Friday, July 12, 2013 1:21 AM Local Time
Day 3 Done and Dusted: Coleman Leads; Brunson and Merson Going Strong; Ivey Eliminated
Day 3 of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event is all over. Today marked a very important day for the event, as the survivors from all starting fields finally united together in one field of play. Another five levels were completed, and the remaining field sits oh so close to the money. With the top 648 places making the money, the bubble will burst within the first couple of hours tomorrow, making it a day you will not want to miss. There are 666 players remaining to end the night.
The man standing on top of the mountain at the end of the day proved to be Maxx Coleman from Derby, Kansas. He bagged up 1,071,500 in chips. Coleman has several smaller cashes on his record, with his largest being for $11,130 coming from a Mid-States Poker Tour event in 2012. He has one WSOP cash, and it came this year when he placed 98th in Event #3: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $3,388.
While Coleman may have the chip lead moving forward, today was all about the continued success of two former champions of this event, one old and one new, and one who did it twice. The first was 10-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and two-time WSOP Main Event champion Doyle Brunson. The second was the defending champion Greg Merson. The story of these two players will be focused on immensely for Day 4, where Brunson will begin with 626,000 in chips, and Merson will start with 390,500 in chips.
While Brunson and Merson thrived throughout the day, another poker juggernaut, Phil Ivey, had his hopes dashed in Level 14. Ivey had what many would call a very rough day on the felt. First, he flopped two pair against Phil Mader on the flop with the . The money went in on the flop, and Mader held . Unfortunately for Ivey, the turn was the and the river the , propelling Mader to the double up. That pot would've given Ivey around 475,000 in chips, but instead kicked him back to 185,000.
Then in his elimination hand, with the blinds at 1,500/3,000/500, Ivey ran a set of threes — — on the flop into Max Steinberg's set of tens — . Ivey failed to hit the miracle case three and his 2013 WSOP was over. On the way out, the usually stoic Ivey exited through the back of the ESPN stage with his hat in his hand, slapping it with authority as he made his way to the back hallways of the Rio.
In the realm of the other gender, both Annette Obrestad, champion of the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event, and Melanie Weisner both had a very successful day on the felt. They climbed the ranks throughout the day en route to finishing on 564,000 for Obrestad and 536,000 for Weisner.
Other players advancing with hefty stacks include Guilherme Garcia, Donald Swartz, Kyle Julius, Somar Al-Darwich, Guillaume Rivet, Vladimir Geshkenbein, Jaime Kaplan, Jon Turner, Jamie Armstrong, Kevin Williams, Umang Dattani, Luke Schwartz, Joshua Prager, Chris Johnson and Matthew Huey.
Two more players are chasing a record-tying in-the-money finish, and those are Christian Harder and Ronnie Bardah. The record each is looking to tie is the one for most consecutive cashes in the WSOP Main Event. Currently, Chris Bjorin holds the record with four straight cashes from 2008-2011. Harder and Bardah have done it each of the past three years, and they less than a couple dozen players from hitting the money again. Harder will enter Day 4 with 345,500, and Bardah will come in with 321,500.
Day 4 will come back once again at 12 p.m. Las Vegas time, just like the previous bunch of days. Another five levels are on the slate, but more importantly, it's the bubble day and you don't want to miss it. Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews for all the live coverage from the 2013 WSOP Main Event.
