$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 778

Michael Phillips opened with a raise to 400,000 from the button, and Heitor Saraiva reraised all in for 1.2 million on the small blind. Seth Fischer tanked before calling on the big blind, and Phillips took a few moments before calling as well.

Both live players then checked down a board dealt , and then all three flipped over their cards.

Fischer:
Phillips:
Saraiva:

Saraiva was eliminated in fourth place, good for $75,990. Fischer was up to 12.21 million after the hand, and Phillips held 11.2 million.

Seth Fischer – 12,210,000 (60 bb)
Mike Phillips – 11,200,000 (56 bb)
Heitor Saraiva – Eliminated in Fourth Place ($75,900) 

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  100,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 778

Here is a look at the chip counts for the final four players at dinner break in the championship. Play will resume at 7:20 pm.

Seat 1: Heitor Saraiva – 4,175,000 (27 bb)
Seat 5: Seth Fischer – 10,285,000 (68 bb)
Seat 7: Raymond Mancini – 4,100,000 (27 bb)
Seat 8: Michael Phillips – 11,225,000 (74 bb)

Remaining Prize Pool:

1st: $207,280 + SPS Trophy
2nd: $138,150
3rd: $101,930
4th: $75,990

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  100,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 778

Jeremy Joseph got all in for about 3 million holding preflop from the button, and Seth Fischer had him covered holding on the small blind.

The final board read , and Joseph was eliminated in fifth place, good for $57,250. Fischer pulled into the chip lead with a stack of 13.2 million after the hand.

Seth Fischer – 13,200,000 (88 bb)
Jeremy Joseph – Eliminated in Fifth Place ($57,250)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  100,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 778

Michael Phillips was all in preflop for 2.55 million from the small blind with in the hole, and Heitor Saraiva had him covered holding on the big blind.

The final board read , and Phillips doubled up to survive with 5.5 million. Saraiva was at 6,375,000 after the hand.

Mike Phillips – 5,500,000 (36 bb)
Heitor Saraiva – 6,375,000 (42 bb)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 778

There was about 400,000 in the pot, and the board read when Craig Varnell opened the action with a bet of 750,000. Joseph reraised all in for 3,875,000. Varnell easily had him covered and called so the two players tabled their cards.

Joseph held pocket eights, and Varnell was on multiple draws holding . The flush and straight draws didn’t come through for Varnell when the river fell , and Joseph doubled up to survive with 6,825,000. Varnell held 3.25 million after the hand.

Jeremy Joseph – 8,150,000 (65 bb)
Craig Varnell – 3,250,000 (26 bb)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 778

Seth Fischer was all in for 1,150,000 from the hijack with in the hole, and Heitor Saraiva had him covered holding .

The final board read , and Fischer doubled up to survive with 2.55 million. Saraiva held 6.4 million after the hand.

Seth Fischer – 2,550,000 (25 bb)
Heitor Saraiva – 6,400,000 (64 bb)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 778

Eric Edwards was all in with from the hijack, and Heitor Saraiva had him covered holding from late position.

The final board read , and Edwards was eliminated in eighth place for $26,070. Saraiva was up to 8.9 million after the hand thanks to the straight.

Heitor Saraiva – 8,900,000 (118 bb)
Eric Edwards – Eliminated in Eighth Place ($26,070)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  8 of 778

Shane Melert was eliminated in ninth place when his pocket kings couldn’t hold against the of Eric Edwards and of Craig Varnell in a three-way pot. Melert took home $20,490 in prize money. Varnell held 5,775,000 after the hand, and Edwards was still on a short stack after winning the side pot.

Shane Melert – Eliminated in Ninth Place ($20,490)

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

Tung Nguyen took home the title tonight in Event 18 after a chop was decided to before the start of heads-up play. That gave Nguyen the top prize worth $23,710 along with his first SPS guitar pick trophy.

Here is what he had to say after the win. “Great man, first time winning the trophy so I’m really happy. I’ll find a place for it when I get back home.”

“Maybe not right now, back I’ve got some friends in the neighborhood when I go back home and have a celebration with them,” said Nguyen when he was asked about his plans to celebrate the victory.

Poker is a hobby for Nguyen, and he wasn’t sure if his coworkers would believe his stories about tonight around the water cooler conversations when he gets back home. “I have to go back to work on Monday. I have a business to run, so maybe next time. They would never believe me if I told them I won a trophy because I’ve been playing pretty bad [laughs]. I have a nail place, I own a nail spa so I work with a lot of ladies in there. I just play here and there from time-to-time,” said Nguyen.

Nguyen continued, “I live down near Hollywood so I play more there. I love it at the Seminole events, it gives you a chance to play a lot of tournaments and get more experience. It feels great to finally win something.”

“I was short stacked, I had eight bigs left. I had A-5, and I jammed all in to triple, and that’s what put me in this position. We were seven-handed, but at two tables left I just had eight bigs left and that was the moment that got me to this position,” said Nguyen when he was asked about his most pivotal hand in the tournament.

Once he had the big stack at the final table, his endgame strategy was set in his mind. “I just played big hands after that. I don’t get involved with a lot of hands, I just waited until I had some decent hands. Because mostly you want to raise, because you don’t play with bad hands If you’re in a hand, and you’re scared to raise and people limp in, you have to raise,” said Nguyen to finish off the interview.

Fin al Results:

1st: Tung Nguyen – $23,710 + SPS Trophy
2nd: Rajasekar Govindan – $22,990
3rd: Kyle Brock – $11,620
4th: Alejandro Funes  – $7,070
5th: Wasim Assaf – $5,460
6th: rant Missonis – $4,520
7th: Prasad Vemulpalli – $3,860
8th: Charles Lutz – $3,300
9th: Chase Kalivas – $2,760
10th: Gerald Silva – $2,380
11th: OK Haselton – $2,380
12th: Jamison Alford – $2,380
13th: Johnny Bromberg – $2,040
14th: John Kennedy – $2,040
15th: Matthew White – $2,040
16th: Jonathan Schreier – $1,700
17th: David Nadeau – $1,700
18th: Dan Larsson – $1,700
19th: Nicholas Egarhos – $1,360
20th: Gabriel Fuller – $1,360
21st: Christopher Johnson – $1,360
22nd: Derrick Smith – $1,050
23rd: Likang Berninger – $1,050
24th: Aldring Gomez Torres – $1,050
25th: Patrick Schortemeyer – $840
26th: Mike Dentale – $840
27th: Lawrence Dowling – $840

$1,100 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 48

Here is a look at the final table seating chart with chip counts for the final seven players that have advanced to Day 2 in Event 19. Michael Reynolds went out in ninth place, and Eric Siegel exited in eighth during the late stages of play. Play starts at 2 pm again tomorrow with blinds at 4,000-8,000 with a big blind ante of 8,000 for the start of Level 16. Aaaron Thivyanathan bagged up the chip lead with 326,000, and he is no stranger to success at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa poker tournament series after making a strong run at the player of the series title one year ago.

Seat 1: Sam Mayed – 78,000
Seat 2: George Qiao – 317,000
Seat 3: Elliot Smith – 166,000
Seat 4: Artem Metaldi – 216,000
Seat 5: Anthony Askey – 292,000
Seat 6: Aaron Thivyanathan – 326,000
Seat 7: Ludek Sisak – 45,000

Here is the prize pool money waiting for the final six when the money bubble bursts:

1st: $19,500 + SPS Trophy
2nd: $11,500
3rd: $7,000
4th: $5,000
5th: $4,000
6th: $3,000