Saturday, June 13, 2015 12:39 PM Local Time
Welcome back for Day 3 of the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship. This event began on Thursday afternoon with a small and elite field of 91 entries. Over the course of the last two days, that number has been reduced to eight, and today is the day to crown the Champion of Stud.
Bracelet winner Brian Hastings has spent the majority of his recent time as the tournament chipleader, and he holds a nearly 2:1 advantage over the chase pack. Here's how the table will look when the players return:
Seat 1: Scott Clements (384,000)
Seat 2: Harley Thrower (426,000)
Seat 3: Max Pescatori (207,000)
Seat 4: Oxana Cummings (128,000)
Seat 5: Dan Kelly (172,000)
Seat 6: Chris George (251,000)
Seat 7: Brian Hastings (770,000)
Seat 8: Mikhail Semin (399,000)
The group is littered with bracelet winners: Hastings (1), Pescatori (3), Clements (2), and Kelly (2). Pescatori just snagged his third bracelet earlier this summer, winning the $1,500 Razz. Clements has a pair of Omaha bracelets, but he plays all the games too well to be called a specialist in any one of them. Kelly conquered one of the toughest events in the world, the $25,000 6-Max in 2010, and Hastings is a Heads-Up Champion from 2012.
Perhaps the least familiar name at the table is Oxana Cummings, but maybe today is the day to change that. Cummings is the only lady left at the table, one of five who entered the event, and she is most definitely a Stud specialist. She's also the only player who's cashed in this event in back-to-back years, finishing in 16th place in 2014. Cummings navigated her short stack masterfully during the late stages of Day 2, and she returns for Day with the fewest chips and the most work in front of her.
Another Championship bracelet will be awarded today in the Amazon Room, and the cards go in the air at 2:00 PM PDT.