Showdown

Championship Day 1A: More Chip Counts From the Field

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  1,027

Mitchell Halverson
Mitchell Halverson

Mitchell Halverson  –  213,000  (213 bb)
Frank Stepuchin  –  155,000  (155 bb)
Ryan Riess  –  150,000  (150 bb)
Darryll Fish  –  147,000  (147 bb)
Upeshka De Silva  –  145,000  (145 bb)
Wagner Wysotchanski  –  140,000  (140 bb)
Ya Yun Liu  –  129,000  (129 bb)
Matthew Wantman  –  115,000  (115 bb)
Philip Shing  –  115,000  (115 bb)
John Racener  –  76,000  (76 bb)
Dimitri Vorbe  –  75,000  (76 bb)
James Carroll  –  75,000  (75 bb)
Mike Graffeo  –  70,000  (70 bb)
Matthew Lambrecht  –  67,000  (67 bb)
Mike Dentale  –  55,000  (55 bb)
Mohsin Charania  –  54,000  (54 bb)
Steve Buckner  –  49,000  (49 bb)
Yuval Bronshtein  –  42,000  (42 bb)
Howard Mash  –  40,000  (40 bb)
Adam Hendrix  –  40,000  (40 bb)
Raj Vohra  –  39,000  (39 bb)
Sheddy Siddiqui  –  38,000  (38 bb)
Cangir Elcin  –  27,000  (27 bb)
Noah Schwartz  –  25,000  (25 bb)

Championship Day 1A: Darryll Fish Knocks Out a Player

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  1,010

Darryll Fish
Darryll Fish

Wagner Wysotchanski raised from the cutoff to 2,200, Darryll Fish reraised from the button to 5,200, and the player in the big blind moved all in for 31,100.

Wysotchanski tanked for a long time before he folded, and Fish thought for a bit before he called with AhQh.

The big blind turned over 7h7c, and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came 10c9s4cAc8s, and Fish paired his ace on the turn, and faded clubs and sevens on the river to win the pot and eliminate his opponent.

Darryll Fish  –  175,000  (175 bb)

With 1,010 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $3.23 million, having surpassed the $3 million guarantee before the dinner break. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

Championship Day 1A: Chip Counts from the Field

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  1,000

Anna Antimony
Anna Antimony

Anna Antimony  –  164,000  (164 bb)
Mike Chiappetta  –  145,000  (145 bb)
Rania Nasreddine  –  142,000  (142 bb)
Ryan Eriquezzo  –  135,000  (135 bb)
Jon Brody  –  125,000  (125 bb)
A.J. Kelsall  –  125,000  (125 bb)
Mike Liang  –  112,000  (112 bb)
Joe McKeehen   – 107,000  (107 bb)
Scott Eskenazi  –  83,000  (83 bb)
Jonathan Jaffe  –  79,000  (79 bb)
Tyler Bentz  –  75,000  (75 bb)
Jake Cody  –  70,000  (70 bb)
Paul Snead  –  65,000  (65 bb)
Michael Wang  –  59,000  (59 bb)
Kharlin Sued  –  58,000  (58 bb)
Scott Bohlman  –  54,000  (54 bb)
Filipp Khavin  –  53,000  (53 bb)
Dominique Mosley  –  48,000  (48 bb)
Matthew Waxman  –  43,000  (43 bb)
Vinny Pahuja  –  39,000  (39 bb)
Sam Panzica  –  30,000  (30 bb)

Championship Day 1A: Dylan Smith Leads the Field at Dinner Break with 281,000; Defending Champion Mark Davis Off to a Strong Start with 220,000

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  985

Dylan Smith
Chipleader Dylan Smith

The players return from dinner to begin Level 7, with increased blinds of 500-1,000 and a 1,000 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up four players with at least 250K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Dylan Smith  –  281,000  (281 bb)
2.  James Shucart  –  276,900  (277 bb)
3.  Ramazan Tahhusoglu  –  274,600  (275 bb)
4.  Trung Pham  –  270,600  (271 bb)

Defending Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown champion Mark Davis is also sitting on a big stack, with 220,000.

