Event #14: €10,350 Main Event No-Limit Hold'em

The money bubble has burst on Day 3 of the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe €10,350 Main Event and 42 players out of 541 entries in the second-biggest WSOPE Main Event remain in contention for a seven-figure payday and the coveted gold bracelet at the King's Resort in Rozvadov.

After an impressive rush to the top of the leaderboard, Julien Martini has established a comfortable lead and claimed a stack of 5,959,000 to his name, well ahead of Dario Sammartino in second place with 3,897,000.

Sammartino may become the fourth player to reach the final table of the WSOP and WSOPE Main Event in the same year after finishing runner-up to Hossein Ensan in Las Vegas. The only other players to do so previously were Ivan Demidov in 2008 followed by James Akenhead and Antoine Saout in 2009.

Felix Schulze is third in chips with 3,079,000, Jorma Nuutinen (2,822,000) and Rifat Palevic (2,800,000) round out the top five. Other big stacks and notables that will return for Day 4 are Anthony Zinno (2,381,000), Jan-Peter Jachtmann (1,879,000), Daniel Rezaei (1,852,000), David "ODB" Baker (1,019,000), Maria Lampropulos (732,000), Roberto Romanello (600,000) and Martin Kabrhel (566,000).

UK's Harry Ross won his entry to the €10,350 Main Event by finishing 2nd to Kabrhel in the €1,700 WSOP International Circuit Main Event in March 2019 and bagged up 1,628,000 after a double in the final hands of the night while Mykola Kostyrko qualfiied through a $11 step satellite on partypoker and remains in contention with a stack of 407,000.

Defending champion Jack Sinclair fell short in his bid to defend the title and bowed out in the money, but the 2017 runner-up Gianluca Speranza (1,128,000) still has the chance to go one spot better. Other notables that took home a portion of the €5,139,500 prize pool on Day 3 were Anton Morgenstern, Benjamin Pollak, Dash Dudley, Joao Vieira, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Artur Rudenkov, Jeff Madsen and Roland Israelashvili.

No Cash for Deeb, Sievers Bubbles

Rainer Kempe, Davidi Kitai, Anatoly Filatov, Christopher Frank, Aymon Hata, Orpen Kisacikoglu, and Bartlomiej Machon were all gone early on and for 2019 WSOP Player of the Year contender Shaun Deeb, Day 3 came to an end just shy of the money bubble.

The last player to leave without anything to show for was Nicolas Sievers. As one of the shortest stacks remaining, he three-bet jammed the small blind with king-jack and Vadzim Lipauka called with ace-six suited. Sievers paired a king on the turn but a third club on the river let the money bubble burst.

Defending Champion Sinclair Among Casualties in the Money

Once the money bubble burst, the all-in showdowns kept coming at a rapid pace and among those to run out of chips were Ghattas Kortas, Michael Sklenicka, Markus Dürnegger, Jeff Madsen, Tobias Peters, Maxim Lykov and Francesco Delfoco. Madsen had doubled through Julien Martini only to send the chips back to the Frenchman shortly after when his queens failed to crack pocket kings.

Defending champion Jack Sinclair was nursing a short stack for most of the day and lost a flip with queen-jack against the pocket sixes of Anthony Zinno, as a six on the flop left Sinclair drawing dead on the turn.

Zinno had been down to a nub in the penultimate break of the day but the final two levels vaulted the two-time WSOP bracelet winner to an above-average stack. He also won a vital flip with ace-king suited against the pocket jacks of Joao Vieira to double and busted the fellow 2019 bracelet winner soon after.

Late Rush for Martini and Palevic

In the final two levels of the night, Martini cemented his top spot when he won a big pot off Harry Ross with a turned straight. Several players had to hand over their stacks to the Frenchman. Paulius Vaitiekunas suffered two bad beats to go from big stack to out, and his final hand he came up second-best with ace-king against the ace-ten suited of Martini. The mixed game specialist finished his riot by sending Jacob Baumgartner to the rail with kings versus queens.

For Anton Morgenstern, the day came to a crushing end. After the departure of Benjamin Pollak, Morgenstern held the lead on the feature table but lost two pots in quick succession to Jan-Peter Jachtmann and Rifat Palevic. Both were also involved in the final hand of Morgenstern, who flopped a set of nines only to see Palevic with ace-king for top pair and top kicker hit running diamonds for a four-flush.

The final 42 players bagged up for the night and will be back for another six levels of 90 minutes each on Day 4. The action recommences at noon local time on Tuesday, October 29th, 2019, with blinds of 12,000-24,000 and a big blind ante of 24,000. As of the fourth level of the day, the PokerGO live stream gets underway and the PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide all the action from start-to-finish.

A full recap of today's action is to follow.