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:55 AM Local Time
End-of-Day 3 Chip Counts
Maxx Coleman | 1,071,500 | 848,500 |
Joshua Prager | 993,000 | 533,000 |
Max Steinberg | 987,500 | 82,500 |
Dick van Luijk | 940,000 | -30,500 |
Vladimir Geshkenbein | 900,000 | 45,000 |
Matthew Huey | 885,500 | 105,500 |
Chris Johnson | 862,000 | 472,000 |
Guilherme Garcia | 853,500 | 644,800 |
Umang Dattani | 848,000 | 73,000 |
Kevin Williams | 808,500 | 129,500 |
Somar Al-Darwich | 786,500 | -8,500 |
Robert Koss | 761,500 | 649,800 |
Kyle Julius | 751,000 | -4,000 |
Donald Swartz | 699,000 | -246,000 |
Samuel Taylor | 686,500 | 478,500 |
Christopher Lindh | 683,000 | 78,000 |
David Paredes | 680,000 | 72,000 |
Amir Lehavot | 679,000 | 445,000 |
Alexander Kuzmin | 675,500 | 563,200 |
Nikolai Sears | 661,000 | 487,300 |
Alan Keating | 651,000 | 205,000 |
Shane Pacheco | 647,000 | 562,000 |
Walter Treccarichi | 637,000 | 65,000 |
Tuan Le | 630,000 | 210,000 |
Doyle Brunson | 626,000 | -39,000 |
Luke Schwartz | 620,500 | 85,500 |
Clement Tripodi | 608,000 | 203,000 |
Benny Chen | 606,000 | -74,000 |
Jamie Armstrong | 581,000 | 149,000 |
Jacob Bazeley | 572,000 | 72,000 |
Annette Obrestad | 564,000 | 60,000 |
Russell Thomas | 562,000 | 0 |
Jon Turner | 558,000 | 405,000 |
Yann Dion | 539,000 | 179,000 |
Melanie Weisner | 536,000 | 21,000 |
Eddie Blumenthal | 526,000 | 136,000 |
Anton Morgenstern | 524,500 | 459,300 |
Guillaume Rivet | 513,000 | -282,000 |
Nathan Bjerno | 498,500 | 138,500 |
Ramzi Jelassi | 498,000 | 332,400 |
Anthony Wise | 488,000 | -87,000 |
Rep Porter | 487,500 | 7,500 |
Sergio Castelluccio | 476,000 | 36,000 |
Jason Potter | 465,500 | 401,200 |
Raj Vohra | 465,500 | 251,500 |
Grant Hinkle | 453,500 | 48,500 |
Bertrand Grospelllier | 444,000 | 444,000 |
Age Spets | 438,000 | 281,300 |
Greg Mueller | 432,000 | -93,000 |
Court Harrington | 424,000 | 29,000 |
Marvin Rettenmaier | 394,000 | 0 |
Greg Merson | 390,500 | -5,500 |
Marcel Luske | 386,000 | 56,000 |
Michael Mizrachi | 379,500 | 34,500 |
Stephen Chidwick | 367,000 | 172,000 |
Matt Affleck | 353,000 | 83,000 |
Jake Cody | 350,000 | 175,000 |
Kristy Gazes | 347,000 | 179,000 |
Christian Harder | 345,500 | 135,500 |
Mark Kroon | 343,000 | 73,000 |
Ravi Raghavan | 339,000 | 119,000 |
Roland Israelashvili | 337,600 | 7,600 |
Joseph McKeehen | 332,000 | 12,000 |
Ronnie Bardah | 321,500 | -20,500 |
Byron Kaverman | 321,500 | 41,500 |
Jim Collopy | 319,500 | 193,100 |
Jackie Glazier | 315,000 | 155,000 |
Isaac Haxton | 311,000 | -19,000 |
Carter Gill | 308,500 | -29,500 |
Steve Gee | 292,000 | 36,000 |
Amit Makhija | 291,400 | 103,400 |
Anthony Forsyth Forrest | 277,000 | -187,000 |
Brandon Steven | 276,500 | 21,500 |
Allen Cunningham | 268,000 | -32,000 |
Yevgeniy Timoshenko | 263,000 | 61,000 |
Tommy Hang | 255,000 | -25,000 |
Ludovic Lacay | 252,300 | -71,700 |
James Mackey | 251,500 | -56,500 |
David Benefield | 249,000 | -111,000 |
Kevin Calenzo | 242,500 | -77,500 |
Paul Wasicka | 218,000 | -72,000 |
Robert Salaburu | 218,000 | 13,000 |
JC Tran | 217,000 | 61,000 |
Vivek Rajkumar | 216,500 | -123,500 |
Brett Richey | 215,000 | 15,000 |
Matt Marafioti | 202,000 | -20,000 |
Rupert Elder | 189,500 | -10,500 |
Lauren Kling | 185,500 | 30,500 |
Dar'Ya Hulyk | 183,000 | 183,000 |
Carlos Mortensen | 172,500 | 12,500 |
Jonathan Tamayo | 155,500 | -154,500 |
Matt Stout | 140,500 | 0 |
Vitaly Lunkin | 137,000 | -45,000 |
Humberto Brenes | 132,500 | 48,500 |
Bryn Kenney | 130,000 | 0 |
James Bord | 130,000 | -8,000 |
Nicolas Levi | 123,500 | -6,500 |
Simon Charette | 115,000 | -65,000 |
Jacob Schindler | 111,500 | 10,500 |
Russell Rosenbloom | 108,700 | 108,700 |
Mike Watson | 98,000 | -226,000 |
Shawn Sheikhan | 95,500 | 1,500 |
Ashton Griffin | 87,000 | -108,000 |
Steve Zolotow | 65,500 | 0 |
Erik Seidel | 39,000 | -12,000 |
Jonathan Lane | 958 | -909,042 |
Manig Loeser | 216 | -129,784 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:51 AM Local Time
Bagging and Tagging
All tables have wrapped up play for the night, and the players are bagging and tagging their chips. A complete recap of the night will be posted shortly, along with the eventual official chip counts once received.
