The third day at the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio saw 162 players return to continue the march down to the final table and a first-place prize worth $2,143,655. The huge starting stacks have kept the action slow for most of the way, but today the speedy nature of no-limit play imposed its will. By the end of the night, less than half of the field remained.
Notable professional lost along the way today included: Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Martin Deknijff, Shane Schleger, Erica Schoenberg, Jared Hamby, Burt Boutin, Matt Brady, Joe Sebok, Nam Le, Haralabos Voulgaris, Chris McCormack, Beth Shak, Alan Sass, Steve Zolotow, Shaun Deeb, Layne Flack, Ted Lawson, Berry Johnston, Justin Bonomo, Danny Wong, Vivek Rajkumar, Jon Friedberg, Matt Graham, Hoyt Corkins, Allen Kessler, Chau Giang, Nick Schulman, Howard Lederer, and Daniel Negreanu.
There were multiple huge pots that changed the fates of many today, and you can read about them below. When the dust settled, there were 62 players remaining at the end of day 3, and they will return at noon tomorrow for day 4 of this seven-day tournament. The top 50 will make the money, and that bubble will burst tomorrow. Here is a look at the leader board at the end of play tonight:
Steve Billirakis — 1,722,000
Matt Hyman — 1,663,000
Mark Seif — 1,315,000
Nenad Medic — 1,306,000
David Singer — 1,116,000
Blake Cahail — 1,059,000
Phil Ivey — 1,036,000
Nick Binger — 1,036,000
David Baker — 952,000
Freddy Deeb — 932,000
Here is a look at the highlights from the day as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live updates:
Daniel Negreanu Eliminated
Eugene Katchalov raised to 7,500 under the gun, and David Benyamine made the call. Daniel Negreanu moved all in from late position for 66,600, and the big blind made the call. Katchalov and Benyamine both mucked, and the two final players flipped up their cards:
Big blind: K
K
Negreanu: A
K
Board: Q 4 4 10 8
Negreanu was eliminated on the hand.
Young Guns Clash
Cody Slaubaugh raised from middle position preflop, and Steve Billirakis reraised from late position. Saubaugh reraised an additional 82,000, and Billirakis made the call. The two players then checked a board of Q J 5 K 6 down to the river, and Slaubaugh checked. Billirakis bet 167,500, and Slaubaugh went into the tank. He eventually made the call, and Billirakis turned up K J. Slaubaugh mucked, and he was down to 480,000. Billirakis was up to 1,484,000.
Matt Hyman Doubles up to the Chip Lead
Matt Hyman raised from late position to 13,000, and Steve Sung reraised from the big blind. Hyman reraised an additional 220,000 on top, and Sung made the call. The flop was dealt J 6 4, and Sung moved all in. Hyman made the call and they turned up their cards:
Sung: 10 10
Hyman: A A
Turn and River: K J
Hyman won the hand to double up to 1,770,000, and Sung was knocked down to 425,000.
Alex Keating and Blake Cahail Flop Sets
Alex Keating got involved in a huge pot with Blake Cahail with a set of kings, but Cahail had flopped a set of aces. The turn and river produced no miracles, and Keating was eliminated. Cahail chipped up to 950,000 and joined the chip leaders.
Freddy Deeb Eliminates Martin De Knijff
Freddy Deeb, Martin De Knijff and Chad Batista saw a flop of 9-9-5. Batista bet, De Knijff moved all in, and Deeb made the call. Batista folded, and De Knijff showed pocket kings for an overpair, but Deeb revealed pocket fives for the underfull. De Knijff needed a king or a nine to survive but couldn’t catch up on the turn and river. Deeb now has 990,000.
Ivey Makes Quads
On a board reading 9 4 4 3, a player bet 110,000, and Phil Ivey called. Bertrand Grospellier also called, and the river was the 2. All three players checked, and Ivey rolled over pocket fours for quads and took down the pot. He now has 1 million in chips.
