$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Return to Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining:  91 of 304

Flight A: 141 Entries; 45 Advanced
Flight B: 163 Entries; 46 Advanced
Day 2: Sunday at 11 am
Day 3: Monday at noon

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $684,000  |  Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  163

Jamie “Beard” Smith stacked up a lot of chips before the last break and added even more by the time he bagged them up. He put away 497,000 with is good more the overall chip lead coming back tomorrow for Day 2.

Registration remains open until the end of the first Day 2 break at 1:15 pm.

Top ten Flight B stacks:

Jamie “Beard” Smith – 497,000 (331 bb)
Carlos Evangelista – 288,500 (192 bb)
John Tyler Kennedy – 256,000 (171 bb)
Yi Chi Li – 244,500 (163 bb)
Stephen Song – 223,500 (149 bb)
Brandon Kessous – 213,000 (142 bb)
John Kamis – 209,000 (139 bb)
Ashraf Chehata – 208,000 (139 bb)
Carlos Bermudez – 203,000 (135 bb)
Alan Hamza – 196,000 (131 bb)

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $681,750  |  Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  162

Jamie Smith loves to have a fun time at the table, if he can get chips at the same time, it’s a bonus.

Well, he’s doing that right now.

Smith has a massive lead on the field and his 447,500 would be good enough for the overall Day 2 chip lead if we ended right now. But he has time to run it up higher in this last level of the night.

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $677,250  |  Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1B Entries:  160

The last break is coming up, and time is running out if you want to join in this evening. However, we still have registration open until 1:15 pm tomorrow afternoon so you still have a chance.

They will return from break, play one more level and survivors will bag their chips for a Day 2 return tomorrow at 11 am.

Signature ♠️ Poker Series @SHRTPoker underway with +$600K prize pool💰!@SHRTampa @SHRTAmbassadors @AlCantHang pic.twitter.com/pIKpyv64SI

— Javeness (@JaiyCee) July 26, 2025

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $625,500  |  Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries:  135

Flight B players are nearing another break and the field recently hit another milestone.

Today’s entry count is up to 137 and the total is 278 to push the prize pool over $625,000 with registration open until 1:15 pm tomorrow afternoon.

Keep pushing.

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $591,750  |  Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  122

We started the break by looking at Mike Ahmad and Brian Ray’s stacks, the two big ones at the first break. Ahmad is doing just fine with 166,300 and Ray has plenty with 147,700.

But one table over, we found 19-time WSOP Circuit winner Maurice Hawkins getting up from his seat. And in front of his seat was a big pile of chips, adding up to 290,200 and the clear lead and the midpoint of the day.

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $587,250  |  Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  120

Another break is rolling around and players are nearing the midpoint of the day.  They have five more levels to negotiate and shoot for that Day 2 bag.

We will take another walk among the tables to see if anyone caught Mike Ahmad at the top of the counts.

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $573,750  |  Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  114

The entry count continues to climb and adding up to an impressive prize pool quickly. We’re starting to look at a $600K prize pool before too long, a fine way to spend a weekend at the tables and earning some big cash along the way.

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $528,750  |  Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1B Entries:  94

Players are back in action after the first break, with a prize pool over $500K, and deep stacks to wield against their opponents.

Mike Ahmad is the early leader for Day 1B, running up his 40K starting stack to 131,700 over two levels. Brian Ray is second with 115,800 with a few others teasing six digits.

$2,500 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $501,750  |  Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1B Entries:  82

As predicted, the magic number was hit while the players were away from the tables. 82 entries so far today for 223 total and the SPS Championship officially surpassed its guarantee.

There’s still a long time to run up that number, with a full nine levels today and two more levels on Day 2 before we close registration.