A back-and-forth final battle between John Binns and James Hagan came to a close after about two hours in Event 13, and here is a look at the final hand.
Hagan was all in with , and Binns had him covered holding on a final board reading .
Hagan was eliminated in second place, good for $5,920 in prize money, and Binns took home the top prize of $9,885 along with the SPS guitar pick trophy. His career earnings are now above $200,000 with tonight’s victory.
Binns declined to give an interview after the win, so this concludes the reporting for Event 13.
Final Results:
1st: John Binns – $9,885 + SPS Trophy 2nd: James Hagan – $5,920 3rd: Stephen Allen – $3,740 4th: Ryan Wuebbels – $2,410 5th: Lewis Gallo – $1,870 6th: Amie Martini – $1,480 7th: AJ Kelsall – $1,250 8th: Michael Morgan – $1,090 9th: Duff Charette – $990 10th: Terry Short – $900 11th: Randolph Crowther – $840 12th: Paul Edwards – $780
2023 Tampa Poker Classic Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida Event 12 $2,200 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry) $75,000 Guaranteed Entries: 46 Prize Pool: $92,000 September 13, 2023
Frank Brannan
Frank Brannan topped the field at a talented final table that included runner-up Paul Snead, AJ Kelsall (who was multi-tabling two final tables along with Event 13), and Joe Serock to take home the tournament title in Event 12 at the SPS tournament series. Brannan was awarded the top prize worth $32,710 along with the SPS guitar pick trophy. He now holds more than $460,000 in career tournament earnings.
Here is what Brannan had to say after the win, “It feels good, I haven’t won a tournament since a deuce-to-seven triple draw. I haven’t won a hold’em tournament since like 2020 or something.”
He continued, “I’ll play anyone, I don’t really care. I just tried to play as optimally as possible short-handed. I’m pretty well studied sub-15 big blind poker, it’s not that difficult. Everyone was pretty even, so there weren’t really many strong ICM spots because we were all equal in chips.”
When he was asked about the heads-up final, here were Brannan’s thoughts “Nothing crazy, and I think heads-up I was just more prepared. He had more chips, but he was doing weird things, he kept four x-ing . I had the more solid strategy, I’ve played a lot of heads-up, I used to play heads-up sit-and-go’s.”
Eight-handed play uncannily lasted for more than three hours, and Brannan took a bad beat during the slow period of play. He offered some interesting thoughts on keeping his composure during that stretch of play.
“I was actually so tilted because I lost a chip lead pot there with jacks versus A-9 there. We were eight-handed for like three hours. I went from being the chip leader to almost the soft bubble, I honestly normally don’t get titled, but I hadn’t eaten yet today because I fasted. I was a little hangry plus tilted. I try not to get emotional. I mean I will get mad, but I don’t let it affect the way I play my hands. It will never change how I play. I’m going to play exactly the way I’m going to play. I’m a big tilter, but if I’m tilted I will just go home, I’ve always good been with that,” said Brannan.
Final Results:
1st: Frank Brannan – $32,710 + SPS Trophy 2nd: Paul Snead – $21,810 3rd: AJ Kelsall – $14,540 4th: Mostafa Aboalmajed – $10,090 5th: Elliot Smith – $7,310 6th: Tim Mina – $5,540
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 29: 100,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante Players Remaining: 1 of 973
Jimmy Tomlin
Ray Lambert got all in with in the hole from the button, and Jimmy Tomblin had him covered holding .
The final board read , and Lambert was eliminated in second place, good for $17,830. That gave Tomblin the tournament title, SPS guitar pick trophy, and top prize of $28,850 in prize money.
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 29: 100,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante Players Remaining: 2 of 973
James Tomblin took out two players when his pocket queens held up against pocket aces and on a board that delivered a third queen.
That hand kocked out Travis Hall in fourth place and Tommy Hwang in third place to set up a heads-up final with Tomblin holding 14.7 million against the 4.76 million of Ray Lambert.
James Tomblin – 14,700,000 (98 bb) Ray Lambert – 4,760,000 (31 bb) 3rd: Tommy Hwang – $13,160 4th: Travis Hall – $9,830
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 25: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante Players Remaining: 1 of 973
Frank Brannan had gained the upper hand in the heads-up final when all the chips went into the middle and he held against the of Paul Snead on a final board reading . Snead was eliminated in second place, good for $21,810, and Brannan was awarded $32,710 for the win along with the SPS guitar pick trophy.
Stay tuned for a winner’s photo and interview later tonight.
6th: Amie Martini – $1,480 7th: AJ Kelsall – $1,250 8th: Michael Morgan – $1,090 9th: Duff Charette – $990 10th: Terry Short – $900 11th: Randolph Crowther – $840 12th: Paul Edwards – $780
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 25: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante Players Remaining: 2 of 973
The final match has been set between Paul Snead (925,000) and Frank Brannan (455,000). Here is a look at the results that took things down to heads-up play while action was flying at the two other final tables as well.
3rd: AJ Kelsall – $14,540 4th: Mostafa Aboalmajed – $10,090 5th: Elliot Smith – $7,310 6th: Tim Mina – $5,540
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 26: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante Players Remaining: 6 of 973
Jimmy Tomlin
Josh Snodgrass and Jimmy Tomblin were in for 225,000 each before a flop fell 7-3-2, and the money eventually got all in with Snodgrass holding pocket fives against the 8-7 of Tomblin that held up to win the hand with the turn and river both bricks. Snodgrass was eliminated in seventh place, god for $4,400. Tomblin is now the far and away chip leader with a stack worth 10.8 million.
Jimmy Tomblin – 10,800,000 (135 bb) Josh Snodgrass – Eliminated in Seventh Place ($4,400)
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 25: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante Players Remaining: 7 of 973
Jose Passatino was eliminated in eighth place under the gun when his A-J ran into the pocket nines held by Ray Lambert on the cutoff. The board bricked out, and Passatino was eliminated in eighth place, good for $3,450. Lambert held 1.7 million after the hand.
Ray Lambert – 1,700,000 ( 28 bb) Jose Passatino – Eliminated in Eighth Place ($3,450)
, and Binns had him covered holding 
on a final board reading 
.
.
on a board that delivered a third queen.
against the 
of Paul Snead on a final board reading 
