$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 13: 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Flight A Players Remaining: 18 of 129
While not technically the last break on the structure, the 18 remaining players returned for Level 13 and it’s unlikely they will play another two hours before losing five players.
So at the third break of the day, Ed Johnston is the new leader and up top with 357,000 followed by Phillip Krnyaich with 224,000.
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11: 1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Flight A Players Remaining: 25 of 129
Flight A is moving right along, the field is down to four tables and only one knockout from three. They still have a little worth with 13 of them advancing but they can see the end of the day.
Jordan Joeckel and Fred Paradis are still cruising along on Table 11 and Mark Winchell knocked out two players on Table 22.
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10: 1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Flight A Players Remaining: 33 of 129
Registration closed for Flight A of PPO Event 1 with 129 official entries, putting more than $20,000 toward the $100,000 guarantee. There are five more big flights to go, including the next one at 6 pm, so the big money is coming up.
Flight A will continue until only 13 players remain and they will advance to Day 2 on Sunday at noon in the money. Players must bag their chips to move on.
| Flight | Day | Entries | Advanced |
| A | Weds 10a | 129 | TBD |
| B | Weds 6p | — | — |
| C | Thurs 10a | — | — |
| D | Thurs 6p | — | — |
| E | Friday 10a | — | — |
| F | Saturday 10a | — | — |
| Total | 129 | TBD |
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9: 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Flight A Entries: 129
The second break ended and players returned to their seats to begin playing down the rest of the day. The clock shows and unofficial 129 entries for Flight A, a great start to the series.
Gabe Fuller leads the field coming back with 184,000 and sitting in a good spot heading into the latter parts of the day.
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8: 600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Flight A Entries: 120
Flight A of the PPO opener reached Level 8 and time is running out if you want to get an early bag in the $100,000 guarantee tournament.
We have 120 entries in the game so far and a great turnout for a Wednesday afternoon. There is another flight tonight at 6 pm with late registration available until 10:30 pm and two more tomorrow, with one each on Friday and Saturday.
Jake Ferro is one of our early participants and the former WPT Player of the Year looks like the current leader with 141,600.
$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 100/200 with a 200 ante
The wait is over and it’s time for the next big series in the Poker Room. The 2023 Pinktober Poker Open gets underway at 10 am with Flight A of Event 1. The $200 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament has a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool and six starting flights.
Players start with 20,000 in their stacks and the first 25 levels last 30 minutes, increasing to 40 minutes afterward. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 2:30 pm.
Flight A will continue until only 10% of the field remains and they will advance to Day 2 on Sunday in the money.
Primary Event Schedule
10AM: Event 1 Flight A – $200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
6PM: Event 1 Flight B – $200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 1
$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 3,788
Prize Pool: $1,250,040
September 6 – 11, 2023
The inaugural Tampa Signature Poker Series kicked off with the $1,000,000 guaranteed Event 1. The $400 Deep Stack drew 3,788 entries, and Willie Wiggins conquered a tough final table to take the title, the $163,290 top prize, and the SPS trophy.
The turnout over the eight starting flights created the third-biggest tournament field in Tampa history and they put together a prize pool worth $1,250,040. A total of 382 players bagged chips for Day 2, returning in the money, and nine players picked up a bonus min-cash for advancing two stacks forward.
After a long Day 2 run, we had 12 players still in contention when they returned to the Event Center to finish playing it out. Joey Burns held the lead for most of Day 3 but Wiggins took control after some timely doubles and saves.
Wiggins only took one hand of heads-up play to defeat Frank Lewis for the title and the $163K top prize. He celebrated with his friends and took home another trophy to match the one he won in Hollywood a few years back.
Congrats Willie!
Final table results:
| Place | First Name | Last Name | City | State | Prize Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willie | Wiggins Jr | Pembroke Pines | FL | $163,290 |
| 2 | Frank | Lewis | Port Orange | FL | $100,680 |
| 3 | Joey | Burns | Saint Johns | FL | $78,480 |
| 4 | Traci | Myhrum | Indian Harbour Beach | FL | $61,530 |
| 5 | Bob | Panetta Jr | Valrico | FL | $48,530 |
| 6 | Joel | Deutsch | Hollywood | FL | $38,500 |
| 7 | Chongyou | Chen | Jacksonville | FL | $30,720 |
| 8 | Jonathan | Gold | Boca Raton | FL | $24,660 |
| 9 | Colin | Nickerson | Ocoee | FL | $19,920 |
$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37: 500,000/1,000,000 with a 1,000,000 ante
Heads up play began with Willie Wiggins holding a nearly two-to-one chip lead over Frank Lewis and they didn’t wait long to get things going.
Willie Wiggins – 75,100,000 (75 bb)
Frank Lewis – 38,200,000 (38 bb)
On the first hand, Lewis opened to 3,000,000 and Wiggins moved all in.
“I can’t let you run over and raise me off every hand,” Wiggins told Lewis.
“Let’s do it,” Lewis said after thinking about it for two minutes.
Wiggins: 
Lewis: 
Lewis ran into a bigger ace and needed to improve to double up. The 
flop changed nothing then Lewis was drawing dead after the Wiggins paired his jack on the 
turn. The 
river finished the board and Wiggins took the outright win.
Lewis earned $100,680 for his second-place finish, not too shabby, and Wiggins took home $163,290 plus the SPS trophy.
1st: Willie Wiggins – $163,290 + SPS Trophy
2nd: Frank Lewis – $100,680
$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36: 400,000/800,000 with a 800,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 3,788
It seemed like a pretty standard pot with three players remaining and a three-way pot. The board was out to the turn and reading 
when the fireworks were lit off.
With a packed rail thanks to Event 10 on break, Willie Wiggins and Joey Burns put their chips in the middle with Frank Lewis opting to stay out of the fray.
Burns tabled pockets aces but Wiggins was ahead with two pair 
and the slightly bigger stack. The river 
finished the board, Wiggins’s friends erupted, and it was a shocking exit for our Day 3 starting chip leader.
Willie Wiggins – 75,100,000 (94 bb)
Joey Burns – Eliminated in 3rd Place ($78,480)