#TheCupAwaits: Day 2 of Enormous Seminole Showdown Championship Is Here

Day 2 of the Season XVI WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship is here. The field of 1,309 entries is the fifth-largest field in World Poker Tour history, and a prize pool of nearly $4.2 million and a first-place payday of $696,740 are up for grabs. Leading the way into Day 2 is Uri Kadosh (pictured) with a stack of 245,500 in chips, and 480 players remain. The top 164 players will reach the money, with the winner set to take home $696,740.

Kadosh is a Florida local and has plenty of results from the host venue, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. This venue is also where his best WPT finish came. Back in Season X, Kadosh took third in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship for $105,463. He’s also known for winning the Isle Casino Pompano Park Battles at the Beach Championship two years in a row, in 2017 and 2018. All told, Kadosh entered the Season XVI WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship with more than $800,000 in live tournament earnings, according to his HendonMob.com profile.

Fifth on the overall leaderboard heading into Day 2 is two-time WPT champion Eric Afriat. Afriat bagged the chip lead on Day 1b when he stuffed 222,500 in chips into his bag, and he’ll be looking for another supremely impressive result from Seminole Hard Rock. Afriat’s first World Poker Tour came in Season XII when he topped the WPT Main Tour’s largest field ever of 1,795 entries to win the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship. That score earned Afriat $1.081 million in prize money.

This season, Afriat has earned his second WPT title and 1,700 points in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. The win came from the Season XVI WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, and he also placed fifth in the WPT Montreal Main Event.

The player leading the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race is Art Papazyan, thanks to winning two World Poker Tour titles this season. On top with 2,400 points, Papazyan was already a tough man to catch heading into this event, but he’s lining up to make it even harder to catch him with a great start here in Florida. Papazyan bagged 156,200 in chips entering Day 2, which is almost double the average stack.

Joe McKeehen is fourth in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race and the only other player from the current top 10 to advance to Day 2. He has 187,700 entering Day 2.

ClubWPT qualifiers Moshe Nizan and Nancy Smith advanced to Day 2 with 46,500 and 24,100, respectively, and LearnWPT qualifier David Burns is coming back with 24,000 in chips.

Scanning the leaderboard for more notables, WPT Champions Club members Zachary Smiley (170,400), Aaron Mermelstein (162,500), Daniel Weinman (81,500), David Paredes (70,000), Mohsin Charania (48,300), Ravi Raghavan (47,700), and Olivier Busquet (44,600) also advanced to Day 2.

Tony Dunst, WPT Champions Club members and co-commentator of the World Poker Tour, bagged 111,800 on his starting flight and will be looking to make a big splash ahead of his full-time television debut on the premiere of the WPT’s new season on April 29, 2018.

Play is scheduled to kick off at 12 p.m. local time for Day 2. Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for continued coverage from the Season XVI WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship.

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