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:48 AM Local Time
Thomas Runs Good At End
Russell Thomas — a.k.a. "RunGoodRussell" — earned a boost to his stack and one last knockout in the very last hand of the night when he took up against a short-stacked opponent's , and the board ran out to give Thomas the better flush and the pot.
Russell Thomas | 562,000 | 234,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:40 AM Local Time
All Together Now
"You'll be glad to know ladies and gentleman... the next World Series of Poker Main Event Champion is in this room!"
So announced Tournament Director Jack Effel moments ago as the last tables in the Brasilia room finally broke and all of the remaining 684 players now find themselves in the spacious Amazon room, each sharing the hope to continue further toward the money, final table, and Main Event bracelet.
Effel added an assurance that the cash bubble would not be bursting tonight, a hot topic at the moment.
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:36 AM Local Time
Myers Dents Al-Darwich's Stack
We just saw a big hand between Somar Al-Darwich and Brad Myers that reached the river with the board showing and a pot of more than 200,000 already built between the pair.
Following a big river push by Myers, Al-Darwich went deep into the tank, coming up after several minutes to ask Myers about his hand. Finally Al-Darwich let his hand go, and Myers showed the before scooping the chips.
Somar Al-Darwich | 795,000 | -159,000 |
Brad Myers | 590,000 | 590,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:34 AM Local Time
Porter Five-Bets it
After the player in Seat 1 four-bet to 76,000, Rep Porter reraised all in from the button.
The player seemed frustrated, repeatedly slapping his chips together as he consider his options.
"If you think I was making a move on you, you're crazy," the player said.
After a few minutes, he folded, and his hand was revealed to be as he mucked it.
Rep Porter | 480,000 | 60,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:32 AM Local Time
Bardah Check-Raises Flop
Ronnie Bardah called a raise out of the small blind after an early-position player opened to 10,000. The flop came down , and Bardah checked. The preflop raiser fired 18,000, but Bardah fought back with a check-raise to 44,000. After several long minutes in the tank, the player folded, and Bardah won the pot.
Ronnie Bardah | 342,000 | 12,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:29 AM Local Time
Luske Makes a Tough Call Against Ben Cherif
Action folded to Marcel Luske who opened to 10,000. In the next seat over, Rachid Ben Cherif reraised to a total of 31,000. Action folded around to Luske who called.
Both players checked down until the board read putting four clubs on the board. On the river Luske checked again. Ben Cherif fired off a bet of 46,000 and after thinking about it for just a few seconds Luske counted out and made the call.
Ben Cheriff turned up for just a pair of threes, but Luske showed for a pair of aces. That was good to earn him the big pot which was a much needed help just before he changed tables.
Rachid Ben Cherif | 710,000 | -125,000 |
Marcel Luske | 330,000 | 125,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:29 AM Local Time
Lane Above 900K
Picking up the action after the turn of a board, action was checked to Jonathan Lane and he bet 70,000. His opponent, who had previously checked, called after a few moments to see the turn and checked again. Lane shoved for an effective 160,000, resulting in a fold from his opponent.
With that pot, Lane is up to about 915,000.
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:22 AM Local Time
Time Running Out
A quick update on what the big board is showing at the moment — just under 30 minutes to go here in Level 15 (the final level of the night), and 693 players remaining. That's just 45 off the cash.
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:21 AM Local Time
Salaburu Ships a Double Up
We saw the cameras swarm over to a table, so we walked over to see what was happening. When we arrived, we saw that last year's eight place finisher Robert Salaburu was all in holding , and he was up against his opponent's . The two players had to wait for at least a minute with the cards face up so that everything could get situated, and eventually, the dealer was ready to put the board out there.
Salaburu stormed into the lead right away, as the flop came down . Neither player reacted to the flop, and the turn came down the . Salaburu was just looking to dodge a queen, and the dealer fumbled the river card before flipping it over face up: .
