$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 25:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  9 of 778

Craig Varnell opened to 130,000 from under the gun, Rodney Turvin three-bet shipped for 1,340,000 from the big blind, and Varnell called.

Varnell:
Turvin:

Turvin needed to catch and ace or some diamonds and the flop gave him a sweat. The turn and finished the board and Turvin was eliminated in tenth place.

Craig Varnell – 3,570,000 (60 bb)
Rodney Turvin – Eliminated in 10th Place ($20,490)

Tournament staff paused the clock and the last nine players are redrawing seats for the final table.

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  10 of 778

Marcus Carter opened to 150,000 from the button and Michael Phillips defended his big blind to see the flop. Phillips checked, Carter moved all in for about 1,100,000 and Phillips insta-snapped his call.

Phillips:
Carter:

Carter was ahead preflop but Phillips paired his jack to take the lead. Carter turned a gutshot straight with the but blanked the river to exit.

On the hand after Brett Bader was eliminated, Tampa legend James Calderaro was eliminated in 12th place.

Michael Phillips – 5,200,000 (104 bb)
Marcus Carter – Eliminated in 11th Place ($16,270)
James Calderaro – Eliminated in 12th Place ($16,270)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  12 of 778

Action folded to Craig Varnell in the cutoff and he announced all in. Steven Bennett checked his cards, called at risk for about 400,000 from the small blind and Karl Manouchakian folded his big.

Varnell:
Bennett:

Bennett needed a lot of help to double back into the game but blanked the board to go out in 14th place.

Craig Varnell – 1,100,000 (22 bb)
Steven Bennett – Eliminated in 14th Place ($13,140)

While Bennett was playing his hand on Table 63, Brett Bader was eliminated in 13th place on Table 62.

Brett Bader – Eliminated in 13th Place ($13,140)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  14 of 778

Cards are back in the air for the SPS Championship with 14 players remaining and more than $200K awaiting the winner.

They will play hour-long levels with a break every two levels until we have a winner.

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  14 of 778

The SPS Championship started with 778 entries and the field is down to the last 14 in contention. They return at noon to play down to the final table and eventual SPS Champion.

Jeremy Joseph leads the field but there are a lot of Tampa legends still with a chance to take the big title.

Blinds at restart are 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante and the average stack is about 2,225,000 (44 bb). Plenty of play still in the structure and this will take some work to win.

Table 62
Seat 1: Marcus Carter – 1,320,000 (26 bb)
Seat 2: Jeremy Joseph – 4,855,000 (97 bb)
Seat 3: James Calderaro – 1,465,000 (29 bb)
Seat 4: Brett Bader – 1,475,000 (30 bb)
Seat 5: Michael Phillips – 4,120,000 (82 bb)
Seat 6: — Empty —
Seat 7: Seth Fischer – 1,480,000 (30 bb)
Seat 8: Heitor Saraiva – 4,640,000 (93 bb)

Table 63
Seat 1: Craig Varnell – 1,200,000 (24 bb)
Seat 2: Raymond Mancini – 1,370,000 (27 bb)
Seat 3: Steven Bennett – 750,000 (15 bb)
Seat 4: Karl Manouchakian – 2,565,000 (51 bb)
Seat 5: Eric Edmonds – 1,200,000 (24 bb)
Seat 6: — Empty —
Seat 7: Shane Melert – 2,775,000 (56 bb)
Seat 8: Rodney Turvin – 1,900,000 (38 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $207,280 + SPS Trophy
2nd: $138,150
3rd: $101,930
4th: $75,990
5th: $57,250
6th: $43,580
7th: $33,530
8th: $26,070
9th-10th: $20,490
11th-12th: $16,270
13th-14th: $13,140

$400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/200 with a 200 ante

The popular Seniors 50+ Event returns this morning at 11 am and we expect a big, fun crowd. This game always gets a great turnout.

Players start with 30,000 deep stacks and all levels last 30 minutes for the one-day trophy event. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 3:30 pm. The Seniors players will enjoy a 30-minute dinner break at 5:30 pm and then we’ll be looking for our next Seniors champ.

