Day 3 of the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic

A total of 98 players had survived to day 3 of the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic, but 44 of those players would ultimately go home empty-handed. Well, make that 43 players.

The 11-table field was quickly whittled down to the final 8 tables before the action grinded to a halt. Steadily, the short stacks succumbed until we reached the bubble with 55 players. With six players sporting a stack of 15 big blinds or less, a fast hand-for-hand period was expected. Of course, it ended up taking another hour before everyone could celebrate their cash.

Jason Gray, who had final tabled this event last year, was the unfortunate bubble boy. Sitting with just around 35,000, Gray moved all in from the cutoff with A-4 only to walk into Dennis Kreuter’s A-K. Gray was eliminated amidst cheers, but was rewarded with a seat to next year’s Aruba Poker Classic as a consolation prize.

Once the bubble burst, the short stacks predictably opened up their ranges and a flurry of eliminations took place. Here are those players who busted before the day ended. Those who were eliminated from 54th-46th received $5,500. Those who were eliminated from 45th-37th received $6,670.

54. Ben Noonan
53. Jamie Viglialoro
52. Robbie Cunningham
51. Robbert Welbrenck
50. Yann Courtet
49. Liv Boeree
48. Craig MacDonald
47. Dennis Kreuter
46. Bensimon Franck
45. Ryan Caldwell
44. Jason Mounts
43. Wayne Connatser
42. Badih Bounahra
41. Joe Tadger
40. Matt Vengrin
39. Tara Nobui
38. Lee Markholt
37. Jason Stern

When the field reached 36 players with two minutes remaining in the day, the players redrew for the final six tables, which would now be playing the duration of the tournament six-handed.

As play ended, the final 35 players bagged and tagged their chips for the evening, most eager to get some rest before what promises to be a long play-down day. Meanwhile, some true diehards went next door to participate in the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament hosted by Don Cheadle.

The action will continue tomorrow with blinds of 3,000-6,000 with a 1,000 ante. Here are the top 10 chip counts heading into play.

1. Joe Serock — 508,000
2. Mark "P0kerH0" Kroon — 465,500
3. Lynn Samples — 449,500
4. Chris Morrisson — 430,000
5. Brian Malczewski — 389,000
6. Bruce Peery — 386,500
7. James Mordue — 385,500
8. Steve Frasure — 377,000
9. Jason Smith — 360,000
10. Karl Stark — 351,500

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