World Series Of Poker Europe Update: Day 1162 Hopefuls Began Day 3 of WSOPE Main Event but Only 24 Made it to Day 4 |
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With 62 players returning to Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Europe main event, presented by Betfair, and only 36 of them guaranteed a pay day, the players and spectators alike were prepared for ten hours of high-pressured, tense action that didn't disappoint. Many big names fell by the wayside while others have put themselves into a great position to secure the £868,800 prize, and perhaps as importantly, a coveted WSOP bracelet.
Predictably, Daniel Negreanu was one such predator. Negreanu came into today's session with a a healthy stack that grew considerably when he eliminated fellow entertainer Phil Laak. With a lot of chips already in the pot, Negreanu put Laak to a decision for his tournament life on the river of a J-7-7-10-10 board. Perhaps feeling that it was a good spot for Negreanu to bluff, Laak made the call with A-Q only to find himself staring in the face of Negreanu's 10-9 for the rivered boat.
Negreanu wasn't finished though as Isaac Haxton was the next to set sail when his 8-8 failed to hold against the A
9 of 'Kid Poker'. Negreanu finished the day hot on the heels of the chip leader John Juanda with a huge stack of 653,000 chips.
Many predicted that online tournament wizards Chris Moorman and Justin 'BoostedJ' Smith would be the surprise packages to go deep in this tournament after both entered the day with over 200,000 chips. As it turned out, they couldn't have had more contrasting fortunes.
Moorman started the day terribly, losing pot after pot before taking a stand with 7-7 against the ever dangerous John Juanda's A
9. Moorman faded the overcards and brought himself right back into contention before the curse of all tournament players struck him down — running pocket kings into pocket aces. The said rocket-bearer on this occasion was Norwegian Johnny Lodden. No miracle king appeared on the board and Moorman exited soon after, heartbreakingly, just before the cash bubble burst.
Justin Smith, on the other hand, had a great day ending with 624,500 chips in third position. Smith was helped in this matter by a huge pot he played against Erik Seidel. With the board reading 6 5 2 10
, the 8-time WSOP bracelet winner check-called a 30,000 bet from Smith. He checked again as the K
fell and this time Smith pushed a huge 68,900 into the middle, which was eventually called reluctantly by Seidel who quickly mucked when Smith flipped over 2-2 for a set.
Much of the drama and intrigue on Day 3 centred on the impending money bubble. As the players slowly trickled down to that magic 36 mark, the action became noticeably tighter and more cautious. Those unlucky ones who crashed out before the money boundary included top Brits Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliot and Ross Boatman, while European hopes were also dashed in the form of Erik Sagstrom and Florian Langmann's eliminations.
Once that bubble burst though, the action moved back into first gear. The super-short stacked James Keys went broke in the very next hand, with Josh Arieh, among others, joining him soon after. A particularly cruel knockout was the fate of Finnish star Jani Sointula. After re-raising the Q 6 4 flop, Sointula bet 18,000 into John Juanda on the 7 turn card. With the terrifying flush and straight-ridden board, Sointula didn't look too pleased when Juanda announced all-in, easily covering Sointula. Nonetheless, he called and discovered the cooler to end all coolers; Sointula's 6-6 had been overtaken on the turn by Juanda's 7 7, meaning his WSOPE was over.
Time will tell, but Mike Matusow may be left rueing his luck once again as his large stack was decimated when he ran pocket kings into Robin Keston's aces. Matusow will be back to grinding the short stack when we return for Day 4.
Flying under the radar was November Niner Ivan Demidov who had a crucial
double-up late in the night with his set of tens holding against Scott Fischman's nut flush draw. Though he has a way to go, if Demidov can make a second WSOP main event final table, let alone win, it would rank up there as one of the greatest achievements in recent poker history.
Finally, the day's play ended with an extraordinary double-up for Brian Townsend at the expense of Scott Fischman. It started off pretty straightforward. Fischman limped in early position (as is his style), only for Townsend to raise to 28,000. Demidov then decided to get in on the act and made it 56,000. Back to Fischman, and remarkably, he put in a third raise to 150,000 as the action moved back to a very anguished Townsend. He had little more than the 150,000 it would take to call, and eventually moved all-in for 194,000 in total. Demidov let go of whatever holding he had while Fischman was committed to the pot and made the call. Townsend showed pocket kings and waited for Fischman to expose the very unusual 10 2. Townsend managed to avoid a terrible bad beat story, more than doubling up to 424,500 and instead it will be Fischman who goes to sleep tonight shuddering at the thought of this very strange hand.
With an incredible array of current poker notables and future stars still in the running, tomorrow's countdown to the final table promises to be a real nail biter.
As the remaining 24 players get some much needed rest, here are the standings after Day 3 of the WSOPE main event:
John Juanda: 657,500
Daniel Negreanu: 653,000
Justin Smith: 624,500
Phillippe Rouas: 573,000
Johnny Lodden: 478,000
Brian Townsend: 424,500
Bengt Sonnert: 346,500
Toni Hiltunen: 321,500
Soren Kongsgaard: 316,500
Ivan Demidov: 316,000
Tune in to CardPlayer.com tomorrow to see who withstands Day 4 and makes it to the final table of this year's World Series Of Poker Europe main event.
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