$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

We didn’t catch the action but Matt Brady was all in on the flop with the board showing . Brady’s bet wasn’t for much but it was enough to get the first player to act after him to fold. The lone remaining player decided to look up Brady with his and he was in bad shape as Brady had flopped a set with his .

The turn was the and the river was the to give Brady a much needed double up. He’s still riding a short stack but better to have some chips than none.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

WPT commentator Vince Van Patten is playing here today and is looking to make progress towards doing something he’s never done before and that is cashing in a WPT event. The former professional tennis player did make a deep run at the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event finishing 481st for $27,519 but he’s never made the money for the company he has represented since they first hit television screens back in the spring of 2003.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

Players are back from dinner and the tournament clock shows 567 entrants for today’s third and final flight. Registration is now closed. We’ll have the official numbers and prize pool information as soon as they become available.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

Players are making their way back to their seats after a 90-minute dinner break. Arthur Peacock and Keven Stammen are neck and neck at the top the leaderboard but the day is wide open with 18 players with six-digit stacks.

Notables counts:

Arthur Peacock – 167,875 (336 bb)
Keven Stammen – 165,900 (332 bb)
Robert Suer – 138,500 (277 bb)
Oliver Gergely – 137,400 (275 bb)
Staven Saris – 132,550 (265 bb)
Vincent Fiorenza – 124,450 (249 bb)
Hunter Cichy – 117,025 (234 bb)
Paulo Castro – 110,175 (220 bb)
Erik Cajelais – 108,075 (216 bb)
Oleg Gaidouk – 107,450 (215 bb)
Tyler Stafman – 106,850 (214 bb)
Christopher Pierro – 106,775 (214 bb)
James Casement – 105,100 (210 bb)
Zo Karim – 104,575 (209 bb)
Kevin Chan – 102,750 (206 bb)
Uri Tenenboim – 102,600 (205 bb)
Todd Whitaker – 102,475 (205 bb)
Jeff Griffiths – 100,475 (201 bb)
Tristan Wade – 69,025 (138 bb)
Matt Berkey – 57,500 (115 bb)
Paul Magriel – 56,875 (114 bb)
Nenad Medic – 56,025 (112 bb)
TJ Shulman – 48,175 (96 bb)
DJ MacKinnon – 45,350 (91 bb)
Ryan D’Angelo – 44,675 (89 bb)
Jacob Bazeley – 39,750 (80 bb)
Timothy Finne – 34,800 (70 bb)
Ian O’Hara – 30,000 (60 bb)
Ryan Riess – 23,000 (46 bb)
Stuart Paterson – 19,475 (39 bb)
Loni Harwood – 18,675 (37 bb)
Abbey Daniels – 14,400 (29 bb)

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

There are definitely some great hats in the room but this was quite the interesting image.  After Andrew Batkin had just raked in a pot, we noticed him and another player to his left were sporting their WPT hats with hopes of wearing them to the final table next Wednesday.

Bookended by the two WPT hats was Tom McCormick who is once again representing the now four-in-a-row FCS football champions – North Dakota State University.  The green and gold is still looking good, Tom!

Speaking of hats with a nice green look, you can win one of our Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown hats by taking a picture of your stack and tweeting it along with your table/seat number and the hashtag #SHRPO.  Supplies are limited so tweet that pic as fast as you can.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Players are now on a 90-minute break and will return at approximately 8:05 p.m. local time.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

If you’ve had your head down to the felt all day long, you have may have missed two amazing ladies in the tournament area representing the World Poker Tour.

Two of the famous WPT Royal Flush Girls are in the house.  Jeannie Duffy and Tugba Ercan have been greeting the players since the start of the championship event and working on all the outstanding pieces you see on the WPT broadcast.  Here are Jeannie and Tugba reviewing some of their photographs with WPT staff members BJ Nemeth (center) and Mickey Doft (left).

If you haven’t met them yet, make sure you pull yourself away from staring at the cards for a minute and say hello.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Old-timer Paul Magriel, aka “X-22”, is here going for the big bucks. Magriel, an expert backgammon player, had some success during the poker boom in the early part of this century and is known for saying “quack quack” whenever he makes any bet containing 22 in it. It’s been a while since he’s had a five-figure payday with the last one coming in 2010 when he cashed in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

We managed to catch a hand Magriel was involved in. He opened from middle position to 1,300 and the player in the big blind called. The flop came and the player in the big blind checked. Magriel did not disappoint as he said “quack quack” and put out a bet of 2,200. His opponent folded and Magriel took down the pot.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

One of our tables has two ladies seated next to each other who have made a huge impact on the poker world.

Jessica Dawley and Amanda Musumeci are back in action today looking get to Day 2 and possibly become the first woman to take down a WPT Main Event title.  We’ll keep on an eye on them as Day 1C moves forward.

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

It couldn’t be him.  No…maybe…nah…

And it’s not but his name is Chris.  Chris Pierro is probably making people in the room do a quick double take sporting a look similar an infamous player who shall remain nameless.

Pierro may be wearing the black hat into Day 2 though.  He’s off to a great start with 120,000 chips.  Also at his table is Sean Shah who sits around 85,000 also looking to advance to tomorrow.