2023 Tampa Signature Poker Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 18
$600 One-Day $100K NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 216
Prize Pool: $113,400
September 17, 2023
Tung Nguyen took home the title tonight in Event 18 after a chop was decided to before the start of heads-up play. That gave Nguyen the top prize worth $23,710 along with his first SPS guitar pick trophy.
Here is what he had to say after the win. “Great man, first time winning the trophy so I’m really happy. I’ll find a place for it when I get back home.”
“Maybe not right now, back I’ve got some friends in the neighborhood when I go back home and have a celebration with them,” said Nguyen when he was asked about his plans to celebrate the victory.
Poker is a hobby for Nguyen, and he wasn’t sure if his coworkers would believe his stories about tonight around the water cooler conversations when he gets back home. “I have to go back to work on Monday. I have a business to run, so maybe next time. They would never believe me if I told them I won a trophy because I’ve been playing pretty bad [laughs]. I have a nail place, I own a nail spa so I work with a lot of ladies in there. I just play here and there from time-to-time,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen continued, “I live down near Hollywood so I play more there. I love it at the Seminole events, it gives you a chance to play a lot of tournaments and get more experience. It feels great to finally win something.”
“I was short stacked, I had eight bigs left. I had A-5, and I jammed all in to triple, and that’s what put me in this position. We were seven-handed, but at two tables left I just had eight bigs left and that was the moment that got me to this position,” said Nguyen when he was asked about his most pivotal hand in the tournament.
Once he had the big stack at the final table, his endgame strategy was set in his mind. “I just played big hands after that. I don’t get involved with a lot of hands, I just waited until I had some decent hands. Because mostly you want to raise, because you don’t play with bad hands If you’re in a hand, and you’re scared to raise and people limp in, you have to raise,” said Nguyen to finish off the interview.
Fin al Results:
1st: Tung Nguyen – $23,710 + SPS Trophy
2nd: Rajasekar Govindan – $22,990
3rd: Kyle Brock – $11,620
4th: Alejandro Funes – $7,070
5th: Wasim Assaf – $5,460
6th: rant Missonis – $4,520
7th: Prasad Vemulpalli – $3,860
8th: Charles Lutz – $3,300
9th: Chase Kalivas – $2,760
10th: Gerald Silva – $2,380
11th: OK Haselton – $2,380
12th: Jamison Alford – $2,380
13th: Johnny Bromberg – $2,040
14th: John Kennedy – $2,040
15th: Matthew White – $2,040
16th: Jonathan Schreier – $1,700
17th: David Nadeau – $1,700
18th: Dan Larsson – $1,700
19th: Nicholas Egarhos – $1,360
20th: Gabriel Fuller – $1,360
21st: Christopher Johnson – $1,360
22nd: Derrick Smith – $1,050
23rd: Likang Berninger – $1,050
24th: Aldring Gomez Torres – $1,050
25th: Patrick Schortemeyer – $840
26th: Mike Dentale – $840
27th: Lawrence Dowling – $840