EPT -- PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Day 3Kevin Saul Jumps Into the Lead with 32 Left in Play |
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At the start of day 3 of the 2009 European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, 102 players remained, and they needed to play down to the final 32. Some thought that play would slow down while 70 players busted out of the tournament on the way down to serious prize money and the $3 million first-place prize, but that was not the case. It took only seven hours to get down to the target size, even with a slowdown at the end of play.
Many professional players who started the day with large stacks protected their interests, and they are now poised for strong pursuit of a seat at the final table of eight tomorrow. Those professionals include David Baker (1,454,000), Benny Chen (1,999,000), and Dan Heimiller (1,579,500). Still running for Team PokerStars Pro are Vicky Coren and Alexandre Gomes. One professional saw his stack take on monolithic proportions when he took the chip lead later in the day. Kevin Saul climbed to 2.5 million after he eliminated Max Pescatori in 50th place to win the largest hand of the tournament (you can read about the hand, and watch it, below). Other professionals still in play include Kathy Liebert, Adam Geyer, and Justin Rollo.
Many professionals were not so lucky, as the aggressive force that has dominated the entire tournament swept them out to the beach in a tidal wave of fast play early. Here is a look at the notable in-the-money eliminations from day 3:
43: Eric Liu -- $30,000
44: Tom Franklin -- $30,000
46: John Cernuto -- $30,000
50: Max Pescatori -- $27,500
56: Andrew Li -- $27,500
58: Mark Seif -- $25,000
61: Ylon Schwartz -- $25,000
66: Joe Cassidy -- $22,500
68: Matt Glantz -- $22,500
69: Matt Smith -- $22,500
71: Joao Barbosa -- $22,500
72: Chris Moore -- $22,500
73: Ralph Porter -- $20,000
76: Nenad Medic -- $20,000
84: Peter Eastgate -- $17,500
86: Cliff Josephy -- $17,500
87: Kris Kuykendall -- $17,500
92: Denes Kalo -- $17,500
93: Grant Hinkle -- $17,500
94: Jeff Madsen -- $17,500
101: Keven Stammen -- $15,000
Full Payout List
Check back tomorrow at noon EST for all of the action from day 4 at the PCA. Full coverage will be coming your way in live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos from CardPlayer TV. The EPT Live video feed will be running tomorrow, as well, adding yet another element to CardPlayer.com’s full coverage of the largest poker tournament ever hosted outside of the United States.
Here is all the information you need-to-know about day 3 at the 2009 PCA:
Official Chip Counts
Here are the highlights from the day as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live updates:
Grant Hinkle Eliminated
Grant Hinkle has gone from Grant Mister Fish to Grant Master Flash over the course of the 2009 PCA, but he is now unfortunately heading to the rail and out to the beach. Craig Boyd moved all in against Hinkle from the small blind for 175,500 preflop, and Hinkle made the all-in call. They then turned up their cards:
Hinkle: A
K
Boyd: A
A
Board: Q
53Q10
Hinkle was eliminated on the hand.
Kevin Saul Makes His Move
Brett Switzer raised and Kevin Saul made the call from the big blind. The flop came J-10-3 rainbow, and Switzer continued with a bet of 25,000.
Saul check-raised to 65,000, and Switzer called. The turn was a 6, and Saul bet 125,000. Switzer then put Saul all in for his last 190,000. Saul made the call and showed pocket kings, but he was behind to Switzer's pocket aces.
The river was a ... king! and Saul doubled up to a miracle 800,000.
Ylon Schwartz Eliminated
Ylon Schwartz was severely short-stacked and all in against Kevin Saul for his last 40,000.
Saul showed A Q, and Schwartz was relieved to see two live cards in his K 6.
The board ran out A 10 4 7 10, and Schwartz was eliminated from the tournament in 61st place.
Biggest Hand of the Tournament
Kevin Saul just took the chip lead by winning one of the biggest hands of the tournament. He now holds 2.3 million after he turned the nut flush against a set of kings that Max Pescatori had flopped. Pescatori check-raised on the turn, and Saul made the call to knock him out of the tournament and take the lead.
CardPlayer TV video of the hand:
Vicky Coren Gets Lucky
Vicky Coren moved all in for 108,000 in middle position. It is folded around to the big blind, who thought it over for a while before calling with K J.
Coren was distraught and turned over J 7.
The flop came K 9 7, and Coren got up. The turn was the 8, and Coren put on her jacket. The river was the 10, and both players made a jack-high straight to chop.
Vicky Coren Gets Lucky Again
Vicky Coren was all in with 6 5 against Alejandro Fernandez and his A 5.
The board came K 7 8 9 7, and Coren made a straight to double up to over 200,000 in chips, despite being dominated.
Eric Liu Eliminated
Eric Liu has been cruising with a large stack for most of the tournament, but he just met an unfortunate end that sent him to the rail in 44th place ($30,000). He pinned his hopes on a flush draw in a battle of the blinds with Benny Chen. Fellow large stack Chen made two pair, and Liu was eliminated after another deep run at an EPT event when he missed his draw.
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