Day 3 at the WPT World Poker Open

The field was still stacked with big-name pros at the start of day 3 at the 2007 World Poker Open: Freddy Deeb, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, T.J. Cloutier, Hoyt Corkins, and John “The Razor” Phan still remained in the tournament, and a crowd of local fans had come to support their favorites. This popular stop on the World Poker Tour had also attracted several local news outlets, and Mike Sexton became a favorite target for television interviews. Amongst the exciting atmosphere, play began, and the early afternoon saw a flurry of quick eliminations:

27: Brandon Steven
26: David Tran
25: Jonathan Tare

Erick Lindgren had started the day with the chip lead, but all of that changed on a flop of Q 4 3; Lindgren bet 55,000 from the big blind, and Men Nguyen raised to 135,000 on the cutoff. Dutch Boyd got out of the way in the small blind, and Lindgren went into the tank. He eventually moved all in, and Nguyen made the call. Lindgren flipped over A 10 and Nguyen turned up pocket queens. The turn and river brought the 10 and J, which gave Nguyen the pot. Nguyen erupted from the table and celebrated profusely, screaming, "Yes!" After a minute of this, Lindgren said to Nguyen, "Act like you've been there before," to which Freddy Deeb followed with, "We're not on TV yet." Lindgren had taken a huge hit, and he now held only 80,000. He got that amount all in soon after against none other than Nguyen. In this second encounter, Lindgren held A-7 to Nguyen’s A-9, and when the board hit the table K 9 3 A 10, Lindgren’s day was over. He had been eliminated in 24th place.

Brian Taylor followed Lindgren in 23rd place, and then John Phan became the next big name to fall when his A-K lost to the pocket kings of Brian Faustman. Phan held only 4,000 in chips after the hand, and he folded three hands after that, which shrank his stack to 1,000. He moved that final chip all in against John Spadavecchia. Spadavecchia prevailed with a jack-high flush, and Phan was sent home in 22nd place. Phan was promptly followed to the rail by another familiar face when T.J. Cloutier was eliminated in 21st place. Cloutier got his final 36,000 in with some hope, in the form of K-Q, but Faustman one-upped him with an ace-high that held. Two more players needed to fall before the final two tables were reached, and they were:

20: Gary Gibbs
19: Gary Flur

The tournament was now down to the final two tables, and Men The Master had been busy during the first part of the day. He emerged as the chip leader, riding the momentum from his victory over Lindgren, and now held 987,000. Once the players took their new seats at the final two tables, Greenstein joined the handful of professionals who continued to have a rough day 3. It was pro vs. pro when Greenstein and Deeb got involved in a pot that had Greenstein’s tournament life on the line. Greenstein showed down pocket queens, but he winced when Deeb showed pocket kings. The board came 10 9 5 J 2 and Deeb took the pot to increase his stack to about 765,000. Deeb shaked Greenstein's hand and said, "I finally got your book. I couldn't afford to buy it." And on cue, Greenstein began signing over a copy of Ace on the River for Deeb as a bounty for busting him out in 18th place. Two more players quickly followed The Bear to the rail after this hand. They were:

17: Neal Hensarling
16: James Rumptz

It looked like Dutch Boyd might have been the next to fall in 15th place, but he managed to double up with A-K against A-Q and survive. So, that fate befell another professional when Jimmy Tran was knocked out of the tournament by Corkins. Corkins made a pair of nines on the river against Tran’s ace-high. Tran made his exit in the 15th place, and then the next four eliminations came in a rush to get down to the final table:

14: Greg Boe
13: Ken Christopher
12: Johnny Price
11: William McMahon

There was a break in the action and the players took their seats together at the final table. Here is how things looked at the start of play:

Seat 1: Freddy Deeb — 560,000
Seat 2: Brett Faustman — 885,000
Seat 3: Sean Burstein — 429,000
Seat 4: Men "The Master" Nguyen — 1,200,000
Seat 5: Gabe Costner — 530,000
Seat 6: Hoyt Corkins — 737,000
Seat 7: Dutch Boyd — 232,000
Seat 8: Jose Rosenkrantz — 142,000
Seat 9: Michael Baas — 370,000
Seat 10: John Spadavecchia — 265,000

Eleven hands into this final countdown, Jose Rosenkrantz moved all in under the gun for 108,000, and Faustman moved all in over the top from middle position. Everyone else folded, and the two showed down their cards. Rosenkrantz held J 2, but he was dominated by Faustman's pocket kings. The board came Q 10 5 6 10, and Faustman's kings held. Rosenkrantz was eliminated in 10th place, earning $24,119.

