$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 17: 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 151 of 1,207

The magic number of 152 players remaining was reached a moment ago, putting the field onto the direct money bubble. The dealers at each table were instructed to finish the hand they were dealing and stand up in preparation for hand-for-hand play.

There were a number of pots still in progress, though, including Joe Elpayaa three-bet shoving from the big blind at one table, and Taylor Paur at-risk with top pair against a flush draw at another. Paur doubled up, Elpayaa’s opponent folded, but there was still one hand in play.

Former chip leader Fermin Micheo was involved in that pot, a hand in which he flopped bottom two pair with . Vlad Mezheritsky ran down a better two pair with , though, and Micheo was eliminated on the direct bubble, bypassing the need for hand-for-hand play altogether.

The 151 remaining players are now in the money and guaranteed to earn at least $5,002.