Thursday, July 13, 2017 8:02 PM Local Time
Luca Busts One
Picking up the action on the turn with already 80,000 in the pot, the player in the cutoff moved all in for 95,000. Ivan Luca on the button was still to act and asked for a count on the shove, then called one minute later.
The player at risk showed for the straight draw and Luca held for nines and eights. Any seven, queen, jack or ten would cause an upset to Luca's stack, but instead the river was a blank.
Ivan Luca | 360,000 | 120,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 8:02 PM Local Time
Milam Finds a Double
A player opened to 9,000 in middle position, and Kenny Milam shoved all in for 54,500 in the small blind. His neighbor in the big blind called, and the opener folded.
Milam:
Big blind:
The window card was the , leaving Milam snapping his fingers in disgust. However, it was followed by the and the to give him a flush draw. He called for a spade and got one right away as the fell on the turn. He sat back down, but there was still a sweat. If the board paired, Milam would be finished. However, another spade hit the river, the , and he doubled up.
Kenny Milam | 122,500 | 17,500 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 8:00 PM Local Time
Carlos Mortensen Doubles Up
Carlos Mortensen moved all in from the hijack for his last 49,500. Action folded to Nikhil Gera in the big blind, still stacking chips from the massive pot he just won, and he announced, "Call."
Mortensen was at risk with , well ahead of Gera's .
The flop came , looking fairly safe for the 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion. The turn was the , and the river was the for good measure, giving Mortensen a double-up
Mortensen is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and is still in the hunt for a third win and a second Main Event title 16 years after his first.
Nikhil Gera | 455,000 | 50,000 |
Carlos Mortensen | 105,000 | 9,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:58 PM Local Time
Updated Chip Counts from Amazon
Artur Rudziankov | 570,000 | 60,000 |
Grayson Ramage | 545,000 | -5,000 |
Jesse Martin | 499,000 | 499,000 |
Charlie Carrel | 438,000 | 8,000 |
Isaac Haxton | 315,000 | -155,000 |
Charlotte Godwin | 295,000 | 295,000 |
Thomas Hall | 274,000 | 274,000 |
Phil Hui | 261,000 | 106,000 |
Bernard Lee | 185,000 | -2,000 |
Jason Koon | 180,000 | -35,000 |
Jonathan Little | 124,000 | -38,000 |
Carlos Mortensen | 96,000 | 50,000 |
Jeff Lisandro | 60,000 | -45,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:57 PM Local Time
Richard Ramos Shoves Turn
On a flop with roughly 125,000 in the middle, Richard Ramos bet out 100,000. His opponent went into the tank for several minutes before eventually calling. The turn brought the . Ramos announced he was all in for a little under 100,000, and after about a minute of deliberation, his opponent mucked.
"You can see one!" Ramos stated to his opponent.
His opponent revealed the .
Ramos is now sitting on roughly 425,000 in chips.
Richard Ramos | 425,000 | 160,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:53 PM Local Time
Nikhil Gera Check-Raises the Turn
Nikhil Gera raised to 9,000 from under the gun and got calls from David Pham in the hijack as well as the player in the big blind.
The flop came , and both the big blind and Gera checked. Pham bet 13,500, and the big blind and Gera came along with calls. The turn was the , and both players checked to Pham again, who bet 26,500 this time. The big blind called, and Gera check-raised to 100,000. Pham quickly folded, and the big blind went into the tank. After about a minute, he also folded, sending a healthy pot to Gera.
Nikhil Gera | 405,000 | 405,000 |
David Pham | 170,000 | -120,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:52 PM Local Time
Michael Aron Doubles Through Aaron Mermelstein
Aaron Mermelstein raised to 8,000 from under the gun, and the player on the button called. Michael Aron re-raised all in for 67,000 from the big blind, Mermelstein re-raised again, and the button folded face-up.
Mermelstein:
Aron:
The board came down , safe for Aron to double up.
Aaron Mermelstein | 205,000 | -85,500 |
Michael Aron | 146,500 | 60,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:50 PM Local Time
Hwang Wins a Small One
The action folded around to the player on the button, and he opened to 9,000. Andy Hwang called in the big blind to see a flop. Hwang and his opponent checked, and the landed on the turn. They both checked again. The river brought the , and Hwang tossed out 7,000. His opponent folded.
