$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 100/200 with 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 474

On a flop of Cliff Goldkind checked from the big blind, and Barry Hutter had a 1,000 chip in front of him. Goldkind raised to 2,100 and Hutter called.

The turn brought the , Goldkind bet 7,000, and Hutter called.

The river was the , Goldkind checked and Hutter shoved for 20,400 winning himself the pot.

Barry Hutter – 30,000
Cliff Goldkind – 33,500

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 100/200 with 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 490

One special guest in the field today is “Action Josh” Cranfill. He’s a favorite of his friends and family in Burlington, NC and playing in this tournament was an item on his bucket list.

Ken “Teach” Aldridge, “Miami John” Cernuto, and his NC friends pulled their money together and bought Cranfill his seat in today’s WPT Poker Showdown Championship. Cranfill is heading on the second break with 15,650 put the slow structure will give him plenty of time to run it up.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 100/200 with 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 474

There are a few players hitting the rail in the early levels, Marvin “The Duckman” Karlins exercised his re-entry option, but Michael Graffeo is headed in other direction.

The 2017 Seminole Hard Rock WPTDeepStacks Main Event champ is up to 70,000 after catching a straight and getting paid early in Level 4.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 75/150 with 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 443

Tony Dunst is a man of many talents; poker coach, tournament champion, and game analysts. He recently took over the WPT Commentator booth after Hall of Famer Mike Sexton left after 15 years. Dunst had to occasionally fill in for those duties when Sexton made a WPT final table, now it’s fulltime alongside Vince Van Patten.

But Dunst also has his name on the WPT Champions Cup. He won his WPT title in St. Maarten during Season XIII and added that to his 2008 WSOP bracelet. Dunst is in today’s field hoping to make the final table and have the WPT bosses find someone to fill his shoes in the commentary booth on Wednesday.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 75/150 with 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 434

The entry count continues to climb and we’re seeing numbers bigger than anticipated. We have more than 430 entries here so far with a steady line at the registration desk and it will remain open until the start of Level 9 at 9:15pm.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 75/150 with 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 413

Players returned to the Event Center and are set to play another two levels. Robert Transue, 2014 Poker Showdown Seniors Champ, is the current leader and his 99,150 has a clear lead over second place Frank Koopmann with 74,600.

Still plenty of time to catch the leaders but they are off to a good start.

Top ten stacks:

1. Robert Transue – 99,150
2. Frank Koopmann – 74,600
3. Mario De LaPuente – 67,500
4. Pablo Fernandez – 67,000
5. David Shmuel – 64,925
6. Chad Vetstein – 64,000
7. Ian O’Hara – 61,000
8. George Horteland – 60,150
9. Josh Smith – 60,150
10. Wendy Freedman – 57,000

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 75/150
Flight A Entries: 363

Two levels down, two hours in the books, and now it’s time for players to take a breather away from the tables. We have 367 entries in the Championship so far, more than a third of the way to the $3 Million Guarantee, and they have plenty of time to build it higher with late registration open till 9:15pm.

We will take this opportunity to check out the big stack in the room.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 75/150
Flight A Entries: 346

Marvin Karlins found himself down to a short stack early in the Championship and made a move with his last 9,000. Joey Couden had “The Duckman” at risk for an early exit.

Couden:
Karlins:

Karlins has two live overcards but the dealer kept the board low as it ran to send the popular reg out. Couden took the pot but he’s still below starting stack with 29,000.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 75/150
Flight A Entries: 323

We found another Showdown winner in the house and it is defending champ Tony Sinishtaj. He conquered all last spring as part of the huge series that included the WPT Finale and WPT Tournament of Champions.

The win for Sinishtaj was the biggest of his career and he earned it after dealing with a tough final table that included Robert Mizrachi, Dan Colman, Matt Affleck, and 2018 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open champ Darryll Fish.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 50/100
Flight A Entries: 290

Justin Young is back in the Event Center only a few hours removed from putting another $80K in his bankroll. The WPT Champions Club member played in the $2,200 Eight-Handed prelim event yesterday and took the title over of a tough final table in the early morning hours.

Young is also a former Showdown champion. He put his name on the Champions Cup in 2016 when he won the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown over 1,222 entries for $669,000.