by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Dec 18, 2020 | Updated on Dec 18, 2020
The 2020 Winter Poker Open (WPO) at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa is finally over, with a familiar name being crowned as the Main Event champion. Circuit grinder Max Young added another title to his colorful resume after outclassing his opponents to take home the guitar trophy, alongside $226,510 in top prize.
Young is well-known in the local tournament circuit, winning six World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit rings. In 2018, he won the WSOPC Choctaw Main Event where he walked away with $263,815, the biggest score of his career.
Apart from that, the Charleston, South Carolina native also has WPTDeepStacks and MSPT titles to his name. He’s been playing at multiple venues in the US, including the Wynn, Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton, Chinook Winds and Parx, where he also won a number of tournaments.
Final Table Results
Young faced Edgardo Rosario in heads-up play – the final hand saw Young limping the button with AdJd. Rosario then put all of his remaining chips in the middle holding 3c3s. Young called and he subsequently picked up trip jacks from the board to walk away as the winner. Rosario earned $158,828 for his runner-up finish.
The other players who reached the final table were Peter Walsworth who finished in 3rd place for $102,211, Fernando Rodriguez who finished in 4th place for $73,618 and Darin Thompson who finished in 5th place for $56,497.
The $1,700 buy-in Main Event ended up attracting a total of 779 entries, to generate $1,207,450 in total prize pool, six times its initial guarantee of $200K. It ran as part of the 2020 WPO, one of the first huge live series to take place after the COVID-19 lockdown.
More Events at SHR Tampa & Hollywood
Seminole Hard Rock Tampa will continue the action next year, beginning with the Tampa Poker Classic which is scheduled to take place from February 17 – March 1, 2021.
Over at SHR Hollywood room in South Florida, a ninth edition of the “Fun in the Sun” festival will run on December 26-30. The series will feature five tournaments, including a $360 buy-in, $25K GTD Deep Stack, $250 buy-in, $20K GTD Holiday Deep Stack, and $36 buy-in, $20K GTD Black Chip Bounty.
The room is also set to host the 2021 Lucky Hearts Poker Open from January 14 to 26, the venue’s first major tournament since the pandemic. The schedule will include a $3,500 buy-in, $1M GTD event, which will be the first World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Tour stop since the lockdown.
