$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  890

A player raised under the gun to 2,000, Hitesh Patel called from UTG+1, and Debbie Lee called from the big blind.

The flop came , Lee checked, and the UTG player bet 5,000. Patel raised to 20,000, and Lee called all in for 15,700. The UTG player also called.

The main pot was worth 54,000, with another 8,600 in the side pot. Any additional betting would go into the side pot.

The turn card paired the board with the , and both players checked.

The river card was the , the UTG player bet 40,000, and Patel moved all in for 55,200. The UTG player tanked for a very long time before he folded, and Patel took the side pot.

For the main pot, Patel showed for two pair, kings and nines, but Lee turned over to win the main pot with quad nines and triple up in chips.

Debbie Lee  –  54,000  (90 bb)
Hitesh Patel  –  103,800  (173 bb)

With 890 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.84 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  877

With the board showing on the turn, Matthew Wantman checked from middle position, the player on the button bet 9,000, and Wantman check-raised to 25,200. The button called.

The river card was the , and Wantman moved all in. His opponent went into the tank with about 46,000 left in his stack, and he tanked for a very long time before he folded face up for a pair of aces.

Wantman let his opponent choose one of his cards to reveal, and it was the for a possible straight.

Matthew Wantman  –  170,000  (283 bb)

With 877 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.8 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  820

The players have returned from break to begin Level 5, with increased blinds of 300-600 with a 600 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up five players with at least 200K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Dylan Smith  –  243,400  (406 bb)
2.  Ramazan Tahhusoglu  –  225,200  (375 bb)
3.  Adil Khan  –  222,200  (370 bb)
4.  Trung Pham  –  205,300  (342 bb)
5.  David Peters  –  203,400  (339 bb)

With 820 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.62 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  800

After a flop of , James Calderaro got it all in from the big blind for 14,100 with for a pair of queens with a diamond flush draw, and he needed to improve to stay alive against the small blind’s (set of sixes).

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Calderaro rivered a queen-high flush to win the pot and double up in chips.

James Calderaro  –  36,000  (72 bb)

With about 800 entries and counting, the prizepool is up to $2.56 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  775

After a flop of , Taylor von Kriegenbergh and his opponent put in 4,000 each.

The turn card was the , Von Kriegenbergh moved all in for 36,100, and his opponent called with for a queen-high flush. Von Kriegenbergh turned over for a king-high flush draw with a gutshot straight draw, and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The river card was the , and Von Kriegenbergh rivered a higher king-high flush to win the pot and double up in chips.

Taylor von Kriegenbergh  –  92,000  (184 bb)

With 775 entries and counting, the prizepool is up to $2.48 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  770

Five players see a flop of , and it checked to the button, who a player in late position who bets 1,000, Ray Qartomy called from the big blind, and Mario Hudson check-raised all in from under the gun.

Everyone else folded, and Qartomy called all in for about 28,000 with for a spade flush draw with an open-ended straight draw. Hudson turned over , and Qartomy needed to improve to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and the pocket aces held up for Hudson to win the pot and eliminate Qartomy.

Mario Hudson  –  82,000  (164 bb)
Ray Qartomy  –  Eliminated

With 770 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.46 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  727

With the board showing on the turn, the player in the hijack got it all in with for a pair of kings with an open-ended straight draw, but he needed to catch a queen on the river to stay alive against the (king-high straight) of Andres Korn in the cutoff.

The river card was the , and Korn won the pot with an ace-high straight to eliminate his opponent.

Andres Korn  –  115,000  (230 bb)

With 727 entries and counting, the prizepool is up over $2.32 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1A Entries:  700

A player raised under the gun to 1,000, Ray Qartomy called from the button, and Fred Goldberg called from the big blind.

The flop came , and it checked to Qartomy, who bet 2,500. Goldberg folded, and the UTG player called.

The turn card was the , the UTG player checked, Qartomy bet 5,000, and his opponent folded. Qartomy took the pot.

Qartomy is a regular here for our major tournaments, but he just flew in from Jordan, and this is his first event of the series. But he tells us that he is well-rested and ready for a deep run.

Ray Qartomy  –  42,000  (105 bb)

With about 700 entries and counting, the prizepool is up to $2.24 million on its way to the $3 million guarantee. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, with Day 1B beginning tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1A Entries:  620

The WPT Poker Showdown Championship has a long history of great champions, and many of them continue to come back to support the tournament. We already have six former champs in the field, including Mark Davis here to defend his title.

Others so far include James Carroll, Brek Schutten, Scott Margereson, Tony Sinishtaj, and Eric Afriat.

2011: Taylor von Kriegenbergh
2012: Tommy Vedes
2013: Kevin Eyster
2014: Eric Afriat
2015: Griffin Paul
2016: Justin Young
2017: Tony Sinishtaj
2018: Scott Margereson
2019: James Carroll
2021: Brek Schutten
2022: Mark Davis

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1A Entries:  590

With about 30K in the pot, Spencer Champlin was all in for 37,100 with the board complete and reading . His opponent thought for a few minutes, called the shove, and the hands were flipped up.

Champlin:
Opponent:

Champlin flopped a set of fours and rivered a full house to take the pot to double up.

Spencer Champlin – 103,000 (343 bb)