Day 3 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event is in the books and just two tables of nine players each remain from an original starting field of 1,476. A cool million dollars is the ultimate goal as today is the day we will find out who makes the six-handed final table. Ely Levy rules the roost going into Tuesday’s action with 6.285 million chips, followed closely by Griffin Paul with 6.055 million. The next closest stack is barely over 4 million, so right now, it looks to be a two horse race. But this is poker and just one hand, one card can turn the tide.
Levy is what one would call a local/regional player, as his live tournament cashes have more or less been in Florida; he hails from Miami, about a four hour drive to the Seminole Hard Rock. Levy has trekked out to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, cashing twice. Both were strong performances – his first was a seventh place finish in the 2006 WSOP $5,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw event and his second was a fifth place finish in a 2012 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. The latter was for just over $150,000, comprising all but about $100,000 of his career live tournament earnings.
Levy got going early, chipping up to 1.2 million at the beginning of the day, but one of his biggest hands came during Level 24 as the dinner break approached. According the live report from WPT.com, Shawn Nguyen raised pre-flop to 50,000, Scott Efron called, Bruce Snell called all-in for just 21,000, and Levy called. The three players who were not all-in checked the flop, producing a board that read A-8-4-J rainbow by the turn. Levy led out with a 100,000 chip bet, Nguyen folded, and Efron made the call. The river was a Deuce and Levy bet 300,000. Efron then shoved for 750,000 and Levy called. Efron revealed Q-J for just a pair of Jacks, but Levy turned over A-2, good for two pair. He won the side pot and eliminated Efron and when Snell simply mucked and conceded the hand, he was also gone and Levy took the main pot. That hand took Levy’s chip stack up to 4.9 million.
Day 4 will commence at noon ET down in Tampa, Florida and will not stop until there are just six players remaining. Everyone still alive in the tournament is guaranteed at least $26,500, but further riches loom for those who can forge ahead.
2015 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown – Day 3 Chip Counts
1. Ely Levy – 6,285,000
2. Griffin Paul – 6,055,000
3. Shawn Nguyen – 4,190,000
4. Ryan Rivers – 3,175,000
5. David Peters – 3,110,000
6. Sean Syed Shah – 3,065,000
7. Joe Ebanks – 2,690,000
8. Vladimir Dobrovolskiy – 2,650,000
9. Andre Crooks – 2,105,000
10. Brian Green – 1,750,000
11. John Thrower – 1,715,000
12. Mohsin Charania – 1,435,000
13. Gilbert Barrett – 1,375,000
14. Harvey Vandeven – 1,355,000
15. Cornel Cimpan – 1,100,000
16. Travis Northrope – 640,000
17. Dan Heimiller – 500,000
18. Lenny Duvdivani – 310,000