Four hands later, Sean Burstein raised under the gun to 50,000, and Deeb reraised from the small blind to 150,000. Burstein made the call, and the flop came A 7 4. Deeb bet 50,000, Burstein moved all in, and Deeb called instantly with pocket aces for top set. Burstein held pocket sixes, and the turn card paired the board with the 4, clinching the hand for Deeb with a full house. The meaningless river card was the Q, and Burstein was eliminated in ninth place, earning $28,943.

After Burstein busted, Boyd was put in a perilous position: he raised under the gun to 40,000, and Faustman called from the cutoff. The flop came J 3 2, Boyd bet 48,000, and Faustman made the call. The turn card was the 9, Boyd bet 90,000, and Faustman went into the tank for about three minutes before he raised to 200,000. Boyd then went in to the tank for quite some time. He thought for about two or three minutes before he made the call, leaving himself just 59,000 behind. The river card was the 3, Boyd checked, and Faustman thought for a while before he put Boyd all in. Boyd went into the tank again, this time for about four minutes, before he mucked.

Boyd held only 59,000 at this point, and sure enough, he got all of those chips into the middle of the table soon after the laydown. On Boyd’s final hand, Nguyen raised from late position to 46,000, Boyd moved all in from the small blind for 34,000, and Baas moved all in over the top from the big blind for about 190,000. Nguyen mucked and Boyd showed down pocket aces, which dominated Baas's A Q. But the board ran out K J 10 8 3, and Baas won the pot with a Broadway straight. Boyd was eliminated in eighth place, earning $48,239.

One more player stood in the way of the other six making the final table, but before the final elimination came down, the most entertaining hand of the tournament took place: Nguyen raised under the gun to 46,000, and Faustman called from the big blind before he immediately checked in the dark. The flop came J 10 3, and Nguyen commented about how weird it was for Faustman to check in the dark. Nguyen then checked behind him. The turn card was the 2, Faustman checked, and Nguyen asked if Faustman was trying to trap him like he trapped Dutch. Nguyen said, "I'm not Dutch," and checked. The river card was the Q, and this is where it gets interesting.

Faustman bet 200,000, Nguyen raised to 500,000, and Faustman moved all in. Nguyen relaxed and thought for about two minutes, while saying things like, "What do you have, king-nine?" Nguyen finally called, and Faustman flipped over A K for the nuts, an ace-high straight. Faustman's friends started celebrating, assuming that Nguyen was eliminated, and the WPT final table was set. But … Nguyen wasn't finished. He said, "You don't think I've got a hand that can beat that hand?" Nguyen turned over A K, he also had the nuts! The pot was chopped up and the day continued.

After all the excitement of this hand died down it took another 20 minutes of card play to reach the final table. On the final hand Deeb, raised from early position to 60,000, Nguyen called from the cutoff, and Baas also called from the big blind. The flop came 8 5 2, and Baas moved all in for 334,000. Deeb counted out his chips, and he had about 650,000. He made the call, and Nguyen got out of the way. Deeb showed 10 9 for a spade flush draw, and Baas showed down 9 8 for a pair of eights. The turn and river came J 9, which gave Deeb the pot. Baas was eliminated in seventh place, earning $72,358.

With the elimination of Baas, day 3 came to a close, and action is scheduled to start at the final table at 4 p.m. Central time tomorrow. Here is a look at the final table seating chart and chip counts:

Seat 1: Freddy Deeb — 1,345,000
Seat 2: Brett Faustman —1,282,000
Seat 3: Men "The Master" Nguyen — 729,000
Seat 4: Gabe Costner — 1,181,000
Seat 5: Hoyt Corkins — 395,000
Seat 6: John Spadavecchia — 256,000

Check back in to CardPlayer.com tomorrow to catch all the action from the final table hand-for-hand as the final six play down to a champion.

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