Championship Day 1B: Rodney Turvin 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 1B Entries:  854

Rodney Turvin
Rodney Turvin

Shortly before the dinner break, Joey Gargiulo raised UTG+1 to 1,900, Rodney Turvin called from middle position, the player in the hijack called, the button called, and the player in the small blind moved all in for 15,800.

Gargiulo called, Turvin called, the hijack folded, and the button called.

There was 64,800 in the main pot, and any further betting would create a side pot.

The flop came Jd4s2c, Gargiulo checked, and Turvin bet 10,000. The player on the button folded, and Gargiulo called.

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

The river card was the Kd, and they checked again. All three players showed their cards.

Joey Gargiulo:  5s2s  (pair of deuces)
Rodney Turvin:  QhJh  (pair of jacks)
Small Blind:  Qs9s  (queen high)

As the players turned over their cards, another player at the table said, “Those were not the cards I was expecting to see.”

Turvin won the entire pot with a pair of jacks to eliminate the player in the small blind.

Rodney Turvin  –  133,600  (134 bb)
Joey Gargiulo  –  154,700  (155 bb)

The tournament clock shows 854 entries here on Day 1B, for a tournament total of 1,821 and counting. The prizepool is worth more than $5.82 million, absolutely crushing the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. Action should continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

Championship Day 1B: Paul Snead Eliminated by Andrew Heckman

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries:  827

Paul Snead
Paul Snead

After a flop of AcJs9s, Paul Snead checked the small blind, Andrew Heckman bet 13,000 from middle position, and Snead check-raised all in for roughly 50K.

Heckman quickly called with Ah2h for a pair of aces, and Snead turned over KdQd for a gutshot straight draw. Snead needed to improve to stay alive.

The turn card was the 6c, the river card was the Jc, and Heckman won the pot with two pair, aces and jacks, to eliminate Snead.

After the hand, Heckman said, “I told myself that if I flopped the ace, I wasn’t going to fold.”

Andrew Heckman  –  328,000  (410 bb)
Paul Snead  –  Eliminated

The tournament clock shows 827 entries here on Day 1B, for a tournament total of 1,756 and counting. The prizepool is worth more than $5.61 million, absolutely crushing the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. Action should continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

Andrew Heckman
Andrew Heckman

Ladies Event: Guarantee Already Gone

$250 Ladies Event (Re-Entry)
$10,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100
Entries:  62

Deborah Farmer

The Ladies Event wasted no time blasting their prize pool over the $10,000 guarantee. In fact, the prize pool was over that amount before cards went in the air.

A fantastic showing right out of the gates and we anticipate a fun time in the Meeting Room this evening.

Gili Prizament
Keta Ozolina, WPT Global Events Manager

Championship Day 1B: Viet Vo vs. Jonathan Mattia

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  789

Viet Vo
Viet Vo

After a flop of Js6s3s, Viet Vo checked from the big blind, the UTG layer checked, and Jonathan Mattia checked the hijack.

The turn card paired the board with the 3d, and Vo bet 1,800. The UTG player folded, and Mattia called.

The river card double-paired the board with the 6h, Vo bet 2,200, and Mattia tanked for a while before he called. Vo showed 6d5h to win the pot with a full house, sixes full of threes, and Mattia mucks.

Viet Vo  –  58,000  (97 bb)
Jonathan Mattia  –  170,000  (283 bb)

The tournament clock shows 789 entries here on Day 1B, for a tournament total of 1,756 and counting. The prizepool is worth more than $5.61 million, absolutely crushing the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. Action should continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

Championship Day 1B: Henrique Lourenço Doubles Up Before the Break

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  762

Henrique Lourenço

In the last hand before he break, Henrique Lourenço got it all in from the cutoff for 13,000 with Qc10c, and he needed to improve to stay alive against the 5s5c of the UTG+1 player.

The board came 9h8h4sJs10h, and Lourenço turned a queen-high straight to win the pot and double up in chips.

