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)

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 359

With Paul Snead holding a massive lead, the Tom McDonald and John Gordon offered him a deal. Snead would take $101,000 while they would split the remaining money. It was accepted, and Snead earned his second Tampa Poker Classic Championship title.

Paul Snead – 8,975,000
Tom McDonald – 2,350,000
John Gordon – 2,250,000

1st: Paul Snead: $101,000 + TPC Trophy
2nd: Tom McDonald – $66,930
3rd: John Gordon – $66,930

Tournament recap to come tomorrow, congrats Paul!

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 359

After Paul Snead began running over the table, the other three needed to make a move to catch up. Billy Papadopoulos took his shot with an open-shove for 1,225,000 and Tom McDonald called in the big blind with only 100K more.

McDonald:
Papadopoulos:

They were racing, the board ran , and McDonald rivered a Broadway straight to send Papadopoulos out.

Tom McDonald – 2,675,000 (21 bb)
Billy Papadopoulos – Eliminated in 4th Place ($39,360)

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 359

Austin Srur opened to 200,000 from the button and Paul Snead called in the big blind. The flop was , Snead checked, Srur bet 150,000, and Snead check-raised to 700,000.

Srur moved all in for 1,050,000 total and Snead called.

Srur:
Snead:

Srur was head with a pair of queens bigger kicked but the turn made two pair for Snead. The river finished the board and Srur was eliminated in fifth place.

Paul Snead – 7,500,000 (75 bb)
Austin Srur – Eliminated in 5th Place ($29,520)

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 359

After a series of big raises, Zachary Wells and Tom McDonald got all their chips in the middle with similar stacks.

Wells:
McDonald:

Wells was dominated by the bigger pair and it got much worse when McDonald flopped a set of jacks on the board. The turn and river finished the board and the stacks were counted down.

McDonald was the at-risk player for 1,725,000 and Wells was left with only 75K. He found a small triple on the next hand but Paul Snead finished the job one hand later.

Tom McDonald – 3,600,000 (36 bb)
Zachary Wells – Eliminated in 6th Place ($22,410)

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 359

Seat 2: Zachary Wells – 1,600,000 (16 bb)
Seat 3: Billy Papadopoulos – 3,000,000 (30 bb)
Seat 4: Paul Snead – 3,350,000 (34 bb)
Seat 5: John Gordon – 1,175,000 (12 bb)
Seat 6: Tom McDonald – 2,225,000 (22 bb)
Seat 7: Austin Srur – 2,125,000 (21 bb)

1st: $109,110 + TPC Trophy
2nd: $72,610
3rd: $53,140
4th: $39,360
5th: $29,520
6th: $22,410

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 359

Tom McDonald opened to 200,000 from under the gun and Carlos Loving min-clicked to 320,000 from middle position with 10K behind. It folded back to McDonald, he put Loving all in, and he called at risk.

McDonald:
Loving:

Loving had two suited live cards for a small double but the sent him out in seventh place.

Tom McDonald – 1,500,000 (19 bb)
Carlos Loving – Eliminated in 7th Place ($17,200)

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 359

Zachary Wells opened to 120,000 from the button and Paul Snead called in the big blind. The flop came , Snead checked, Wells bet 300,000 and Snead called.

The turn was , Snead checked, and Wells announced all in. Snead had 1,540,000 left, thought for a few minutes, and called the bet while calling his wife from the rail for good luck.

Snead:
Wells:

Wells was ahead with two pair queens and eights, and Snead needed help to double up. The river paired the board, and Snead counterfeited Wells’s two pair and made aces up for a huge double.

Paul Snead – 4,010,000 (67 bb)
Zachary Wells – 2,000,000 (33 bb)

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 359

Seat 1: Carlos Loving – 1,910,000 (32 bb)
Seat 2: Zachary Wells – 2,500,000 (42 bb)
Seat 3: Billy Papadopoulos – 4,015,000 (67 bb)
Seat 4: Paul Snead – 1,225,000 (20 bb)
Seat 5: John Gordon – 2,425,000 (40 bb)
Seat 6: Tom McDonald – 825,000 (14 bb)
Seat 7: Austin Srur – 1,405,000 (23 bb)

1st: $109,110 + TPC Trophy
2nd: $72,610
3rd: $53,140
4th: $39,360
5th: $29,520
6th: $22,410
7th: $17,220

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 359

Paul Snead opened to 110,000 from under the gun and picked up calls from Zachary Wells in the small blind and Billy Papadopoulos in the big. The flop was , Wells and Papadopoulos checked, and Snead continued for 100,000.

Wells called, Papadopoulos folded, and the turn was . Both players checked, the river was , and Wells bet 100,000. Snead raised to 450,000 and Wells took a few minutes to think before he called.

Snead turned over for trip jacks with king-queen kickers but Wells showed pocket eights for a full house jacks full of eights to take the pot.

Zachary Wells – 2,920,000 (73 bb)
Paul Snead – 1,350,000 (34 bb)