2023 Tampa Poker Classic

Championship Day 1C: Michael Rossi Leads

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1C Entries:  311

Mike Rossi

Players are back in their seats after the third break and we closed the doors on the 2023 TPC Championship. Tournament staff are crunching the numbers and we will post the final information as soon as it is available.

It looks like Mike Rossi is our easy leader with three more levels to go. He is sitting with 310,000 which would be good enough for a top five stack on Day 2 and he still has time to run it up.

Championship Day 1C: Back in Action

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1C Entries:  250

Clyde Maliauka

Players are back in their seats after the second break but Clyde Maliauka cut the day early for David Nathaniel Jr. A fortunate river saw Maliauka river a full house against trip sixes of our former Player of the Year and he is up to 88,000.

Players will work through three more levels, take another 15-minute break, and registration will close for the Championship at 5:45pm.

Championship Day 1C: Another Break

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1C Entries:  241

Calais Campbell

Flight C is nearing the second break of the day and the field keeps growing at a fast pace with a prize pool of over $820,000.

Calais Campbell was a recent addition to the game. The six-time NFL Pro Bowler is coming off a seventh-place cash in the $600 Escalator event in Hollywood for $16,430. Campbell was also named the Walter Payton NFL Player of the Year in 2019 for his “commitment to philanthropy and community impact, as well as his excellence on the field.”

Championship Day 1C: Visitors Take a Seat

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1C Entries:  218

T.K. Miles

The big action of the TPC Championship brought us a lot of visitors from around the state and South Florida is making a showing this afternoon, including T.K. Miles and Mike Beasley.

Not just a visitor, Miles owns a few guitar trophies, including the 2021 Winter Poker Open Championship title, the second-biggest $1,700 buy-in field in our history. He also sits on top of our all-time leaderboard with $730,179 in earnings in our events.

Mike Beasley

Championship Day 1C: Cruising Along

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1C Entries:  200

Jake Ferro

There were no massive stacks found during the break but we did run into some fresh new faces with plenty of talent. Last year’s WPT Player of the Year Jake Ferro, David Tuthill, and Ryan Luker are now in the mix and the field is that much tougher.

The entry count clicked to 200 for Flight C and the prize pool is already over $770,000 with a long way to go.

David Tuthill
Ryan Luker

Championship Day 1C: Friendly Faces

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1C Entries:  169

RJ Sullivan (left) and Thomas Elder (right)

The Poker Room is quickly filling as we move into the afternoon levels; players are waking and making their way into the action. We are seeing a lot of old friends and making some new ones.

More familiar faces including RJ Sullivan, Thomas Elder, MT Tawfik, Mitch Mitchell, WPT POY runner-up Steve Buckner, and last year’s TPC Championship third-place finisher Thomas McDonald.

MT Tawfik
Mitch Mitchell
Steve Buckner
Thomas McDonald

Championship Day 1C: Early Entrants

$1,700 TPC Championship (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1C Entries:  120

Marsha Wolak

The entry count ballooned after the start of play and we have 125 here already, trying to spin up a stack for a piece of the huge prize pool.

A few early entrants include Ashley Spring, Clarisa Blakely, pickleball champ (and WSOP Ladies Champion) Marsha Wolak, Manny Minaya, Steve Blackmon, and Ryan Hogan.

Ashley Spring
Clarisa Blakely