Henrique Lourenço  –  27,300  (46 bb)

The tournament clock shows 762 entries here on Day 1B, for a tournament total of 1,729 and counting. The prizepool is worth more than $5.53 million, absolutely crushing the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. Action should continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

Championship Day 1B: David Farber Leads the Field at the Break with 288,100

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  750

David Farber
Chipleader David Farber

The players returned from break to begin Level 5, with increased blinds of 300-600 and a 600 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up two players with more than 200K in chips, and one more knocking on the door for an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  David Farber  –  288,100  (480 bb)
2.  Jonathan Mattia  –  227,900  (380 bb)
3.  Sergey Glagolev  –  197,500  (329 bb)

The tournament clock shows 750 entries here on Day 1B, for a tournament total of 1,717 and counting. The prizepool is worth more than $5.49 million, absolutely crushing the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. Action should continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

Jonathan Mattia
Jonathan Mattia

Ladies Event: Special Tournament Set

$250 Ladies Event (Re-Entry)
$10,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100

The Championship isn’t the only game in town this afternoon, we have the Ladies Event kicking off at 4 pm with some big money plus a bonus. The $250 buy-in tournament has a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool and we’ve added a $1,100 Poker Showdown Event 46 seat to first place.

Players start with 20,000 deep stacks and all levels last 30 minutes. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 7 at 6:15 pm. They will cruise through the day in the Meeting Room and play down to our Ladies Event champion later this evening.

  • $10,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • $1,100 Showdown Event 46 seat added to 1st place
  • Players begin with 20,000 in chips
  • Levels 1-6 last 20 minutes; Levels 7+ last 30 minutes
  • Late registration until start of Level 7 (6:15pm)
  • This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
  • Event 37 Structure Sheet

Championship Day 1B: Ryan Van Sanford Triples; Vincenzo Abate Sends One Out

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  731

Ryan Van Sanford (left) and Vincenzo Abate (right)

We missed the early betting but the result was Ryan Van Sanford all in for 15,400 from under the gun with Vincenzo Abate and the button player in the pot.

The flop came Jd9s7c, Abate bet, the button bet 15,000 and Abate called. The turn was Jh, Abate checked again, the button player continued for 22,000 and Abate called to see the Ts river.

Abate moved all in and the button called at risk for about 45,000.

Van Sanford: 9d9c
Abate: Qs8h
Button: AdJc

Van Sanford flopped a set of nines and turned a full house to take the main pot. Abate flopped a gutshot draw that got there on the river to beat the trip jacks of the button player to send him out.

Ryan Van Sanford – 47,500 (95 bb)
Vincenzo Abate – 135,000 (270 bb)

Championship Day 1B: David Tuthill Knocks Out a Player

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  714

David Tuthill

A player raised from middle position to 2,000, Scott Levitt called from the button, and David Tuthill called from the big blind.

The flop came 8d5c3c, Tuthill checked, and the player in middle position moved all in for 5,000. Levitt called, and Tuthill called.

The turn card paired the board with the 8h, and both players checked.

The river card was the 2s, Tuthill bet 17,500, and Levitt thought for a while before he folded.

The short stack showed JdJc for two pair, eights and jacks, but Tuthill turned over 8s7s to win the pot with trip eights and eliminate his opponent.

David Tuthill  –  54,500  (109 bb)
Scott Levitt  –  64,000  (128 bb)

The tournament clock shows 714 entries here on Day 1B, for a tournament total of 1,681 and counting. The prizepool is worth more than $5.37 million, absolutely crushing the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. Action should continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

Championship Day 1B: James Calderaro Bluffs for the Blog, but George Pappas Takes the Pot

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1B Entries:  665

James Calderaro George Pappas
James Calderaro (left) and George Pappas (right)

George Pappas raised under the gun to 1,000, Valerie Novak called UTG+1, Bob Mather called from middle position, the small blind called, and James Calderaro called from the big blind.

The flop came Jc7s3h, both blinds checked, and Pappas bet 2,800. Novak called, and Mather carefully counted out his bet using small chips before he called.

“How bad is that hand?” asked Calderaro. “He’s dipping into his black chips.”

The player in the small blind folded, and Calderaro called.

The turn card paired the board with the Jh, Calderaro bet 6,200, Pappas called, and Novak and Mather both folded.

The river card was the 7d, Calderaro checked, Pappas bet 7,000, and Calderaro snap-folded. Pappas took the pot.

After the hand, Calderaro said he folded queen-ten of clubs, while Pappas said he had ace-jack for trip jacks on the turn and a full house on the river. Calderaro said that he only played the hand because a reporter was there and he wanted to give them something to write.

George Pappas  –  117,500  (294 bb)
Bob Mather  –  79,000  (198 bb)
Valerie Novak  –  41,000  (103 bb)
James Calderaro  –  45,000  (113 bb)

The tournament clock shows 665 entries here on Day 1B, for a tournament total of 1,632 and counting. The prizepool is worth more than $5.22 million, absolutely crushing the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. Action should continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.