2024 Tampa Poker Classic
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 359
Prize Pool: $538,500
March 21 – 25, 2024
The 2024 Tampa Poker Classic topped off the series with the $1,700 buy-in $300,000 guaranteed Championship. The tournament drew 359 entries over three starting flights, and Paul Snead won the title in a three-way deal for $101,000.
This is the second time Snead ended a TPC Championship sitting at the top; in 2022, he won the same title after a tough final table. Snead became the first player in our history with two major Championship wins and only the second to do it in Seminole Poker history.
The other was Brian Altman, who won the 2015 and 2020 WPT LHPO Championships in Hollywood.
“That’s pretty good company to be in,” Snead said when he heard about his feat. “I have a lot of respect for Brian’s game, and ironically, when I won two years ago, he was at the final table. I had to get through him to win. I’m humbled to be in the same category.”
Snead began Day 2 with a better-than-average stack in a field full of tough players. But as they went to the payout desk, he built his stack for a deep run.
At the final table, Snead was patient at first and then switched gears, holding more than half of the chips in play with five players remaining.
“I was kind of just waiting and trying to pick my spots,” Snead said of his strategy. “There were a couple of really good players here, and you had to really be careful. You couldn’t just run the table over, so I didn’t try.”
“I didn’t have a lot of big hands. I had ace-king a few times, ace-queen a couple of times. But I never, believe it or not, I never flopped a set today. Not once. So it was just be patient and pick my spots.”
“When we got five-handed, I went to work because I understand the value of ICM and putting pressure on the shorter stacks,” Snead continued.
“They didn’t want to play while (short-stacked) Carlos (Loving) was still in,” Snead finished. “So I recognized that. And I used that to my full advantage and put a lot of pressure on them,”
Snead had his wife Elizabeth on the rail for the final table, a rare occasion for the couple.
“It really meant a lot, you know? She doesn’t travel with me at all, I had to bribe her,” he said after the win.
“I know how much it meant to him,” Elizabeth said. “It’s a lot and I’m glad he brought me.”
Congratulations to Paul on winning the TPC Championship, again, and adding to his legacy!
Final table results:
1st: Paul Snead: $101,000 + TPC Trophy *
2nd: Tom McDonald – $66,930 *
3rd: John Gordon – $66,930 *
4th: Billy Papadopoulos – $39,360
5th: Austin Srur – $29,520
6th: Zachary Wells – $22,410
7th: Carlos Loving – $17,220
8th: James McKinnon – $13,400
9th: Korey Taylor – $10,560
* – denotes results of a three-way deal
Full TPC Championship results (PDF)
