$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 17:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  20 of 261

Level 17 rolled around and the field is down to the last 21 players trying to make a big stack while making it through to Day 3 tomorrow.

They will play out this level, take a 15-minute break, and return to play one more 60-minute level before bags come out.

21st: Billy Burdick – $5,590
22nd: John O’Neal – $5,590
23rd: Don Mathews – $5,590
24th: Huicun Qiao – $5,590

$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 16:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  24 of 261

When Stephen Brite was eliminated in 25th place, tournament staff paused the clock and the last 24 players redrew seats at the last three tables.

John Dolan made it into the money but went out in 32nd place while padding his lead atop the SPS Tournament Leaderboard.

25th: Stephen Brite – $5,120
26th: Francisco Gomez – $5,120
27th: Alan Taylor – $5,120
28th: Ken O’Donnell – $5,120
29th: Fabio Chavez – $5,120
30th: RJ Sullivan – $5,120
31st: Onder Ekinci – $5,120
32nd: John Dolan – $5,120
33rd: Bart O’Connell – $4,820

2026 Tampa Signature Poker Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 11
$600+$500 Monster Stack Purple Chip Bounty
Entries: 55
Prize Pool: $25,300
Bounty Prize Pool:  $27,500
July 26, 2026

Registration closed for the $600+$500 Purple Chip Bounty No-Limit Hold’em tournament with 55 entries, creating a regular prize pool worth $25,300 and a bounty prize pool worth $27,500. The last seven players will make the money with $1,120 for a min-cash and $9,280 plus the SPS trophy to the winner.

SPS Tournament Leaderboard

$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 16:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  26 of 261

Players returned from another break with 26 players remaining and a three-table redraw set when they reach 24.

Ricardo Rodriguez leads the field late with 1,130,000 and the only player over one million. Brian Ray is second with 720,000 followed by Thomas Shepard with 610,000.

Blinds are up to 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante and the average stack is about 400,000 (50 bb) so still plenty of play.

$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 15:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  33 of 261

The logjam in the Championship broke open and quickly. On Table 21, Wil Mercado was eliminated in 35th place when his could not catch up to .

While waiting for action to finish to start hand-for-hand on the money bubble, John Kennedy was all in for 24,000 against Peter Walsworth.

They were racing with Kennedy needing to improve his against Walsworth’s . The board ran out , no help to Kennedy, and he was eliminated on the money bubble.

The remaining 33 players were in the money and guaranteed at least $4,820.

1st: $128,540 + SPS Trophy
2nd: $85,450
3rd: $62,330
4th: $46,040
5th: $34,450
6th: $26,100
7th: $20,020
8th: $15,560
9th-10th: $12,240
11th-12th: $10,030
13th-14th: $8,380
15th-16th: $7,160
17th-20th: $6,250
21st-24th: $5,590
25th-32nd: $5,120
33rd: $4,820

$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 15:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  36 of 261

Blinds are up but the player count is remaining the same, sitting at 36 players for half of the previous level. They will go into hand-for-hand mode when 34 remain so they are all sweating the bubble.

With blinds at 3,000/6,000/6,000, the average stack is about 290,000 (48 bb) so there’s still plenty of play to get to the money.

$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure
Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  41 of 261

Players returned to action after the second break with the money bubble on the horizon and no change in our top stacks. And it’s not really close.

Reese Combs is out front with 857,000, closely followed by Ricard Rodriguez with 804,000. Third-place Warren Gheen is a good distance back with 473,000 and the closest to either of our leaders.

But everyone still has a long day ahead of them to get to the top.

$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure
Level 13:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  44 of 261

Players are getting ready to head on the second break of Day 2 as tournament staff color off the 500-denomination purple chips.

We’ll stake out the two big stacks and see if anyone is close to catching them.

$2,500 SPS Championship
Prize Pool: $587,250  |  Structure
Level 13:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  47 of 261

The SPS Championship is down to its last six tables with 47 players remaining and 33 getting paid. Things will slow down now as they near the bubble and with a break coming up.

The two big stacks at the first break are still the same two big stacks now. Reese Combs increased his lead and is teasing one million with 920,000 while Ricardo Rodriguez is moving up as well with 635,000.

2026 Tampa Signature Poker Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 10
$2,500 SPS Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 261
Prize Pool: $587,250
July 24 – 27, 2026

Registration closed for the 2026 SPS Championship with 261 entries in the $2,500 buy-in tournament. They surpassed the $500,000 guarantee and created a prize pool worth $587,250. The last 33 spots will be paid with $4,820 for a min-cash and $128,540 up top for the winner, plus the huge SPS Championship trophy.

Thanks for coming out!

SPS Tournament Leaderboard