The prize pool for the Elite Tampa Bay Poker League Winter/Spring 2026 season has climbed to $79,600 and the league is firmly on track to send nine players to the WSOP Main Event this summer. Week 17 was a big one — 38 entries including 9 rebuys, and the night belonged to Josh Nicholson and Kevin James, whose substitute, Matt, chopped first place and each pocketed 13 points. That single result completely reshuffled the top of the leaderboard: Nicholson vaulted from 3rd all the way to 1st at 91 points, and Kevin James rocketed from 19th to 13th with his chop points landing him at 53. With three weeks left and 42 final table points still on the board, the race for WSOP seats just got a whole lot more interesting.

Tonight we had subtitutes Matt Castellucci for Kevin James and Wayne Moore for Rob Fulton.

In an explosive hand we had a three way all in with Don Mann’s QQ, Wayne -Rob’s sub – had JJ & Evan Pantano’s AKo. Don took the pot.

The hand of the night came courtesy of Maribeth Hilliard and Matt Castellucci, subbing for league member Kevin James, in a cooler for the ages. Maribeth looked down at pocket Kings and three-bet to 7,500 from a 1,500 big blind. Matt, sitting on pocket Aces, four-bet to 15,000. Maribeth tanked, counted her stack, and made the call. The flop came Ace-King-x — top set for Matt, middle set for Maribeth, and a pot that was never going anywhere. Maribeth checked, Matt bet 10,000, Maribeth called. The turn bricked and the action repeated — check, 10,000, call. When the river came and Maribeth checked a third time, Matt fired 15,000. That’s when Maribeth moved all in. Matt called covering her, and Aces beat Kings set over set in one of those hands where both players did everything right and the deck just had other ideas. AA > KK 🤯 — and just like that, Matt Castellucci walked away with half the chop later in the night, with the league points going to Kevin James, and Maribeth was left wondering what the poker gods have against her Kings.

Josh Nicholson>Ray Mancini A9ss>AQo

Ray Mancini 9th

Double for Mark through Kevin James’ sub Matt

Josh Nicholson A8dd>Andra’s A5

Andra Zachow 8th

Josh Nicholson 66>Craig QT

Craig Rice 7th.

Josh Nicholson’s KQ>Shawn O’Brien’s Aces

Shawn O’Brien 6th

Matt (Kevin James) AJ>Mark’s KQ

Mark Winchell 5th

Matt (Kevin James) 77>James McKinnon

James McKinnon 4th

Josh N K8> KT John C

John Coleman 3rd

A first place chop!

Josh Nicholson and Matt (for Kevin James)

1 Josh Nicholson/Matt (Kevin James)

2 chop

3 John Coleman

4 James McKinnon

5 Mark Winchell

6 Shawn O’Brien

7 Craig Rice

8 Andra Zachow😢

9.Ray Mancini 

Here is where things stand heading into the final three weeks with 42 points still available and the 8th-place cutline sitting at 61.

Josh Nicholson and Jay Capitano now lead the field at 91 points after the Week 17 chop win — 30 points clear of the bubble. Saif Keshwani is 2nd at 85 and Evan Pantano 3rd at 83. Those three have the biggest cushions in the race, but with 42 points still on the board, even they cannot go dark and expect to hold their spots. Juan Rodriguez sits 4th at 76 and has been one of the most consistent players all season. Karl Manouchakian is 5th at 68 but has only played 15 weeks — he cannot miss a single remaining Thursday. Ryan Harfouch is 6th at 66 after his strong Week 16 chop.

The bubble is a genuine knife fight. Evan Vancavage and Jason Barnett and Steve Trizis are tied at 61 — right on the 8th-place cutline — and neither made the final table this week. James McKinnon is 2 points behind them at 63 after his 4th-place finish, and is the most dangerous threat to push them off the cut. Billy McPhillips and Jordan Joekel sit 2 back at 59, Chrissy Holubeck is 3 back at 58, and Maribeth Hilliard is 5 back at 56. Four players within 5 points, three weeks left, and 42 final table points still on the table. Nobody holding a seat right now has earned the right to relax.

Kevin James deserves a separate mention. His substitute Matt’s chop win sent him from 19th to 13th at 53 points — now just 8 off the bubble with three weeks remaining. Craig Rice is tied with Mancini at 51 and has been building momentum at exactly the right time. Shawn O’Brien is at 44 after a 6th-place finish and is not done. From roughly 10th place down to 20th, the math requires a string of deep runs and some chaos above — but that is exactly what the final three weeks of this league tend to deliver.

On the attendance front: Karl Manouchakian must play all three remaining weeks without exception. John Coleman is at 15 weeks after a strong 3rd-place finish and needs two of the final three. Daniel Cuesta is at 14 weeks and needs all three. Mike Ozer is at 14 weeks as well and is in the same boat. Three weeks, 42 points, and not a single seat is clinched. See you at the felt.