Salaburu notched the double up with half an hour left in the night, putting him up to 205,000.
Robert Salaburu | 205,000 | -80,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:21 AM Local Time
Hinkle Poked by a Fork
Grant Hinkle called a bet of 32,000 on the end against an opponent in the blinds with the board reading .
"I have it," his opponent said, turning over for a straight.
Grant Hinkle | 405,000 | 135,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:21 AM Local Time
Haxton Spikes a Two-Outer Against King
Mark Kroon opened with a raise to 10,500 from early position. The player in Seat 2 called, and Carter King responded by shoving all in for 104,000. Action folded over to Isaac Haxton, who asked for a count on King's stack before he moved all in himself for slightly more than 200,000. Kroon looked pained as he went into the tank, and eventually folded what he later said was ace-king. Seat 2 also folded, and it was heads-up between King and Haxton.
King:
Haxton:
The flop came , keeping King in the lead, but the on the gave Haxton the two-outer he needed. King stood up from his seat as the fell on the river, and Haxton chipped up to 330,000.
Isaac Haxton | 330,000 | 240,000 |
Carter King | 0 | -170,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:20 AM Local Time
The Old Five-Trey for the Grinder
We were able to catch the end of hand between Max Steinberg and Michael Mizrachi on one of the feature tables that saw the pair battling their way to a turn with the board showing . Mizrachi led with a bet at that board from the hijack seat, and Steinberg called from the button, by that point creating a pot of about 120,000.
The river brought the and relatively quick checks from both players. "Five," said Mizrachi, rolling over , and Steinberg nodded as he mucked the cards.
There's a dense crowd on the rail watching the action at those featured tables, and a few could be heard saying "wow" at the sight of Mizrachi's hand.
Max Steinberg | 905,000 | -59,000 |
Michael Mizrachi | 345,000 | 150,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:20 AM Local Time
Hughes Loses a Flip, Drops More
Ryan Hughes has been having one huge downswing of a level. After dinner break Hughes was in contention for the chip lead, but he's really fallen hard here towards the end of the night and now sits towards the middle of the pack.
In the most recent hand, Hughes opened to 9,000 from middle position. Action folded around to Nick Hicks who was on the button. He reraised to 24,000. Everyone folded back around to Hughes and he decided to four-bet to 59,000. Hicks thought about it for a couple of minutes before he announced that he was all in. Hughes snap called.
Hughes:
Hicks:
The flop came down offering no help to Hughes. The on the turn was also useless to him. The hit the river and that was a safe card for Hicks who was able to double up for a total of 155,000 while Hughes dropped down to just about 400,000 chips.
Ryan Hughes | 395,000 | -75,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:13 AM Local Time
Don't Miss Out On the WSOP.com $100K Freeroll and Online Championships
It's almost time to play legal, real-money online poker in Nevada on WSOP.com. To celebrate, a mega cash tournament has been organized, and you're invited!
Starting October 25, 2013 and running through November 2, 2013, the WSOP.com Online Championships will take place. A whopping $500,000 in added prize money will be available, including a special $100,000 Freeroll to kick off the series.
The $100,000 Freeroll will be available only to those who register and verify their WSOP.com account by August 31, 2013, and it will take place October 25 at 7 p.m. Las Vegas time.
To find out more about the $100,000 Freeroll and the WSOP.com Online Championships, head over to the WSOP's website.
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:12 AM Local Time
Crane KO'd by Martinez
Lucinda Martinez opened the pot to 21,500 and Russell Crane three-bet jammed all-in for 109,500 from the blinds.
Martinez went into the tank for over four minutes before the clock was called on her. Eventually the minute she had been given ticked down to leave just 20 seconds remaining, and with that, Martinez called.
Crane:
Martinez:
The board ran out to see Crane eliminated from the tournament as Martinez moves to roughly 410,000 in chips.
Lucinda Martinez | 410,000 | 216,100 |
Russell Crane | 0 | -200,000 |
Friday, July 12, 2013 12:08 AM Local Time
Benefield Gives Up
David Benefield check-raised a bet from Rep Porter to 33,000 on a flop. Porter made the call, and Benefield fired a second bullet of 48,000 on the turn. Porter called once more, and the river brought the . Benefield checked, and Porter checked behind him.
"Queen high," Benefield declared. Porter showed for top pair on the flop, and he took down the pot.
Rep Porter | 420,000 | 174,000 |
David Benefield | 360,000 | -25,000 |