$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

Seat 1: Heitor Saraiva – 6,755,000 (113 bb)
Seat 2: Karl Manouchakian – 2,225,000 (37 bb)
Seat 3: Eric Edmonds – 770,000 (13 bb)
Seat 4: Jeremy Joseph – 5,300,000 (88 bb)
Seat 5: Seth Fischer – 1,450,000 (24 bb)
Seat 6: Craig Varnell – 3,570,000 (60 bb)
Seat 7: Raymond Mancini – 1,950,000 (33 bb)
Seat 8: Michael Phillips – 7,000,000 (117 bb)
Seat 9: Shane Melert – 2,100,000 (35 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: $20,490

10th: Rodney Turvin – $20,490
11th: Marcus Carter – $16,270
12th: James Calderaro – $16,270
13th: Brett Bader – $13,140
14th: Steven Bennett – $13,140

$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

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