Hwang now has roughly 600,000 in chips.
Andy Hwang | 600,000 | -5,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:44 PM Local Time
Top Pair for Semin
The action folded to Mikhail Semin in the hijack, and he opened to 9,000. The button called, as did Jordan Morgan in the big blind.
The flop was , and everyone checked to see the on the turn. Morgan checked, and Semi bet 18,000. The button called, and Morgan folded. Both players checked the on the river, and Semin tabled his .
The button mucked, and Semin scooped the pot to move to 210,000 in chips.
Jordan Morgan | 245,000 | -32,000 |
Mikhail Semin | 210,000 | 87,500 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:39 PM Local Time
Back From Dinner
Cards are in the air for the final two levels of play on Day 3 of the WSOP Main Event.
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:38 PM Local Time
Level 14 started
Level: 14
Blinds: 2000/4000
Ante: 500
Thursday, July 13, 2017 7:32 PM Local Time
Player Interview: Patrick Clarke
Professional poker player and 2014 Irish Open Champion Patrick Clarke has been chipping up all day to head into dinner break third in chips.
After starting the day with 260,000, he now has 935,000 with two levels to play in Day 3. PokerNews caught up with Clarke at the beginning of dinner break to find out how he earned his chips and to learn his strategy going into the money bubble.
Clarke: I had been chipping up at small pots until this pot came along. I defended in the big blind. I flopped top two with king-nine. I checked to the original raiser. He bet 6.5k, and I made it 16.5k. He called. Turn is a . I bet 22k, and he instantly jammed for about 40k, and I call him off. He shows tens, and I fade the two outs.
Then I continued chipping away at small pots until I got around 500k and another big pot happened.
The under-the-gun opened to 6k, I called 6k, and the big blind also called. Flop comes with two hearts. Original raiser bet 7k, and I made it 26k. The big blind jams for 250k. I had pocket threes, so I'm never folding there, and I was just hoping he had 89. He did, and the runout bricked for him.
I won a few other small pots, and that got me where I am right now.
PokerNews: Seems like an ideal situation. I realize you have all the chips, but how has the play at your table been?
Clarke: I'm very happy with my table today. I've had great tables for the last two days but I don't feel like I've been tested that much. I've been very happy with my draws.
PokerNews: What's your strategy as the money bubble approaches?
Clarke: I'm going to keep going the way I'm going.
PokerNews: Are you being a bully?
Clarke: (laughing) A little bit, maybe, but I can afford to be. No one is playing back at me, so I'm just going to keep playing my game.
PokerNews: What experience do you have playing the Main Event?
Clarke: This is my third year playing. The previous two years, I went out set over set. The weird thing is two years ago I went out with a set of threes to pocket eights, so I wasn't too happy on the flop. I sort of thought déjà vu. Luckily, it worked out.
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:10 PM Local Time
Krasienko Leads at Dinner Break on Day 3
The players have been sent on a 90-minute dinner break, and the action will resume at 7:38 p.m. local time. Mike Krasienko leads the field of 1,503 remaining players with 1,275,000 chips.
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:10 PM Local Time
Feature Table 1 Chip Counts
Christopher Baud | 337,000 | 133,000 |
Scotty Nguyen | 328,500 | 45,500 |
David Miscikowski | 285,000 | 285,000 |
Louis Kim | 285,000 | 70,400 |
Paul Chakoian | 256,000 | -8,400 |
Robert Sura | 197,000 | -3,500 |
Kathy Liebert | 191,500 | -162,000 |
Masaki Nakano | 51,500 | 6,100 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:10 PM Local Time
Feature Table 2 Chip Counts
Kenny Hallaert | 659,500 | 177,300 |
Chino Rheem | 525,000 | 62,200 |
Jonathan Bussieres | 304,000 | 13,500 |
Hung Le | 215,000 | 85,400 |
Bob Velthuis | 173,500 | 173,500 |
Brandon West | 144,500 | 144,500 |
Benoit Jean | 140,500 | 18,000 |
Luiz Duarte | 82,000 | -32,900 |
Konstantin Puchkov | 79,000 | -21,800 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:08 PM Local Time
Cada Captures Some Chips
The action folded around to former Main Event Champion Joe Cada, and he opened the pot to 6,500. The big blind called and checked the flop over to Cada, who bet 10,000.