Julien Martini	5,959,000	-41,000
Dario Sammartino	3,897,000	197,000
Felix Schulze	3,079,000	234,000
Jorma Nuutinen	2,822,000	-478,000
Rifat Palevic	2,800,000	280,000
Anthony Zinno	2,381,000	0
Jan-Peter Jachtmann	1,879,000	238,000
Daniel Rezaei	1,852,000	32,000
Harry Ross	1,628,000	-2,000
Michal Lubas	1,457,000	-268,000
Sergio Ruiz	1,457,000	926,000
Viktor Walter	1,400,000	0
Dragos Trofimov	1,376,000	126,000
Pierre Mothes	1,302,000	202,000
Vadzim Lipauka	1,295,000	-515,000
Anh Do	1,282,000	52,000
Anas Belatik	1,270,000	470,000
Charbel Salloum	1,137,000	2,000
Gianluca Speranza	1,128,000	882,000
Georgios Vrakas	1,086,000	466,000
Marek Blasko	1,041,000	41,000
Deniz Dogan	1,030,000	-120,000
David "ODB" Baker	1,019,000	39,000
Claas Segebrecht	1,000,000	-40,000
Mustafa Biz	820,000	-180,000
Alex Foxen	809,000	-438,000
Philipp Luetkemeier	772,000	12,000
Maria Lampropulos	732,000	-283,000
Jakob Madsen	700,000	-54,000
Enrico Camosci	625,000	-335,000
Rene Mueller	625,000	467,000
Daan Mulders	621,000	101,000
Roberto Romanello	600,000	-225,000
Alexandros Kolonias	591,000	-109,000
Martin Kabrhel	566,000	-34,000
Saar Wilf	564,000	-186,000
Mykola Kostyrko	407,000	67,000
Christian Rudolph	401,000	151,000
Abdelhakim Zoufri	357,000	147,000
Kristoffer Rasmussen	278,000	0
Alfred Kovezman	273,000	43,000
Karol Konopka	220,000	-175,000

Anthony Zinno opened and Viktor Walter flat-called only to see Viktor Walter three-bet to 230,000. Zinno sent his cards into the muck and Walter then moved all in, which prompted Rasmussen to ask for a count.

The all-in was for 635,000 and Rasmussen called.

Viktor Walter:   
Kristoffer Rasmussen:   

"That's better than expected," Rasmussen said in table chat and fell behind after the     flop. Nothing changed on the   turn and   river to let Walter double.

Anthony Zinno	2,381,000	31,000
Viktor Walter	1,400,000	820,000
Kristoffer Rasmussen	278,000	-322,000

Jacob Baumgartner is another victim of Julien Martini's amazing run during Day 3. Baumgartner shoved his last 431,000 chips under the gun and Martini called from the cutoff. The rest of the table got out of their way and they went to showdown.

Jacob Baumgartner:   
Julien Martini:   

Another dominating hand for Martini which held after the board ran out      , sending Baumgartner to the rail just a couple of hands before the end of Day 3.

Julien Martini	6,000,000	830,000
Jacob Baumgartner	0	-510,000

Three more hands will be played at each table before the remaining players bag and tag for the night.

Julien Martini opened to 45,000 under the gun and David Baker called from one seat over along with Harry Ross on the cutoff.

Players saw a flop of     and Martini checked. Baker bet 80,000 and Ross called but Martini folded.

The turn came the   and Baker moved all in for about 640,000. Ross gave up his hand.

David "ODB" Baker	980,000	-30,000
Harry Ross	840,000	-245,000

Picking up the action on the      turn, Martin Kabrhel checked from under the gun and Felix Schulze from two seats over made it 180,000 to go. Daan Mulders called on the button and Kabrhel also came along.

The   fell on the river and Kabrhel checked once more, Schulze moved all in and Mulders tank-folded while Kabrhel quickly tossed his cards into the muck thereafter.

Felix Schulze	2,845,000	575,000
Martin Kabrhel	600,000	-330,000
Daan Mulders	520,000	-240,000

Harry Ross raised it up in the hijack and Julien Martini defended from the big blind. The flop came     and Martini check-called a bet from Ross.

The turn was the   and both players checked to the   on the river. Martini checked for the third time and Ross slid out a bet of 235,000 into a pot of around 350,000. Martini check-raised to 930,000 and Ross flicked in a chip to call. Martini turned over    for a straight and Ross mucked.

Julien Martini	5,170,000	1,070,000
Harry Ross	1,085,000	-945,000

Mustafa Biz opened to 45,000 from middle position and David Baker three-bet to 300,000 from the button. Harry Ross took a minute of reflection then four-bet jammed for 2,500,000 from the big blind. Biz folded but Baker made the call with his last 462,000.

David Baker:   
Harry Ross:   

The board came       and Baker took down the pot with aces and fives.

Harry Ross	2,030,000	-740,000
David "ODB" Baker	1,010,000	593,000

Philipp Luetkemeier moved all in from the cutoff for 214,000 and he picked up a call by Alfred Kovezman on the button.

Philipp Luetkemeier:   
Alfred Kovezman:   

On a board of      , Luetkemeier spiked the better two pair on the river to double up for the second time in quick succession.

Philipp Luetkemeier	478,000	243,000
Alfred Kovezman	280,000	-440,000