2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 25 $180 Triple Stack NLHE (Re-Entry) Entries: 74 Prize Pool: $10,730 September 19, 2023
Here is a look at the payouts for the final event of the SPS tournament series. The top 10 players from the field of 74 will score a min-cash of $320, with $3,650 up top for the winner. There are currently 45 players remaining in the hunt for those spots in the money.
Joe Serock is making a deep run in Event 24 (8-Game Mixed) after he already took home the SPS guitar pick trophy earlier today in Event 21 (High Roller). You can read all about that win that added $45,640 right here (winner’s photo above). The career earnings for the former World Poker Tour player of the year are now close to $4.4 million. He currently holds 810,000 chips to pace the field at the front of the pack, so it could be a two-trophy day for Serock to close out the series.
The final night of the SPS tournament series is winding down here at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, so here is a quick overview from the final three tournaments running in the room tonight. With three more trophies left to be handed out, we’re in the Endgame now.
Event 23 ($200 no-limit hold’em) has 38 players remaining from 293 entries, while Event 24 ($600 Eight-Game Mixed) is on dinner break with 25 players remaining from 67 entries. Registration is open until the start of Level 7 in Event #25 (180 Triple Stack) with just over an hour left before registration closes, and it currently has 52 entries.
2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida $1,700 SPS Championship $1,000,000 Guaranteed Entries: 778 Prize Pool: $1,167,000 September 14-19, 2023
Mike Phillips
Mike Phillips won a hard-fought battle at the final table tonight that saw an outlier of three chopped-pots in a row during heads-up play to take home the top prize worth $207,280 along with the monolith SPS guitar pick trophy specially made for the championship. You could tell the emotion of the moment hadn’t quite hit him yet minutes after Phillips’ victory since he was overwhelmed by the pure joy and appreciation for the win.
Here is what he had to say after the victory tonight, “It’s great, it’s my first live tournament that has been recorded that I’ve won. I’ve actually won a tournament in the country of Panama. This is the first one on Hendon Mob, and recorded and stuff like that. It’s a nice big trophy, I’m really impressed by this trophy.”
“Seth played great, he’s a great player, I knew I always had to play my A-game, and just the fact that poker is a roller coaster always. I knew that even when I was down to 4 million in chips all I had to do was double up and be right back in it. That’s just the nature of the game. You can’t punt your chips, because with a chip and a chair you always have a chance,” said Phillips about the final match in the tournament.
He continued, “I started 18 million to 12 million, so I had the lead at the start of heads-up. I was a little disappointed when he started rolling over me. But the cards went his way, and then they started coming my way, and that’s how it goes sometimes.”
When he was asked about keeping his composure when he was one of the short stacks at the final tables, Phillips offered this response,” It’s not too much about composure, I’ve just played enough that I know you just have to play every hand the best that you can play it, and you can’t chase back the chips you’ve lost or anything. You’ve gotta play every hand the best way, and whatever happens … happens. I’ve played poker since middle school so I’m pretty familiar with how it goes up-and-down. There’s always emotions, but you just have to keep them at bay and they don’t affect how I play.”
“It was great, it was my first time here in Tampa actually. It started off pretty bad for me, I came Monday and fired five bullets in the $1k six-max, and didn’t cash in that. And then I played the $2k, and I was two spots away from the bubble. So I was stuck a bit yeah, so I was thinking I needed to make the last couple tables to break even on the trip, so I did that and more, and I’m really happy about it,” said Phillips when he was asked about his overall experience in the SPS tournament series to end the interview.
Final Table Results:
1st: Mike Phillips – $207,280 + SPS Trophy 2nd: Seth Fischer – $138,150 3rd: Ray Mancini – $101,930 4th: Heitor Saraiva – $75,990 5th: Jeremy Joseph – $57,250 6th: Craig Varnell – $43,580 7th: Karl Manouchakian – $33,530 8th: Eric Edwards – $26,070 9th: Shane Melert – $20,490
2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 20 $400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed Entries: 206 Prize Pool: $69,010 September 18, 2023
Steve Trizis
Steve Trizis has topped the field in Event 20 tonight to take home the largest portion of the prize pool worth $16,930 along with the SPS guitar pick trophy.
We had a chat with him after the win, and here is what Trizis had to say about the win, “This is awesome, awesome, of course, of course; I got a guitar trophy before, but I like this kind too. I will probably put it at my restaurant, the Country Skillet Restaurant.”
“Fairly smooth, I never was really at risk much. I wasn’t really big until the final table, I was average,” said Trizis when he was asked about his path through the tournament.
He continued with when asked about the endgame for him at the final table, “At the end I just got a lot of really good hands. I got aces one time to take a guy out four-handed.”
“I enjoy everything about it. I’m going to play the mixed games event tomorrow, I’m not going to play it well, I’m going to play it [laughs]. That’s probably what my celebration will be, and now I’ve got a couple bullets for it,” said Trizis to end the interview when asked about his tournament series experience and celebration plans.