Cada's opponent instantly mucked, and Cada collected the pot and move to 180,000 in chips.
Joe Cada | 180,000 | 0 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:07 PM Local Time
Big Stacks in Brasilia Before Break
Patrick Clarke | 935,000 | -25,000 |
Filippo Gandini | 825,000 | 825,000 |
Yo-Seb Rhee | 801,000 | -7,000 |
Quoc Vu | 765,000 | 369,000 |
Rudolph Sawa | 760,000 | 2,000 |
Derek Bowers | 730,000 | 730,000 |
Harald Sammer | 711,000 | 6,000 |
Alex Greenblatt | 710,000 | 110,000 |
Paul Senat | 630,000 | 42,000 |
Andy Hwang | 605,000 | 192,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:06 PM Local Time
Bruno Politano Eliminated
The cards of Bruno Politano were already rushed away, and the stack of Peter Zolnai was counted with the board showing . Zolnai's for eights and sevens were still on the table, and his double for 152,500 left Politano with less than one big blind.
According to players at the table, it was a four-bet pot, with Politano squeezing to 57,000 in the cutoff and Zolnai calling on the button before the Brazilian bet the ten-high flop for 80,000. Zolnai moved all in, and Politano called with ace-king.
Politano doubled the next hand with versus before doing so again with versus . But ultimately, the third time was no charm for the 888poker Ambassador, and his chip-and-a-chair story ended before the dinner break.
Peter Zolnai | 440,000 | 440,000 |
Bruno Politano | 0 | -60,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:04 PM Local Time
Some Notables and Big Stacks in Amazon Tan at Dinner Break
Matthew Moss | 890,000 | -165,000 |
Ibrahim Nasief | 867,000 | -23,000 |
Pawel Brzeski | 846,000 | 846,000 |
Michael Sklenicka | 785,000 | 265,000 |
Roger Teska | 725,000 | 175,000 |
Michael Scarborough | 700,000 | 0 |
Scott Blumstein | 676,000 | 676,000 |
Javier Garcirreynaldos | 635,000 | 229,600 |
Tom Cannuli | 630,000 | 235,000 |
Andrew Barber | 573,000 | 43,000 |
Garrett Garvin | 550,000 | -170,000 |
Christopher Vitch | 497,000 | -3,000 |
Scott Seiver | 485,000 | -15,000 |
Andre Akkari | 390,000 | 45,000 |
Gavin Smith | 330,000 | 50,000 |
Thomas Muehloecker | 265,000 | -58,000 |
David Peters | 256,000 | -27,000 |
Nick Schulman | 220,000 | 50,000 |
Greg Raymer | 115,000 | -15,000 |
Barry Greenstein | 88,000 | -15,000 |
Thursday, July 13, 2017 6:04 PM Local Time
Big Stacks and Notables in Amazon Orange
Michael Krasienko | 1,260,000 | 480,000 |
Mickey Craft | 900,000 | 195,000 |
Patrick Lavecchia | 860,000 | 10,000 |
Artan Dedusha | 680,000 | -53,000 |
Sofia Lovgren | 670,000 | 137,000 |
Ben Lamb | 640,000 | 160,000 |
Justin Liberto | 560,000 | 165,500 |
Vivian Saliba | 550,000 | 13,000 |
Xixiang Luo | 550,000 | 300,000 |
Marcin Chmielewski | 480,000 | 10,000 |
Andrey Zaichenko | 380,000 | 380,000 |
William Blais | 380,000 | 65,000 |
Sonke Jahn | 340,000 | 110,000 |
Ryan D'Angelo | 330,000 | -120,000 |
Joey Weissman | 330,000 | 48,800 |
Jordan Kaplan | 320,000 | 320,000 |
Dana Muse | 295,000 | -15,000 |
Sam Chartier | 295,000 | 295,000 |
Alexander Debus | 290,000 | 290,000 |
Mohsin Charania | 270,000 | 25,000 |
Taylor Paur | 270,000 | 270,000 |
Thi Nguyen | 260,000 | 25,000 |
Craig Chait | 220,000 | 15,000 |
Tomas Soderstrom | 195,000 | -25,000 |
Daiva Byrne | 193,000 | 3,000 |
Matt Glantz | 190,000 | 30,000 |
Georgios Zisimopoulos | 105,000 | -45,000 |
Laurence Grondin | 100,000 | -40,000 |