$1,100 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 66

Cards are in the air for both the Event 7 final table and Event 1 with 12 players remaining. We will track them both as they head towards our next two champions.

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 34:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  12 of 3,788

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 34:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  12 of 3,788

SPS Event 1 drew 3,788 entries and the $1,000,000 guarantee tournament is down to the last 12 players. They return this afternoon at 1 pm to play down to our champion, who will take home $163,290.

Joey Burns leads the field but it’s still anyone’s game with some tough players trying to chase him down. Blind levels increase to 60 minutes and will stay that way until someone poses with the trophy.

Table 69
Seat 1: Carlos Marquez – 4,900,000 (10 bb)
Seat 2: Joey Burns – 35,500,000 (71 bb)
Seat 4: Bob Panetta – 2,600,000 (5 bb)
Seat 5: Wendy Lu – 1,150,000 (2 bb)
Seat 7: Willie Wiggins – 4,900,000 (10 bb)
Seat 8: Joel Deutsch – 10,000,000 (20 bb)

Table 70
Seat 1: Chong You Chen – 16,300,000 (33 bb)
Seat 2: Traci Myhrum – 9,500,000 (19 bb)
Seat 3: Zach VanKeuren – 2,800,000 (6 bb)
Seat 5: Frank Lewis – 8,200,000 (16 bb)
Seat 6: Colin Nickerson – 4,100,000 (8 bb)
Seat 8: Jonathan Gold – 10,100,000 (20 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $163,290 + SPS Trophy
2nd: $100,680
3rd: $78,480
4th: $61,530
5th: $48,530
6th: $38,500
7th: $30,720
8th: $24,660
9th: $19,920
10th-12th: $16,190

$1,100 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 66

The $1,100 Deep Stack returns this afternoon at 1 pm with seven players remaining and $22,420 awaiting the winner. They played late into Sunday night and now ready to crown a champ.

We will hit the highlights along the way as we watch a few final tables.

Seat 1: Curtis King – 190,000
Seat 2: Ken O’Donnell – 201,000
Seat 3: Jeremy Pappno – 197,000
Seat 4: Johnny Bromberg – 250,000
Seat 5: Paul Walsworth – 387,000
Seat 6: Carl Coppola – 576,000
Seat 9: Tarun Gulati – 190,000

Remaining payouts:

1: $22,420 + SPS Trophy
2: $12,800
3: $7,840
4: $5,600
5: $4,320
6: $3,360
7: $2,880

Results so far:

8th: Anthony Pincquadio – $2,560
9th: Tammy Ehrhart – $2,240

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/200 with a 200 ante

In addition to two flights of Event 9 running today, we also have a one-day trophy event getting underway at noon. Event 10 is a $600 Deep Stack with a $30,000 guaranteed prize pool.

They’ll start with 30K stacks out front and all levels last 30 minutes. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 4:30 pm. The 30-minute dinner break is schedule for 6:30 pm and they’ll come back to hunt for our next SPS champ.

• $30,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Levels last 30 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (4:30pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 10 Structure Sheet

$200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/200 with a 200 ante

We are heading into the second week of the series and rolling out a new multi-flight tournament. Event 9 is a $200 No Limit Hold’em tournament with a $100,000 guarantee prize pool and six starting flights. Three will run today with the last three tomorrow.

Players start with 20K in their stack and the first 16 levels last 30 minutes, increasing to 40 with Level 17. 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 survivors will return on Wednesday at 2 pm for Day 2 in the money.

• $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips
• Levels 1-16 last 30 minutes; Levels 17+ last 40 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (2:30pm)
• Day 1 will end when 10% of field remains
• Event 9 Structure Sheet

Primary Event Schedule

10AM: Event 9 Flight A – $200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips
• Levels 1-16 last 30 minutes; Levels 17+ last 40 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (2:30pm)
• Day 1 will end when 10% of field remains
• Event 9 Structure Sheet

12PM: Event 10 – $600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

• $30,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Levels last 30 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (4:30pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 10 Structure Sheet

1PM: Event 1 Day 3 – $400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

• Event 1 Day 3 Seats and Chip Counts
• Event 1 Payouts

2PM: Event 9 Flight B – $200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips
• Levels 1-16 last 30 minutes; Levels 17+ last 40 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (6:30pm)
• Day 1 will end when 10% of field remains
• Event 9 Structure Sheet

2PM: Event 7 Day 2 – $1,100 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

