$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 250/500 with 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 599

James Gilbert raised to 1,300 from the cutoff and Tony Sinishtaj called out of the small blind.

They both checked a flop of and the came on the turn. Sinishtaj bet 1,800 and Gilbert called.

The river was the and Sinishtaj bet 4,000. Gilbert called. Sinishtaj showed and Gilbert mucked his hand.

Last year’s champion won the pot with a pair of aces and crossed into a six-figure chip count.

Tony Sinishtaj – 105,000
James Gilbert – 71,000

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 250/500 with 75 ante
Flight A Entries: 565

Justin Liberto opened to 1,000 from the cutoff and a player in the big blind raised to 3,000. Liberto called.

The flop came , the big blind checked, and Liberto bet 1,800. The big blind raised to 5,500 and Liberto called.

The turn brought the , the big blind bet 8,000 and Liberto called.

The river was the , the big blind shoved for 12,000 and Liberto snap called with , his opponent showed as he stood up from the table.

Justin Liberto – 85,000

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Returning to Level 7: 250/500 with 75 ante
Flight A Entries: 565

Players still have another 30 minutes remaining on their dinner break but we know who they are chasing. Robert Transue had the chip lead at the first break and the second break and now the dinner break. The 2014 Poker Showdown Seniors Champ will return to the only stack over 200,000 with Philipe Pizzari his closest competitor at 193,400.

They will return to play four more levels in Flight A, with a break after two, before they bag up for the evening.

Top five stacks:

1. Robert Transue – 204,300 (409 bb)
2. Philipe Pizzari – 193,400 (387 bb)
3. Joe McKeehen – 190,000 (380 bb)
4. Guy Smith – 181,000 (362 bb)
5. Joseph Gotlieb – 148,000 (296 bb)\

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
End of Level 6: 200/400 with 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 565

Players are taking a 90-minute dinner break. Cards will be back in the air at approximately 7:00 p.m.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 200/400 with 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 560

Jeff Gross raised from the cutoff and Athanasios Polychronopoulos defended his big blind.

The flop was and Polychronopoulos checked. Gross bet 1,100 and Polychronopoulos called.

They both checked the turn card and the came on the river. Polychronopoulos bet 2,300 and Gross thought for a few moments before calling.

Polychronopoulos showed and Gross mucked his hand. Polychronopoulos won the pot and is nearing a six-figure chip count with about dinner break nearing.

Athanasios Polychronopoulos – 88,000
Jeff Gross – 17,500

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 200/400 with 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 551

Zach Smiley opened to 1,100 from late position, Guy Smith called from the small blind, as did the big blind.

The flop came , and Smith bet 4,100. Smiley called. The turn brought the , Smith bet 13,000 and Smiley called.

The river was the and Smith bet 20,000. Smiley thought about it a while before eventually deciding to call. Smith turned over for aces up and Smiley mucked.

Guy Smith – 135,000
Zach Smiley – 43,000

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 200/400 with 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 551

James Mackey raised from early positoin and a player in middle position called. The player in the hijack moved all in for about 9,500 and action folded back to Mackey.

He put in enough to make a large raise and the third player in the hand folded. Mackey showed and was flipping against the hijack’s .

The flop was and Mackey flopped top pair to take the lead.

The turn was the and the river was the . Mackey won the pot and eliminated his opponent.

James Mackey – 67,500

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 200/400 with 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 546

We knew he was coming, we just didn’t know when.

14-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was joined by his fans last night outside the Poker Room to sign copies of his popular new motivational book, #Positivity. The event drew a great crowd but today he gets down to the business of adding a World Poker Tour title to his record-setting résumé.

Hellmuth took his seat at the start of Level 6 and created a buzz walking into the Event Center.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5: 150/300 with 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 542

Raj Vohra opened to 700 from under the gun, a player in the hijack called, and Phil Hui moved all in for 1,075. Four players called.

They all checked down the [board], Hui tabled [kdjc] but couldn’t beat Keith Romanovitz’s pair of fives.

Keith Romanovitz – 27,000
Phil Hui – Eliminated 

ESPN affiliate 790 The Ticket broadcasts from the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood poker room every Friday afternoon. With the WPT in town, today’s setup was right outside the Hard Rock Event Center and Tournament Director Tony Burns stopped by to give some information on the $3,000,000 Championship.