The largest-ever WSOP Circuit Main Event field at Caesars Palace is now down to 15 players.
Jeff Fielder leads the final 15 heading into day three with 2.4 million in chips. Just a month after winning the Main Event at Choctaw, Fielder is poised to make WSOP Circuit history by becoming the first player ever to win two Circuit Main Events in a single season.
Fielder is the owner and operator of a Des Moines-based construction and insulation company.
On his heels is Fabio Coppola with 2.07 million in chips, followed by Steven Goldberg in third place with 1.58 million. Salvatore DiCarlo and Anthony Di Stefano will be looking for a little help on day three as they are the two short stacks with 269,000 and 407,000 chips respectively.
The 744 players who registered for this year’s Circuit Main Event at Caesars Palace amassed a prize pool totaling $1,116,000. The winner will receive $223,197 in prize money along with the diamond-encrusted WSOP Circuit Main Event Gold Ring and a seat to the WSOP National Championship presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof.
With 27.5 points toward the Casino Champion point race, Gavin Smith posed a threat to current point leaders, Kurt Jewell and Tim West, however with his elimination in 16th place, Ping Liu and Blake Barousse still pose a threat to Jewell and West’s bid for a seat to the National Championship in May. Liu will need a 6th place finish or better while Barousse will need to finish 9th.
Notables who cashed in the Main Event include Scott Clements (61st), Erick Lindgren (49th), Chad Brown (53rd), Todd Terry (57th) and Will Failla (51st).
A whirlwind of eliminations took place during the last two levels of play, including that of the start of day chip leader, Ryan Welch (20th) who was left with less than a single blind after losing a massive pot to Steven Goldberg. David Peay (18th) and Garth Daniels (17th) were also eliminated in the closing level of the night.
A lone woman still remains in the field. Janelle Jacobson of Henderson, NV. She starts day three with 1.03 million in chips, just above the average.
Play resumes Monday at 1:00 PM PT/4:00 PM ET. The Final Table will be streamed near-live complete with hole cards on ESPN3. Circuit Host Bernard Lee will be joined by special guest Katrina Jett as they bring you the action near-live from the Poker Room at Caesars Palace.
Day 3 resumes play with 10,000/20,000 blinds and a 3,000 ante. Here are the chip counts and seat assignments for the final 15 players:
Table 12
Seat 1: Shaun Suller - 1,071,000 (54 BBs)
Seat 2: Ping Liu - 784,000 (39 BBs)
Seat 3: Blake Barousse - 664,000 (33 BBs)
Seat 4: Dan Harmetz - 1,120,000 (56 BBs)
Seat 5: -empty-
Seat 6: Steven Goldberg - 1,581,000 (79 BBs)
Seat 7: -empty-
Seat 8: Fabio Coppola - 2,066,000 (103 BBs)
Seat 9: Anthony Di Stefano - 407,000 (20 BBs)
Table 16
Seat 1: Janelle Jacobson - 1,035,000 (52 BBs)
Seat 2: Jeff Fielder - 2,239,000 (112 BBs)
Seat 3: David Stefanski - 859,000 (43 BBs)
Seat 4: Salvatore Dicarlo - 269,000 (13 BBs)
Seat 5: -empty-
Seat 6: David Tuthill - 1,231,000 (62 BBs)
Seat 7: AP Phahurat - 439,000 (22 BBs)
Seat 8: Daniel Quick - 693,000 (35 BBs)
Seat 9: Brian Kay - 536,000 (27 BBs)