• Event 7 Day 2 Seats and Chip Counts
• Event 7 Payouts

6PM: Event 9 Flight C – $200 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips
• Levels 1-16 last 30 minutes; Levels 17+ last 40 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (10:30pm)
• Day 1 will end when 10% of field remains
• Event 9 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

8PM: $140 Event 11 Satellite (1-in-10)

• 1-in-10 win seats into $1,100 buy-in Event 11
• Players begin with 10,000 in chips
• Levels last 15 minutes
• Late registration until start of Level 7 (9:45pm)
• Structure Sheet

2023 Tampa Poker Classic
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 6
$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$25,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 204
Prize Pool: $68,340
September 10, 2023

Richard Saunders took home the top prize worth $12,070 along with the SPS trophy after a chop was decided to at the final table among the last seven players standing around 2 am in Event 6.

We caught up with Saunders shortly after the win, and here is what he had to say about the victory, “This sensation is very good to win such a nice tournament. There were a lot of good people playing. I feel very good. A lot of good people playing, a very good atmosphere.”

He continued, “Actually, today was a lot of fun. My first table was a lot of happy people, and I enjoy that. Yeah, let’s have fun.”

Saunders journey through the tournament was an up and down affair. He lost a bad beat, but rallied back from it on the way to the title. “Poker is like this, you have to breathe in order to come back. We always have another hand.”

Saunders had built up a big stack by the time the final table began, but he did reveal a key hand that sent him on the path to victory. “A guy raised, another one three-bet, and I came in with tens and went all in, and I won. My tens held, and I made 800,000 to win that hand,” said Saunders.

Saunders has his eyes on the main event for the tournament series after this, and he is enjoying his time at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa. “Yes, the main event, I’m just the hold’em. It’s very nice here, everything is very nice,” said Saunders.

Final Results:

* – denotes results of a seven-way deal

2023 Tampa Poker Classic
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 8
$400 Mixed PLO (Re-Entry)
Entries: 71
Prize Pool: $23,785
September 10, 2023

David Prociak is no stranger to success on the tournament circuit with over $2 million in earnings on his poker resume.  He claimed another $7,525 and the SPS trophy tonight at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa when he won Event 8 around  2 am.

“It feels good to close one out, I’ve had a lot of seconds and thirds lately,” said Prociak after the win. When he was asked about the heads-up final coming down to him and Donny Maloney, he responded, “Absolutely, when it started I was like it’s going to be me and Donny, that’s what I was thinking. During the heads-up he was just so short, there was nothing could do, he just had to shoot and go with it.”

Prociak said that it was a slow grind to double his stack on the way to the final table after Level 7, and then from there he won a three-way all-in followed by a series of chipping up. He took full advantage of the bubble as well, chipping up from 200k to 400k along the way. “It wasn’t really that long of a bubble, but because we were four-handed, you had to play a lot of hands, and the other guys had to fold a lot,” said Prociak.

“As far as the final table there was a hand where I had bottom set versus top set and I hit quads; and I was able to double up through the guy who had the most chips. That was super key. When a big hand comes up like that and it swings one way, that’s the whole tournament really,” said Prociak when he was asked about his most pivotal hands at the final table. He continued, “That’s why I like to gamble in some spots and get a stack, and you can turn it into a win.”

Prociak is a mixed-game connoisseur, and he has been targeting that caliber of events on the SPS schedule. “I love it, if it wasn’t for these, I wouldn’t. I didn’t even play the $1 million guarantee, I’ve just played the Big O and this so far. These are the fun ones, these are what I like to play. I definitely appreciate it, I wish they had one every day,” said Prociak.

When he was asked about his plans for the rest of the tournament series, here was Prociak’s response, “I pretty much have decided I’m going to play everyday. I will play whatever tomorrow is, and just keep going that way. The main event is the only one I would choose over a mixed event. Other than that it’s mixed games over hold’em.”

Final Results:

$1,100 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante

Players Remaining: 7 of 66

Here is a look at the final seven players that have advanced to Day 2. Play will begin again at 1 pm tomorrow to decide a champion.

Seat 1: Curtis King – 190,000
Seat 2: Ken O’Donnell – 201,000
Seat 3: Jeremy Pappno – 197,000
Seat 4: Johnny Bromberg – 250,000
Seat 5: Paul Walsworth – 387,000
Seat 6: Carl Coppola – 576,000
Seat 9: Tarun Gulati – 190,000

Two players busted in the money before play ended, and they are listed below:

8: Anthony Pincquadio – $2,560
9: Tammy Ehrhart – $2,240