Main Event
Day 3 Completed
Main Event
Day 3 Completed
Day 3 of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final came and went over the course of five levels today. By the end of play just 34 players remain and a familiar name is ahead of the rest. Johnny Lodden started the day as chip leader and he ended it that way as well with 1,232,000 chips.
The big talking point of the day surrounded the bubble that actually happened sooner than thought. It took eight hands and more than half an hour to navigate the hand-for-hand period which ended with two players being eliminated. That meant Team PokerStars Pro, Chad Brown, was the real bubble boy after he ran queens into aces to bust in 82nd place.
Eightieth place money was chopped between David Vamplew and Taylor Paur after both were eliminated to the joy of all the short stacks amongst the remaining 79 players. Oleksii Kovalchuk took care of Paur in a battle of the blinds; the American's king-queen failed to come from behind to beat Kovalchuk's ace-jack.
Calvin Anderson and Vamplew were locked in battle on an adjacent table and the latter committed all his chips on the turn when drawing dead for the win. His top pair with ace-king was crushed by Anderson's jack-three that had made a wheel. Vamplew's only hope was for the board to complete as a straight. It didn't and he had to be content with €8,000 along with Paur.
That pot put Anderson up to 880,000 chips which was good for the chip lead at that point. His day from thereon in went on a downward spiral that ended in elimination at the hands of Vasili Firsau in the last level of the day. It was a straight race but he couldn't hit with ace-queen versus sixes.
Now, back to Mr Lodden. He spent the first half of the day locked away on the feature table where he just maintained his stack. His luck changed when he was out on the main floor though and he accrued some chips. Then his table broke and he quickly found himself embroiled in the biggest, and only, million-chip-plus pot of the tournament thus far. Panagiotis Gavriilidis may be wondering tonight why he turned pocket deuces into a bluff on a jack-high board. The pot was three-bet pre and four-bet on the flop before Gavriilidis made a huge shove on the turn. It put Lodden in a tricky spot but after thinking for a few minutes he made the correct call with pocket kings. For full details of the hand, click here.
It was a great day overall for those representing the red spade. Team PokerStars Pros Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Jake Cody, Ville Wahlbeck and Victor Ramdin will all be back for Day 4, along with Team Online's Mickey Petersen. Other big names back for more tomorrow include: Steve O'Dwyer, Paul Volpe, Freddy Deeb, Luke Schwartz, John Juanda, Noah Schwartz and Noah Boeken. Counts of all the remaining players can be found by clicking here.
To say the final four tables of the final main event of season is stacked is, for sure, an understatement. The final three days promise to be something not to miss. Tomorrow, play will resume at the delayed time of 3pm CET due to the TV set being used to film a charity celebrity sit and go tournament. The day will last as long as it takes to get down to 16 players.
The PokerNews reporting team will be back here from 12pm CET time where coverage of the €25,000 High-Roller will start. Plenty of poker action to keep you all entertained!
The day is over, and Johnny Lodden is the chip leader with 1.232 million.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Johnny Lodden |
1,232,000
-73,000
|
-73,000 |
Steve O'Dwyer |
963,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
||
Andrew Pantling |
943,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
John Juanda |
939,000
148,000
|
148,000 |
|
||
Vasili Firsau |
837,000
377,000
|
377,000 |
Goran Mandic |
822,000
97,000
|
97,000 |
Noah Schwartz |
756,000
-19,000
|
-19,000 |
Jason Mercier |
746,000
165,000
|
165,000 |
Andreas Eiler |
709,000
423,000
|
423,000 |
Daniel Negreanu |
684,000
-46,000
|
-46,000 |
Freddy Deeb |
670,000
-130,000
|
-130,000 |
Jake Cody |
639,000
-101,000
|
-101,000 |
Gerard Gardelli |
561,000
-19,000
|
-19,000 |
Grant Levy |
513,000
-117,000
|
-117,000 |
Andrew Lichtenberger |
512,000
47,000
|
47,000 |
Mateusz Moolhuizen |
482,000
272,500
|
272,500 |
Victor Ramdin |
479,000
-119,000
|
-119,000 |
Conte Francesco Paolo |
388,000
-96,000
|
-96,000 |
Mickey Petersen |
368,000
48,000
|
48,000 |
Clyde Tjauw Foe |
363,000
-67,000
|
-67,000 |
Oleksii Kovalchuk |
327,000
131,000
|
131,000 |
Paul Volpe |
247,000
-203,000
|
-203,000 |
Ville Wahlbeck | 228,000 | |
Kevin Vandersmissen |
214,000
-22,000
|
-22,000 |
Luke Schwartz |
188,000
-57,000
|
-57,000 |
Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck just double up on the very last hand of play. Patrick Naxache moved all in from the button for 155,000 and Wahlbeck called from the button.
Wahlbeck:
Naxache:
The board ran out and Wahlbeck doubled up.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ville Wahlbeck |
228,000
98,000
|
98,000 |
Patrick Naxache |
44,000
-121,000
|
-121,000 |
Oleksii Kovalchuk was all in for 146,000 with the against the for Steve O'Dwyer. The flop, turn and river ran out , and Kovalchuk doubled up.
Jake Cody raised to 17,000 from the cutoff seat, and Gerard Jean Pierre Gardelli called from the button. In the small blind was Dutch player Mateusz Moolhuizen, and he reraised all in for 151,000. Both Cody and Gardelli made the call.
The flop came down , and Cody fired 80,000. Gardelli called.
The turn was the , and Cody fired again, this time for 100,000. Gardelli gave it up, leaving just Cody to do battle with the at-risk Moolhuizen.
Moolhuizen showed the , and Cody held the . The river was the to give Moolhuizen a club flush and successfully triple him up.
Matthew Ashton open-shoved all in for around 79,000 in early position, and Jake Cody called on the button. The rest of the players folded.
Ashton:
Cody:
Ashton flopped a flush draw (), turned a gut-shot straight draw (), and bricked on the river (). He hit the rail, while Cody is up to 740,000 chips.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Jake Cody |
740,000
226,000
|
226,000 |
Matthew Ashton | Busted |
A few hands after losing a massive pot against Grant Levy, Patrick Naxache was all in and at risk against him holding . Levy was racing with , but Naxache flopped a pair when the dealer spread .
Naxache held as the turn and river came , respectively, doubling to around 165,000 chips. Levy dropped down to around 630,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Grant Levy |
630,000
-105,000
|
-105,000 |
Patrick Naxache |
165,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
Grant Levy just found himself in an amazing spot as two players moved all in before him while he looked down at pocket kings. Alex Klimashin moved all in for 115,000 and Patrick Naxache moved all in over the top for 365,000. Levy only had to call and he created a three-way all in.
Levy:
Alex Klimashin:
Patrick Naxache:
The board ran out and Levy won a massive pot to put him in the top 10 with just a few hands left in the day. Levy is not an unknown to winning big events as he already has an APPT Sydney and an ANZPT Perth title under his belt. In total Levy has $1,806,832 in live tournament earnings but he's sure to add at least some to that this week!
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Grant Levy |
735,000
480,000
|
480,000 |
Patrick Naxache |
55,000
-245,000
|
-245,000 |
Alex Klimashin | Busted |