$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight D Entries:  342

As Level 3 begins in Flight D, the flight is up to 342 entries, with registration open until 10:30 pm.

That means that the total field size is up to 1,957 entries, which means the prizepool has already surpassed the $1 million guarantee!

Of course there are still more than three hours remaining in today’s registration, plus two more flights tomorrow, so the prizepool will continue to grow and grow, and we won’t know the final number until late tomorrow night.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Flight C Players Remaining:  95 of 594

A player got it all in preflop for about 60,000 with pocket fives against the pocket queens of Francis Margaglione, and flopped a five to win the pot with a set. That player doubled up and knocked Margaglione down to 75,000.

Francis Margaglione  –  75,000  (19 bb)

The very next hand, Margaglione got it all in from the cutoff for 75,000 with , and needed it to hold to stay alive against the of Christie Yau in the hijack.

The flop came , and the entire table reacted at players flopping sets against Margaglione in back-to-back hands.

But the turn card was — the !

The table reacted much louder as Margaglione turned a higher set, and then faded the one-outer when the river brought the . Margaglione won the pot to double up in chips.

Francis Margaglione  –  160,000  (40 bb)
Christie Yau  –  140,000  (35 bb)

With about 95 players remaining from a flight of 594, the average chip stack is around 125,000 (31 big blinds). The final 60 players will advance to Day 2, and players must bag chips to finish in the money.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Flight C Players Remaining:  99 of 594

The players have returned from break to begin Level 15, with increased blinds of 2,000-4,000 with a 4,000 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up five players with at least 300K, plus one more knocking on the door, to create an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Bin Weng  –  480,000  (120 bb)
2.  Tina Tellone  –  448,000  (112 bb)
3.  Michael Chiappetta  –  341,000  (85 bb)
4.  Jason Wandling  –  323,000  (81 bb)
5.  Alex K.  –  313,000  (78 bb)
6.  Quoc Pham  –  297,000  (74 bb)

With 99 players remaining from a flight of 594, the average chip stack is around 120,000 (30 big blinds). The final 60 players will advance to Day 2, and players must bag chips to finish in the money.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 13:  1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Flight C Players Remaining:  130 of 594

The player in the big blind is all in preflop for about 15,000 against three other players, and any further betting will create a side pot.

The flop came , and the UTG player moved all in for about 75,000. The player in the cutoff folded, and Ariel Williams called all in for 54,000.

These were their cards in descending order of chip counts:

UTG Player:    (pair of jacks)
Ariel Williams:    (heart flush draw with gutshot straight draw)
Big Blind:    (gutshot straight draw)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Williams turned a heart flush to win the pot, doubling thru the UTG player and eliminating the player in the big blind.

Ariel Williams  –  160,000  (64 bb)

With about 130 players remaining from a flight of 594, the average chip stack is around 91,500 (37 big blinds). The final 60 players will advance to Day 2, and players must bag chips to finish in the money.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Flight C Players Remaining:  180 of 594

The players have returned from break to begin Level 12, with increased blinds of 1,000-2,000 with a 2,000 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with at least 180K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Francis Margaglione  –  227,000  (114 bb)
2.  Skyler White  –  208,500  (104 bb)
3.  Michael Chiappetta  –  184,000  (92 bb)

With about 180 players remaining from a flight of 594, the average chip stack is around 66,000 (33 big blinds). The final 60 players will advance to Day 2, and players must bag chips to finish in the money.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Flight C Entries:  594

Registration closed for Flight C of Showdown Event 21 with 594 new entries putting the combined count at 1,615 with three more flights to go. Our players have so far contributed $839,000 toward the $1,000,000 guarantee and only 309 more are needed to push over that mark.

Flight C will play down to 60 players this evening and survivors will return for Day 2 on Sunday at 1 pm in the money.

Chip counts through Flight B

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight C Entries:  594

Level 9 is underway and we closed the books on Flight C with an unofficial 594 showing on the tournament clock. We will report the final count once the accounting in complete.

Trung Le was the leader at first break and still at the top after the second. He has 147,000 to lead the way with Francis Margaglione (127,200) and Quoc Phan (127,000) neck and neck for second. Not only are those the next biggest stacks, but they are also seated at the same table and that might make for some fireworks.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Flight C Entries:  530

Time is running out if you want to join us this afternoon. Flight C moved into Level 8 and registration will close when they return from the break to Level 9. The field is less than 400 from crossing the $1,00,000 mark and it will get there early in Flight D.

A few more familiar faces include Paul Balzano, Wagner Wysotchanski, Anna Antimony, Jason Wandling, Julio Delgado, Raminder Singh, and Barry Roth.

Balzano already owns a trophy from the series, his fourth career Hollywood major title. He finished runner-up in the $1,100 Deep Stack tournament on Tuesday and turned around to win the Seniors Event on Wednesday.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Flight C Entries:  450

Charlemagne Benjamin was sitting with around 7,000 in his stack and open-shipped from early position. The small blind player called for 4,100 and she was the player at risk.

Benjamin:
Small Blind:

The small blind player was in great shape and improved to a set of tens on the flop. Benjamin had two pair and spiked the turn to make a full house. The river was and the small blind player was eliminated with a full house tens full of aces against Benjamin’s aces full of tens.

Charlemagne Benjamin – 12,000 (24 bb)

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Flight C Entries:  412

Flight C players returned to their seats after the break and the count is up to 412 with two more hours to run it up. We can start looking forward to hitting the $1,000,000 guarantee later this evening and seeing where it can go.

This morning, Trung Le is the early leader, sitting up top with 89,200 and a clear lead over Volkan Guzey (78,400) and Truyen Nguyen (76,300).