$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 17: 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 151 of 1,207

The magic number of 152 players remaining was reached a moment ago, putting the field onto the direct money bubble. The dealers at each table were instructed to finish the hand they were dealing and stand up in preparation for hand-for-hand play.

There were a number of pots still in progress, though, including Joe Elpayaa three-bet shoving from the big blind at one table, and Taylor Paur at-risk with top pair against a flush draw at another. Paur doubled up, Elpayaa’s opponent folded, but there was still one hand in play.

Former chip leader Fermin Micheo was involved in that pot, a hand in which he flopped bottom two pair with . Vlad Mezheritsky ran down a better two pair with , though, and Micheo was eliminated on the direct bubble, bypassing the need for hand-for-hand play altogether.

The 151 remaining players are now in the money and guaranteed to earn at least $5,002.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 17: 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining 153 of $1,207

On the river with a completed board of and the player in the big blind checked. Dan Colman bet 26,000 from under the gun and the big blind check-raised to 85,000.

Colman spent several minutes in the tank before calling. The big blind tabled , good for top full house, and Colman mucked his hand.

With 153 players remaining, hand-for-hand play will start with one more elimination.

Dan Colman – 188,000

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
End of Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 156 of 1,207

The 156 players who made it through Level 16 have been rewarded with a 90-minute dinner break. When they return, they’ll be just five eliminations from the real reward, a spot in the money and a guaranteed payday of at least $5,002.

Play resumes just after 8:00 p.m.

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 156 of 1,207

Jake Bazeley and Dermot Blain played a big pot in which Blain doubled through the 2015 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Champion. The stacks were very close, and Bazeley assumed he was eliminated, gathering his things and walking toward the exit.

Just before he hit the door, his table started yelling. “Baze. Baze!” Bazeley snapped his head around. “One chip!”

Bazeley hustled back to the table to find out what color chip he was working with. “A f***ing purple?!” he laughed when he arrived. That’s the lowest denomination in play, a T500 chip worth just a single ante at this level.

Not bothering to sit back down, Bazeley knelt on his chair, flicked his last chip into the pot, and was dealt .

He ended up winning that pot after flopping top pair, nontupling up to 4,500 chips which was enough to get him to sit all the way back down for a moment.

After paying the ante on the next hand, Bazeley moved all in for 4,000 with , and Alex Foxen isolated him with . The board ran out , and Foxen finally took the rest of Bazeley’s stack to send him to the exit. Again.

Alex Foxen – 102,000
Jake Bazeley – Eliminated

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 159 of 1,207

Three players were involved in a raised pot on a flop. Bryn Kenney and Alejandro Duque checked, and Guillaume Nolet bet 20,000 into a pot of about twice that from the button. Kenney check-raised to 53,000, Duque folded, and Nolet called.

Heads-up now, the turn was the , and Kenney checked again. Nolet moved all in for 160,000, and Kenney called to put him at risk.

Kenney: (set of fours)
Nolet: (flush)

Kenney needed to fill up or better to earn the knockout, but Nolet’s flush ended up best as the turn completed the board safely to secure his double-up.

Guillaume Nolet – 465,000
Bryn Kenney – 175,000

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 189 of 1,207

Cord Garcia opened to 10,000 in early position, and Will Givens called a couple seats over.

The flop was . Garcia continued for 12,000, and Givens called. The turn was the , and Garcia checked. Givens took his cue to bet somewhere around 25,000, and Garcia check-raised all in for 151,500. Givens had him covered by just 2,000 chips, and he instantly called to put Garcia at risk.

Garcia: (kings up)
Givens: (Broadway straight)

Garcia needed to fill up to stay alive, but the river gave Givens the knockout with the nuts. Garcia was eliminated.

Will Givens – 359,500
Cord Garcia – Eliminated

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 198 of 1,207

There were a few laughs yesterday when one player had a big hand and, when asked for his name, chuckled “You won’t believe me.” The name he gave us was familiar.

His name was Mike Sexton, the same as the Poker Hall of Famer/WPT Commentator also in today’s field, and he’s part of our Seminole family. Local Sexton is a dealer/poker room manager in the Stax Poker Lounge in Seminole Coconut Creek Casino and doing well here on Day 2 of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship.

The World Poker Tour crew set up a meeting between the two Sextons and had a chat with “our” Sexton on the break.

Mike Sexton Meets Mike Sexton

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 15: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 207 of 1,207

Kaveh Tehrani apparently opened the cutoff with a raise, and Joe Elpayaa three-bet to 29,000 on the button. Tehrani four-bet shoved for 95,000 total, and Elpayaa pondered for a couple minutes before calling to put Tehrani at risk.

Tehrani:
Elpayaa:

The flop gave Elpayaa an open-ended straight draw plus three additional outs, as a ten would also give him the lead. Sure enough, the appeared on the turn to counterfeit Tehrani’s pocket pair. He was just beginning to stand from his chair as the completed the board, freezing him in his tracks.

Both players ended the hand with tens full of jacks, and they chopped up the blinds and antes to show tiny profits at the end of a fair fight.

Joe Elpayaa – 153,000
Kaveh Tehrani – 101,000

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 15: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 207 of 1,207

John Depersio limped from early position, Jake Bazeley did the same a few seats over, and James Hughes three-bet shoved for 64,500 in the small blind. Depersio called, Bazeley folded, and Hughes was heads-up and flipping for his tournament life.

The flop was a decent start for Hughes, giving him a straight draw in addition to his overcards. The turn left him dead to four outs, though, and the river completed the board to give Depersio the pot with a set of fours. Hughes was eliminated.

John Depersio – 240,000
James Hughes – Eliminated

$3,500 WPT Showdown Championship
Level 15: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 225 of 1,207

Alex Keating moved all in for 37,000 in middle position, and Chad Eveslage called next to act, putting Keating at risk.

Keating:
Eveslage:

The flop was bad news for Keating, but the on the turn gave him a flush draw in addition to the straight draw for a chop. The river was the , though, and Eveslage’s queens up were enough to earn him the knockout. Keating was eliminated.

Chad Eveslage – 310,000
Alex Keating – Eliminated