$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
End of Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 66 of 1,207

After 10 levels of play, the second day of the WPT championship event is in the books and the massive 1,207-entry field is down to the final 66 players and Team SHRP member Matt Affleck takes a massive chip lead into Day 3.

Affleck finished the day with 1,893,000 and his nearest competitor, Eric Beller has 1,155,000. The only other Team SHRP members alive for Day 3 are Darryll Fish with 571,000 and Wally Maddah with 43,000.

Everybody remaining is guaranteed $10,080 but they are all hoping to still be playing the tournament later in the week when somebody will earn $661,283 for the win.

Day 3 will start at noon on Sunday and the levels will increase from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. The schedule for the day is to play down to the final six players.

Complete chip counts will be posted shortly.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 67 of 1,207

Bob Bounahra opened to 25,000 under the gun, and Garrett Greer three-bet to 65,000 in middle position. Matt Affleck called on the button, and Bounahra called the remainder to see a three-way flop.

It came . Bounahra checked, Greer continued for 95,000, Affleck called, and Bounahra folded.

Both players checked through the turn, and the river was the . Greer moved all in for about 325,000, and Affleck pondered for several minutes before calling to put Greer at risk.

“King-queen?” Greer half-asked as he showed for queens up. It was no good; Affleck tabled for the same hand with a better kicker, and he won the pot to pad his chip lead. Greer was eliminated on the second-to-last hand of the night.

Matt Affleck – 1,895,000 (190 bb)
Garrett Greer – Eliminated

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 67 of 1,207

The clock was paused with 10 minutes left in Level 20, and a card was drawn. It was a three, everyone’s favorite card at this time of night, and each table will play that many more hands before bagging up for the night.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 68 of 1,207

Shanker Pillai opened to 23,000 in early position, and Iaron Lightbourne three-bet from the small blind. Pillai moved all in for about 400,000 total, and Lightbourne called, committing about 40 percent of his stack to put Pillai at risk.

Pillai:
Lightbourne:

The board ran out , and Pillai won the race with kings up to double up.

Shankar Pillai – 820,000 (82 bb)
Iaron Lightbourne – 570,000 (57 bb)

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 79 of 1,207

Garrett Greer opened with a raise in middle middle position, Matt Affleck called in the cutoff, and Taylor Paur defended his big blind to create three-way action.

The flop was . It checked to Affleck, who continued for 35,000, and only Paur called. Both players checked through the turn, and the river was the . Paur led for 36,000, and Affleck raised to 146,000 effective to put his opponent to the decision for the rest of his stack.

There was little to decide; Paur double-checked his hole cards and quickly called to put himself at risk for that amount.

Paur: (aces full)
Affleck: (trip jacks)

It was quite a cooler for Affleck, but he still appears to be the overall chip leader despite granting Paur that double-up.

Taylor Paur – 440,000 (44 bb)
Matt Affleck – 1,405,000 (140 bb)

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 79 of 1,207

Anton Astapau opened with a raise in early position, and he and several others saw a cheap flop, including SHRP Team member Matt Affleck. Those two ended up being the only two who factored in what would become a huge pot.

The flop was , and Affleck led out for 40,000. Astapau raised to 190,000, and Affleck moved all in with the larger of the two stacks. Astapau began the hand with just over 600,000 chips, and he called all in to put himself at risk.

Astapau: (bottom pair, flush draw)
Affleck: (top two pair)

The turn and river completed the board safely for Affleck, and he eliminated Astapau in 79th place. With that big pot, Affleck also moves into the chip lead with less than one level left in Day 2.

Matt Affleck – 1,560,000 (156 bb)
Anton Astapau – Eliminated

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 88 of 1,207

On a flop of , the player in the small blind checked and Rob Mizrachi bet 29,000 from middle position. Bob Bounahra called on the button and the small blind called as well.

The turn was the and the small blind checked again. Mizrachi bet 56,000, Bounahra called, and the small blind called again.

The river was the and the small blind checked for a third time. Mizrachi bet 68,000 and Bounahra folded without much thought. The small blind thought for a couple minutes before tossing his hand into the muck.

Mizrachi mucked his hand and dragged the pot.

Rob Mizrachi – 700,000 (87 bb)

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 88 of 1,207

Fellow SHRP Team members Jared Jaffee and Matt Affleck just tangled up in a pot that sent Jaffee to the cashier.

The pot began with Jaffee opening to 20,000 in early position, and Affleck three-bet to 67,000 in the small blind. Jaffee four-bet shoved for about 360,000 total, and Affleck quickly called to put him at risk.

Jaffee:
Affleck:

The board ran out safely for Affleck, coming . He won the pot with kings up, eliminating Jaffee in the process.

Matt Affleck – 890,000 (111 bb)
Jared Jaffee – Eliminated

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 90 of 1,207

Chris Klodnicki opened to 18,000 in middle position, and Taylor Paur three-bet shoved for 102,000 on the button. From the big blind, John Racener re-shoved for 144,000 total, and Klodnicki folded out of the way to leave Paur heads-up for his tournament life.

Paur:
Racener:

The board ran out , and Paur won the flip to to double up with two pair.

Taylor Paur – 243,000 (30 bb)
John Racener – 42,000 (5 bb)

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 95 of 1,207

Darryll Fish opened to 20,000 under the gun, and Jinghao Xu three-bet shoved for 76,000 a few seats over. Fish asked for the count, then called to put Xu at risk.

Fish:
Xu:

The flop was a disaster for Xu, and the turn and river sealed his elimination in 95th place. Fish won the pot with a pair of jacks.

Darryll Fish – 650,000 (81 bb)
Jinghao Xu – Eliminated