$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 778

Eric Edwards was all in with from the hijack, and Heitor Saraiva had him covered holding from late position.

The final board read , and Edwards was eliminated in eighth place for $26,070. Saraiva was up to 8.9 million after the hand thanks to the straight.

Heitor Saraiva – 8,900,000 (118 bb)
Eric Edwards – Eliminated in Eighth Place ($26,070)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  8 of 778

Shane Melert was eliminated in ninth place when his pocket kings couldn’t hold against the of Eric Edwards and of Craig Varnell in a three-way pot. Melert took home $20,490 in prize money. Varnell held 5,775,000 after the hand, and Edwards was still on a short stack after winning the side pot.

Shane Melert – Eliminated in Ninth Place ($20,490)

$1,700 SPS Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  9 of 778

The final table was sent on a break after Level 25 and here’s a look at their counts. Michael Phillips continues to lead, while Eric Edmonds has some work ahead to get back into fighting shape.

Seat 1: Heitor Saraiva – 5,750,000 (77 bb)
Seat 2: Karl Manouchakian – 3,600,000 (48 bb)
Seat 3: Eric Edwards – 525,000 (7 bb)
Seat 4: Jeremy Joseph – 4,150,000 (55 bb)
Seat 5: Seth Fischer – 2,075,000 (28 bb)
Seat 6: Craig Varnell – 4,100,000 (55 bb)
Seat 7: Raymond Mancini – 2,400,000 (32 bb)
Seat 8: Michael Phillips – 7,400,000 (99 bb)
Seat 9: Shane Melert – 1,100,000 (15 bb)

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

Heitor Saraiva opened to 120,000 from early position and Karl Manouchakian three-bet to 350,000 next to act. It folded back around to Saraiva, he called, and the flop came .

Saraiva bet 300,000 and Manouchakian called. The turn was , Saravia looked at Manouchakian’s stack and announced all in. Manouchakian went into the tank and would be at risk if he called. He took several minutes to think it through, called for his last 1,140,000 and the cards were tabled.

Manouchakian:
Saraiva:

Manouchakian was ahead with top-top and needed to dodge Saraiva’s eight outs with the open-ended straight draw. The river was safe for Manouchakian and he doubled big at the final table.

Heitor Saraiva – 5,975,000 (100 bb)
Karl Manouchakian – 3,730,000 (62 bb)

$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