with the training I’ve been getting, I’ve been working with Maurice Hawkins. These were all some great players, so it was just a blessing to take this down,” Johnson said after his victory.

He continued: “To win this you actually have to run pretty good, so I think I ran pretty good. It seems like when I needed to hit the cards, I did. It worked out pretty good for me. There was one hand earlier in the tournament when I was all in, I had jack-ten suited, I tried to steal the blinds and someone called with pocket aces. I ended up hitting two tens on the flop and it was pretty much smooth sailing since that point.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Byron Johnson	Wesley Chapel, Florida	$166,176
2	Fabian Foster	Florida	$102,705
3	Juan Restrepo	Pembroke Pines, Florida	$78,741
4	Massimo Dirienzo	Atlanta, Georgia	$60,856
5	Corey Zedo	Denver, Colorado	$47,378
6	Carlos Loving	Tampa, Florida	$37,168
7	Michael Spada	Bradenton, Florida	$30,344
8	John Racener	Tampa, Florida	$23,410
9	Filipp Khavin	St. Petersburg, Florida	$18,797

Tags: Byron Johnson

02-12-2020 22:09 UTC-4

Orlando Vacation Allows Ryan Yu to Capture First WSOPC Gold Ring

Jeff McMillan

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 ante

PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event and two high roller tournaments here at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Hard Rock Tampa, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.

In Event #4: $1,125 No-Limit Hold’em, 227 runners created a $227,000 prize pool that was paid out to the top 35 finishers. Among those to cash were Justin Zaki (5th - $12,521), Ralph Massey (8th - $5,638), Loni Harwood (10th - $3,676), Brett Apter (11th - $3,676), Kevin Javier (25th - $1,866), and Zach Gruneberg (34th - $1,661).

In the end, Canada’s Ryan Yu beat Steven Richardson in heads-up play to win the title, $53,725 in prize money, and his first gold ring.

“I’m happy. It was fun. It was a nice little way to start the series,” said the 36-year-old Yu, who finished 36th in the 2019 WSOP Main Event for $261,430.

“I mostly just stay at home with my kid. I probably play poker eighty days out of the year. I don’t really follow the Circuit, it’s just when it’s convenient for me I guess. We were having a vacation in Orlando, we have a place in Orlando. They went home on Sunday, so I drove down on Sunday and decided to stay like a week later.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Ryan Yu	Ontario, British Columbia, Canada	$53,725
2	Steven Richardson	Berkley, Michigan	$33,204
3	Steve Brite	N/A	$23,535
4	Ronnie Day	Fairborn, Ohio	$17,001
5	Justin Zaki	Tampa, Florida	$12,521
6	Duff Charette	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	$9,405
7	David Dibernardi	Youngstown, Ohio	$7,208
8	Ralph Massey	Chicago, Illinois	$5,638
9	Mark Scacewater	Lake St. Louis, Missouri	$4,504

Tags: Ryan Yu

02-12-2020 23:38 UTC-4

Hand Exposure Controversy Gives Russell Even More Chips

Jeff McMillan

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 ante

The action was on the turn with the board reading .

David Russell's hand was already exposed face-up as he was facing an all in from his opponent. There had apparently been some confusion from Russell as he misheard the dealer which led to the exposed hand.

His opponent waited for Russell's decision as his shove was for 21,500. Russell thought it out for about 30 seconds before electing to make the call with the draw.

His opponent was ahead with the . But the river brought home the straight for Russell when the binked off to cause his opponent to get up in anger and criticize the call from Russell after the hand exposure.

Russell collected the newest addition to his massive stack and walked off to serve his hand exposure penalty.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Russell	280,000 120,000	120,000

Tags: David Russell

02-12-2020 23:53 UTC-4

Arkadiy Tsinis Captures Fifth WSOPC Gold Ring

Jeff McMillan

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 ante

PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event and two high roller tournaments here at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Hard Rock Tampa, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.

In Event #5: $600 NLH 6-Handed, 352 runners created a $181,280 prize pool that was paid out to the top 53 players including Michael Rossitto (4th - $11,672), John Gorsuch (7th - $4,533), Zach Gruneberg (14th - $2,164), Blake Whittington (18th - $1,775), Mark Dube (27th - $1,289), and Adam Lamphere (37th - $1,042).

In the end, Arkadiy Tsinis bested Scott Dobbs in heads-up play to win the title, $39,527 top prize, and his fifth gold Circuit ring.

“It’s going to a special person, I’m giving away all my rings except the first one,” Tsinis said after the win. “I gave the second one to my father, the other two to my very close friends who are like my brothers, and this one is going to their father. They are so special to me.”

He added: “Day 2 started pretty good. I hit everything, pairs turned into sets, best hands held up, then at the final table I hit a downswing, I was the shortest at some point, but then I came back, it’s poker.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Arkadiy Tsinis	Miami, Florida	$39,527
2	Scott Dobbs	Covington, Georgia	$24,429
3	Ruben Javier Vallejo	N/A	$16,710
4	Michael Rossitto	Brooklyn, New York	$11,672
5	Stephan Nussrallah	Alpharetta, Georgia	$8,330
6	Michael Tait	Hallandale Beach, Florida	$6,076
7	John Gorsuch	Okeechobee, Florida	$4,533
8	Ronald Sullivan	Bradenton, Florida	$4,533
9	David Poces	Boca Raton, Florida	$3,460

Tags: Arkadiy Tsinis

02-13-2020 02:59 UTC-4

Russell Takes Sizable Lead after Day 1 of the $2,200 High Roller

Jeff McMillan

Level 12 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Day 1 of the $2,200 High Roller in the WSOP Circuit Seminole Hard Rock Tampa attracted a grand total of 154 entries and after roughly nine hours of play 49 remained.

Leading the way was David Russell, who bagged a whopping 330,000. He was spotted in the early part of the day with a large stack and continued on his upward trajectory all the way until the last card was dealt.

Some distance behind Russell in second at the end of the day was Miguel Hernandez, who finished with 275,000, and Nelson Beck in third with 257,500.

A significant gap followed after the top three as the next biggest stack in fourth place was Brad Albrinck with 197,000. Romeo Mendoza rounded out the top five by finishing with 166,500.

A few of the other notables who ended the day among the 49 with chips included; Hamid Izadi (147,000), Ryan Yu (117,500), Brian Altman (109,500) and Brett Apter (83,000).

Day 2 will get underway at 2 p.m. local time in Level 13 with blinds at 1,000/2,000 and a 2,000 big blind ante. Registration does not close until the first card is dealt so there is still an opportunity for any latecomers to join the fray and add to the remaining 49 survivors.

Make sure to tune in again on Day 2, as PokerNews will dial up the coverage once again.

Tags: Brad Albrinck Brett Apter Brian Altman David Russell Hamid Izadi Miguel Hernandez Nelson Beck Ryan Yu