Championship Day 1A: Kyrylo Kobzyev Doubles Up

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  880

After multiple raises, Kyrylo Kobzyev moved all in for 50,600, and the player on the button called with JsJc.

Kobzyev turned over AdQd, and need to improve to stay alive.

The board came Ac10h7dQs2d, and Kobzyev paired his ace on the flop and his queen on the turn to win the pot with two pair, aces and queens, to double up in chips.

Kyrylo Kobzyev  –  103,700  (104 bb)

The tournament clock shows 880 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.81 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Championship Day 1A: A Batch of Chip Counts

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  843

Orson Young  –  221,000  (221 bb)
Joe McKeehen  –  158,000  (158 bb)
James Romero  –  155,000  (155 bb)
Nick Palma  –  138,000  (138  bb)
Jesse Lonis  –  126,000  (126 bb)
Ema Zajmovic  –  124,000  (124 bb)
Ian O’Hara  –  107,000  (107 bb)
Kyle Cartwright  –  100,000  (100 bb)
Jeff Madsen  –  97,000  (97 bb)
Solange Lucas  –  95,000  (95 bb)
T.K. Miles  –  93,000  (93 bb)
Bob Mather  –  80,000  (80 bb)
Mike Chiappetta  –  77,000  (77 bb)
Paul Snead  –  74,000  (74 bb)
James Carroll  – 70,000  (70 bb)
Alex Foxen  –  68,000  (68 bb)
Athanasios Polychronopoulos  –  66,000  (66 bb)
Jorge Gomez  –  65,000  (65 bb)
Adam Hendrix  –  58,000  (58 bb)
Chris Moorman  –  48,000  (48 bb)
Vikenty Shegal  –  45,000  (45 bb)
Curt Kohlberg  –  44,000  (44 bb)
Matthew Zaracoolas  –  35,000  (35 bb)
Michael Rossitto  –  23,000  (23 bb)
Melanie Weisner  –  18,000  (18 bb)
Phil Hui  –  16,000  (16 bb)
Jesse Sylvia  –  10,000  (10 bb)

Championship Day 1A: Alex Nguyen and Joey Gagiulo Lead the Field After Dinner

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  843

Alex Nguyen
Chipleader Alex Nguyen

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

A scan of the field during the dinner break turned up only two players with at least 300K in chips, and they barely beat that threshold:

1.  Alex Nguyen  –  301,300  (301 bb)
2.  Joey Gargiulo  –  301,000  (bb)

The tournament clock shows 843 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.69 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Joey Gargiulo
Joey Gargiulo

Championship Day 1A: Dinner Break Until 7:02 pm

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  833

Level 6 comes to an end, and the player take a 90-minute dinner break. Action is scheduled to resume around 7:02 pm EDT.

The tournament clock shows 833 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.66 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Championship Day 1A: T.K. Miles Doubles Thru Jesse Sylvia

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  832

T.K. Miles
T.K. Miles

With the final board showing KdJs8h3hAc on the river and about 27K already in the pot, T.K. Miles checked from the small blind, and Jesse Sylvia moved all in from the hijack for 45,000.

Miles tanked for a while before he called all in for 31,400. Sylvia showed 2h2d, but Miles turned over Kh7h to win the pot with a pair of kings and double up in chips.

T.K. Miles  –  90,000  (113 bb)
Jesse Sylvia  –  13,600  (17 bb)

The tournament clock shows 832 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.66 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Championship Day 1A: Anthony Astarita Doubles Thru Melanie Weisner

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

Anthony Astarita

Melanie Weisner raised from the small blind to 3,000, and Anthony Astarita called from the big blind.

The flop came 8c5s3s, Weisner bet 3,500, and Astarita thought for a while before raising to 11,500. Weisner paused for a few moments before she moved all in for 40,600.

Astarita quickly called all in for 31,300 with 9s7s for a gutshot straight draw with a spade flush draw. Weisner turned over 7h6c for an open-ended straight draw, and Astarita actually had the high hand with nine high.

The turn card paired the board with the 3d, the river card was the Qc, and Astarita won the pot with his nine high to double up in chips.

Anthony Astarita  –  69,400  (87 bb)
Melanie Weisner  –  9,300  (12 bb)

The tournament clock shows 800 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.56 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Melanie Weisner

Championship Day 1A: Andres Jeckeln Knocks Out a Player

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  784

Andres Jeckeln
Andres Jeckeln on Event #34 last night, earning $126,541.

The player in the small blind got it all in with a short stack and turned over Ah7s, but needed to improve to stay alive against the Ac9c of Andres Jeckeln in the big blind.

The board came Ad3s2cJc8h, and Jeckeln won the pot with a pair of aces and his nine kicker to eliminate his opponent.

Andres Jeckeln  –  58,500  (98 bb)

The tournament clock shows 784 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.5 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Championship Day 1A: Alvaro Puchol Doubles Thru A.J. Kelsall

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

Alvaro Puchol
Alvaro Puchol

Alvaro Puchol got it all in from the big blind for 18,200 with KdKc, and needed his hand to hold to stay alive against the QsQd of A.J. Kelsall in the hijack.

The board came AcJd6c8s3d, and the kings held up for Puchol to win the pot and double up in chips.

Alvaro Puchol  –  37,300  (62 bb)
A.J. Kelsall  –  80,000  (133 bb)

The tournament clock shows 762 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.43 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Championship Day 1A: Joey Gargiulo Leads the Field at the Break with 248,000

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  752

Joey Gargiulo
Joey Gargiulo

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 four players with at least 200K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Joey Gargiulo  –  248,000  (413 bb)
2.  Brek Schutten  –  214,600  (358 bb)
3.  Jesse Lonis  –  209,900  (350 bb)
4.  Yung Lin  –  206,700  (345 bb)

Brek Schutten is the defending champion in this event. Last year he outlasted a Seminole Hard Rock record-setting field of 2,482 entries to win more than $1.26 million.

The tournament clock shows 752 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.4 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).

Championship Day 1A: Mark Davis Knocks Out Another Player to Reach 180,000

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  720

Mark Davis
Mark Davis

The player in the big blind was all in preflop against Kyle Cartwright (UTG) and Mark Davis (middle position). Any further betting would create a side pot between Cartwright and Davis.

The flop came Qh7s5d, Cartwright bet 6,500, and Davis called.

The turn card was the 4c, and both players checked.

The river card was the 2s, and they checked again. All three players showed their cards:

Mark Davis:  AsQc  (pair of queens)
Kyle Cartwright:  10h10c  (pair of tens)
Big Blind:  AdKh  (ace high)

Davis won the entire pot with his pair of queens to eliminate the player in the big blind.

Mark Davis  –  180,000  (360 bb)
Kyle Cartwright  –  47,000  (94 bb)

The tournament clock shows 720 entries as play resumes, and the prizepool is already up over $2.30 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (around 9:15 pm).