• $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Levels last 30 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (3:30pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 20 Structure Sheet

Primary Event Schedule

11AM: Event 20 – $400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)

• $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Levels last 30 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (2:30pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 20 Structure Sheet

12PM: Day 3 – $1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)

• Championship Day 3 Chip Counts and Seats
• Championship Payouts

2PM: Event 19 – $1,100 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

• Event 19 Day 2 Chip Counts and Seats
• Event 19 Payouts

2PM: Event 21 – $3,500 Signature NLH (Re-Entry)

• Players begin with 100,000 in chips
• Levels last 40 minutes; Final table levels last 90 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 10 (10:00pm)
• Day 1 will end when nine players remain
• Event 21 Structure Sheet

6PM: Event 22 – $250 Triple Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

• $20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Levels last 20 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7 (8:15pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 22 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

4PM: $150 H.E.R.O.S. Event 24 Satellite

• Winners earn seats into $600 Eight-Game Mix Event 24
• Players begin with 15,000 in chips
• Levels last 20 minutes
• Late registration until start of Level 7 (6:15pm)
• Structure Sheet

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  42 of 778

The action is flying and players are dropping fast, picking up a payout ticket and finding a new game. The one-hour levels aren’t having an impact yet and they will soon be down to five tables.

43rd: Billy Papadopoulos – $4,710
44th: Kevin Blewitt – $4,710
45th: Greg Anda – $4,710
46th: Jacob Naumann – $4,710
47th: Tom Nguyen – $4,710
48th: Willie Wiggins – $4,710

49th: Saied Zamari – $4,160
50th: Ian Siegel – $4,160
51st: Stephen Keats – $4,160
52nd: John Gordon – $4,160
53rd: Jerry Wong – $4,160
54th: Doug Marro – $4,160
55th: William Slepcevich – $4,160
56th: Daniel Couzens – $4,160

57th: Donnie McBrayer – $3,720
58th: Eric Salazar – $3,720
59th: Carlos Marquez – $3,720
60th: Irfanullah Khairi – $3,720
61st: Diego Paulo Uez – $3,720
62nd: Paul Chung – $3,720
63rd: Huicun Qiao – $3,720
64th: Nicholas Chong – $3,720

65th: Steve Ekin – $3,370
66th: Phi Nguyen – $3,370
67th: Farhad Jamasi – $3,370
68th: Eugene Solomon – $3,370
69th: Ken O’Donnell – $3,370
70th: Frank Weigel – $3,370
71st: David Tuthill – $3,370
72nd: John Littleton – $3,370

73rd: Anthony Askey – $3,110
74th: Ruth Ruffman – $3,110
75th: Zyad Qasem – $3,110
76th: Troy Feltis – $3,110
77th: Simon Kafati Revelo – $3,110
78th: Stephen Brite – $3,110
79th: Jeremy Pappano – $3,110
80th: Michael Laake – $3,110

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  54 of 778

The second break ended and the field dropped down to seven tables with 54 players soon after cards went back in the air. Levels now last 60 minutes each and they will play four more levels with a break in between before bagging up.

Art Peacock had the early lead in his opening flight but ran into issues to drop back down. Now he is back leading the entire Championship with 1,535,000. Heitor Saraiva is in second with 1,355,000 and Steven Bennett is third with 1,205,000 after knocking three players out in three consecutive hands.

Ashley Spring is also having a great day. She returned for Day 2 with only 78K but sits among the leaders with 1,095,000.

2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 18
$600 One-Day $100K NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 216
Prize Pool: $113,400
September 17, 2023

Registration closed for the $600 One-Day $100K tournament with 216 entries, creating a prize pool worth $113,400. The last 27 players will make the money with $840 for a min-cash and $27,580 awaiting the Event 18 champ.

1st: $27,580 + SPS Trophy
2nd: $19,120
3rd: $11,620
4th: $7,070
5th: $5,460
6th: $4,520
7th: $3,860
8th: $3,300
9th: $2,760
10th-12th: $2,380
13th-15th: $2,040
16th-18th: $1,700
19th-21st: $1,360
22nd-24th: $1,050
25th-27th: $840