Although Arizona’s Ryan Hughes is the leader in the clubhouse after Day 3 of the Southern Poker Championship, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT), all eyes are on two former winners. Allen “AawwNutz” Carter, who won this event two years ago, has a stack of 530,000, about half of Hughes’ mammoth tally of over one million. Hughes is the lone player to pass the seven-figure mark and has 220,000 more in chips than his next closest competitor.

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The defending champion of the Southern Poker Championship, DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins, is also still alive and holds a stack of 258,000 entering Day 4 on Wednesday. Needless to say, it’s going to be a very exciting finish. No player has ever won the same WPT tournament twice, so history could be in the making at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi come Thursday when a champion is crowned.

Carter and Corkins were seated at the same table on Tuesday, leaving the former to tell WPT hostess Kimberly Lansing, “Hoyt’s very fun to play with because he’s such a gentleman, but he’s tough to play with. He’s got tremendous patience and plays really well. He likes to claim his pots and sticks with it until he convinces you it belongs to him.” Today, the two former champions will be seated at separate tables.

On whether he faces added pressure given that he’s won the Southern Poker Championship before, Carter commented, “You want to do well, but you make your calendar fit this event because you won. The Beau Rivage is a very nice place and the people here are very, very friendly, so you try to make it work. Last year, I felt pressure and didn’t really play very well. This year, I’m just trying to play my game, be me, and try to relax and have fun.”

A total of 19 players remain in the hunt for the $601,000 top prize and the entire field is in the money. Carter delivered the final knockout of Day 3 on Tuesday when he sent Andrew Batkin to the rail with pocket tens against 9-8 of clubs.

Just a few minutes prior, Corkins dropped a significant chunk of his stack after doubling up Bobby Keller. Corkins had Keller covered with pocket eights for a pair and a straight draw against Keller’s J-9 of diamonds for top pair. However, a running 3-4 gave Keller the critical double up. Corkins bagged up the 11th largest stack when all was said and done, but would have likely been in the top five had he not doubled up Keller.

Lee Markholt was ousted in 21st place after calling all-in before the flop with pocket tens against B.J. McBrayer’s A-K of hearts. McBrayer flopped an ace and turned a king for good measure to send Markholt home $18,000 richer for his wear in the $10,000 buy-in tournament. The top 27 players finished in the money and five will walk away with at least $100,000.

Here’s how the final 19 look in the WPT Southern Poker Championship:

1. Ryan Hughes – 1,014,000
2. Alexander Kuzmin – 780,500
3. Shannon Shorr – 593,000
4. Allen Carter – 530,000
5. Otis Wright – 476,000
6. Bobby Keller – 432,000
7. Vitor Coelho – 338,000
8. Patrick Mahoney – 286,500
9. Dermot Blain – 283,500
10. Hilbert Shirey – 273,000
11. Hoyt Corkins – 258,000
12. B.J. McBrayer – 251,500
13. Robert Smith – 220,500
14. Leif Force – 182,500
15. Martin Zentner – 144,000
16. Jordan Smith – 133,000
17. Stuart Breakstone – 101,500
18. Chad Brown – 88,500
19. Mark Rose – 79,500

When the final river card was dealt on Tuesday, the blinds were at 3,000-6,000 with an ante of 1,000. Play picks back up today at 1:00pm CT and will continue until a final six-handed table is determined.

Mike Matusow: / /
Ryan Hughes: / /
Mike Wattel: / /

Mike Matusow was the bring-in, Ryan Hughes called all in for 15,000, Mike Wattel completed and Matusow called.

Wattel check-called a bet from Matusow on fourth street before they opted to check it down the rest of the way.

Ryan Hughes Age

Matusow showed for sixes and treys, Wattel tabled for kings and tens and Hughes showed for jacks with a wheel draw as he squeezed his seventh card.

Ryan Hughes Poker Player

Hughes revealed a , giving him a defeated jacks and deuces to end his tournament in fifth place.