After this month’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” (RRPO) at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., it’s Kevin Knee of Presto, Pa. who walks away with $605,100 after winning first place in the $3,500 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship.
Nee bested 1,224 entries in the series finale, winning his first major live tournament title. This year, he broke through with a major victory in a live tournament, defeating Joel Gola in a heads-up battle on Wednesday night to win the RRPO Championship. The tournament generated a prize pool worth over $3,916,800 easily eclipsing the $3 million guarantee.
Championship Final Table Results:
1st: Kevin Nee (Presto, Pa.) $605,100 + $3,500 WPT World Championship Seat
2nd: Joel Gola (Philadelphia, Pa.) $395,000
3rd: Aram Zobian (Cranston, R.I.)$295,000
4th: Chad Eveslage (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) $220,000
5th: Anthony Merlo (Valley Stream, N.Y.) $166,000
6th: Hyndi Khomutetsky (Orlando, Fla.) $127,000
The 52 primary events RRPO kicked off on Wednesday, Nov. 19 with a $400 Deep Stack NLH. The series opener drew 6,853. The event concluded with Dario Dussan of Bogota, Colombia winning $278,150.
In addition to Dario, other signature event winners include:
- David Lee (New York, N.Y.) won the $1,100 Triple Stack NLH for $103,370
- Aram Oganyan (North Hollywood, Calif.), won the $5,000 Deep Stack NLH for $143,900
- Boris Kolev (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) won the $10,000 Deep Stack NLH for $226,100
- Boris Kolev (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) won the $25,500 High Roller NLH for $465,900
Poker action will return to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. in the New Year with the Lucky Hearts Poker Open (LHPO), Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, through Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, headlined by the Deep Stack NLH series opener with a $2 million guarantee and the WPT NLH Championship boasting a $3 million guarantee.
Future tournament information and poker hotel rates are available at SHRPO.com.