Final Results:
1st: Steve Trizis – $16,930 + SPS Trophy 2nd: Louis Galasso – $11,780 3rd: Gregory Masterson – $7,070 4th: John McConnell – $4,300 5th: Daniel Lobato – $3,320 6th: Vicki Renfrow – $2,750 7th: Peggt Winsler – $2,350 8th: Randy Levin – $2,020 9th: Christopher Bilbro – $1,700 10th: Michael Collins – $1,480 11th: Glen Ballenger – $1,480 12th: Joseph Boulais – $1,480 13th: James Gibson – $1,260 14th: Stephen Allen – $1,260 15th: Daniel Wilson – $1,260 16th: Jerome Bocquet – $1,040 17th: Michael Fouchie – $1,040 18th: Paul Gratsch – $1,040 19th: An-Ming Hwang – $830 20th: Lewis Gallo – $830 21st: Julio Delgado Reyes – $830 22nd: Wesley Skinner – $640 23rd: Daniel Eisner – $640 24th: Vitor Coelho – $640 25th: Edith Norman – $520 26th: Terri-Anne Crawfird – $520
2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 22 $250 Triple Stack NLH (Re-Entry) $20,000 Guaranteed Entries: 107 Prize Pool: $21,935 September 18, 2023
Kevin Malick
Kevin Malick won Event 22 tonight and took home the SPS guitar pick trophy along with the top prize of $6,565. We caught up with him shortly after the tournament to discuss the victory.
“It feels really good. It was a big grind all day, and a lot of tough players were here today. It’s very rewarding to win something like this,” said Malick.
Malick continued when asked about his path to victory with this, “Well, anybody that wins a tournament has to win a few hands of sheer luck. And fortunately the luck hit me on the right time, on the right hands, and here I am. The players were tough, It was a grind. It was up and down, up and down. And at one time at the final table I was pretty short stacked, and you just get on one of those streaks, and you just have to ride the streak.”
“You just have to keep focused, you have to keep your concentration and this takes a lot out of you. I don’t see how these people can do it everyday. I can’t do it everyday [laughs],” said Malick about weathering the storms that happen over the course of a tournament.
At the end of the interview Malick was asked about his thoughts on playing different events during this SPS series, and here is what he closed things out with: “I play in tournaments all over the area, and the Hard Rock seems to have a class tournament. They run it very well. The employees do a great job, and it’s just a well-run and a well-structured tournament here at the Hard Rock from A to Z … this is a class-act here at the Hard Rock.”
Final Results:
1st: Kevin Malick – $6,565 + SPS Trophy 2nd: Nicholas Costa – $4,060 3rd: Clive Gavin – $2,430 4th: Joseph Parrish – $1,590 5th: Michael Reynolds – $1,230 6th: Tanupat Punjarojanakul – $1,010 7th: Cory Chen – $860 8th: Danny Zappulla – $750 9th: Chase Madden – $660 10th: Mark Wiser – $580 11th: Sanjib Acharya – $580 12th: Joaquin Balaguer – $580 13th: Thomas Jackson – $520 14th: Peter Walsworth – $520
2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 19 $1,100 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed Entries: 48 Prize Pool: $50,000 September 17, 2023
Elliot Smith
Elliot Smith won the first trophy on the docket of a loaded lineup tonight at the SPS series, and it took his career earnings above $2.5 million. Smith sat down for a conversation after his win, and here is what he had to say about the victory, “Excellent, you know I wasn’t sure I was going to play because I busted the main the day I registered. But i figured hey, you know what, let’s have some fun, so I jumped in.”
“I kind of came in as a middle stack, and I showed up 20 seconds before the first hand was dealt, and I got pocket aces to double against A-Q. That has happened to me multiple times in tournaments, so the moral of the story is show up on time [laughs]. You won’t win the tournament if you miss the first hand,” said Smith when asked about his path to the final table.
He continued, “I had a good stack, and then we had a couple hands on the bubble where I could put some pressure on. I was picking up some fortunate hands and winning some big flips in some key moments.”
“When we were three handed I got all in three times in a row against this one guy, and I just didn’t let it bug me, and eventually the hands worked out where I won a flip versus him and turned it around and the luck changed,” said Smith about one of the toughest stages for him at the final table.
And in regards to the final hand, this was the play-by-play from Smith: “When I was heads-up I limped the big blind, and the other guy made it a 5-x raise and I called. The flop came A-3-2, all spades. I bet small, he raised small, and the turn was another deuce. He led small, I raised small, he called. And then the river came, and it was a king. I ripped it in for like 75%, and he called with 4-3 suited, but I had a flush so it was good.”
Smith concluded the interview with these thoughts that encapsulate the community spirit that has been a part of the SPS series, “I feel like the dealers are exceptionally friendly, and the staff is very friendly. It’s a good atmosphere, so that’s huge. I feel like the level of play has been good, but a lot of people are here to just have fun.”
$3,500 Signature NLH (Re-Entry) Structure Level 13: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining: 4 of 38
Paul Snead
Paul Snead topped the field at a loaded final table that stopped with four remaining in Event 22 tonight. The final day that will begin at 11 am has a lineup of notable familiar faces. Here is look at the seating chart and chip counts for when they return:
Seat 1: Duff Charette – 428,000 Seat 2: Paul Snead – 1,893,000 Seat 3: Joe Serock – 1,135,000 Seat 4: AJ Kelsall – 344,000
Day 1 Results and Remaining Payouts:
1st: $45,630 + SPS Trophy 2nd: $30,420 3rd: $20,280 4th: $14,380 5th: Francis Anderson – $10,890