Mark Davis  –  220,000  (220 bb)

With 985 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $3.15 million, having surpassed the $3 million guarantee before the dinner break. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

Championship Day 1A: Dinner Break Until 7:00 pm EDT

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  960

Level 6 comes to an end, and the players take a 90-minute dinner break. Action is scheduled to resume around 7:00 pm.

A scan of the field shows four players with at least 250K in chips, and the chipleader is Dylan Smith. (We’ll identify the others when they return from dinner.)

1.  Dylan Smith  –  281,000  (281 bb)

With 960 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $3.07 million, already surpassing the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

Championship Day 1A: Guarantee Gone Already

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  938

We are having a great day in the Grand Ballroom. There are 72 tables in the room and all 72 tables are in use with 938 entries putting the 2023 WPT Poker Showdown Championship over the $3,000,000 guarantee.

Late registration remains open until 9:15 pm with Flight B starting tomorrow at 11 am.

Championship Day 1A: Steven Snyder Doubles Up with Aces

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  934

Steven Snyder
Steven Snyder

Steven Snyder got it all in from the small blind for 16,400 with AhAc, and it was a cooler situation against his opponent in middle position with KhKc.

The board came 9s4c3h2s7d, and the pocket aces held up for Snyder to win the pot and double up in chips.

Snyder has done well in this event the past couple of years, finishing 47th last year (from a field of 2,010) to earn $20,000, and finishing second in 2021 (from a field of 2,482) to earn $899,295.

Steven Snyder  –  34,400  (43 bb)

With 934 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.98 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

Championship Day 1A: Ebony Kenney vs. Chad Eveslage

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  927

Ebony Kenney
Ebony Kenney

Ebony Kenney (button) and Chad Eveslage (big blind) put in 1,600 each to see a flop of 7d4h3d. Eveslage checked, Kenney bet 2,700, and Eveslage called.

The turn card was the Jd, and both players checked.

The river card was the 8c, Eveslage checked, Kenney bet 7,100, and Eveslage tanked for a while before he folded. Kenney took the pot.

Ebony Kenney  –  67,000  (84 bb)
Chad Eveslage  –  72,000  (90 bb)

With 927 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.96 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

Championship Day 1A: Debbie Lee Triples Up with Quad Nines

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  890

Debbie Lee
Debbie Lee

A player raised under the gun to 2,000, Hitesh Patel called from UTG+1, and Debbie Lee called from the big blind.

The flop came Ks9h6s, Lee checked, and the UTG player bet 5,000. Patel raised to 20,000, and Lee called all in for 15,700. The UTG player also called.

The main pot was worth 54,000, with another 8,600 in the side pot. Any additional betting would go into the side pot.

The turn card paired the board with the 9c, and both players checked.

The river card was the 2d, the UTG player bet 40,000, and Patel moved all in for 55,200. The UTG player tanked for a very long time before he folded, and Patel took the side pot.

For the main pot, Patel showed Kc6c for two pair, kings and nines, but Lee turned over 9s9d to win the main pot with quad nines and triple up in chips.

Debbie Lee  –  54,000  (90 bb)
Hitesh Patel  –  103,800  (173 bb)

With 890 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.84 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

Hitesh Patel
Hitesh Patel

Championship Day 1A: Matthew Wantman Shoves the River to Reach 170K

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  877

Matthew Wantman
Matthew Wantman

With the board showing Ac6h4s5s on the turn, Matthew Wantman checked from middle position, the player on the button bet 9,000, and Wantman check-raised to 25,200. The button called.

The river card was the Qd, and Wantman moved all in. His opponent went into the tank with about 46,000 left in his stack, and he tanked for a very long time before he folded AdKc face up for a pair of aces.

Wantman let his opponent choose one of his cards to reveal, and it was the 7c for a possible straight.

Matthew Wantman  –  170,000  (283 bb)

With 877 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.8 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.