Afriat Remains in Pole Position After Day 3
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Only two tables remain in the Season XII WPT World Championship at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, and once again the overnight chip leader is Eric Afriat. Afriat, who became a member of the WPT Champions Club just over a week ago at the penultimate stop in Hollywood, Florida, bagged 2.029 million chips after another productive day on the felt.
The French-Canadian’s biggest hand came in Level 19, when Blake Bohn five-bet shoved for over 50 big blinds with 
and Afriat snapped him off with 
. The pocket rockets held up, and Afriat added to his already monster stack.
Afriat is the only player with over two million chips, but four players joined him in the seven-figure club; Abraham Korotki (1.616 million), Tony Gregg, (1.499 million), Ryan D’Angelo (1.369 million), and Curt Kohlberg (1.097 million). Korotki, the winner of the 2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship Event, eliminated 2012 WSOP Main Event runner-up Jesse Sylvia in a big cooler in Level 19. Sylvia open-shoved with top two pair on the turn, and Korotki called with bottom set. The river was a brick, and Sylvia was eliminated.
Gregg, like Afriat, is a member of the WPT Champions Club, winning the Parx Open Poker Classic in Season XI. He too was on the positive side of a cooler, eliminating Scott Eskenazi with aces against kings in Level 19.
Also among the final 18 players are Justin Young, Byron Kaverman, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker, and WPT Raw Deal Analyst and Champions Club member Tony Dunst.
The day started with 68 players, and the bust outs were fast and furious as the money bubble approached. Among the players who exited with no money were NFL free agent wide receiver Miles Austin and 13-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. Austin found himself in a three-way all in with pocket fives against George Kelly’s pocket kings – Austin wasn’t fortunate enough to hit a two-outer – and Hellmuth ran 
into Kaverman’s 
.
Right as the dinner break was starting, the bubble burst in a very unique way. There were 38 players still alive – 36 would earn a minimum of $30,085 – and most of the players were exiting the room to wine and dine for 75 minutes. While they were filing out, Nick Schulman and Michael Lavoie were eliminated at the exact same time on two different tables. Some short-stacked players, like Cathy Dever, were elated the find out they were in the money after the surprise, concurrent eliminations.
After dinner break, it only took three hours for the field to halve from 36 to 18. Among the post-dinner, in-the-money causalities were Athanasios Polychronopoulos (34th, $30,085), Brian Yoon (33rd, $30,085), Jason Koon (32nd, $30,085), Matt Stout (30th, $30,085), Loni Harwood (29th, $30,085), Jonathan Tamayo (28th, $30,085), Cathy Dever (24th, $33,967), Club WPT winner David Daggett (22nd, $33,967), Scott Seiver (21st, $33,967), and Jeff Madsen (19th, $33,967).
Tamayo, who won his way into the WPT World Championship thanks to DraftKings.com and a game-winning home run from New York Mets backup catcher Anthony Recker, lost a race with 
against the 
of Ray Qartomy.
The final two tables will return at noon on Friday to play down to an official final table of six. PokerNews will be on hand for all of the updates, so be sure to check back then.
and Lafaye checked, prompting a bet of 35,000 by Stammen. This folded Lafaye and Madsen said "I have something..." while tabling 
, but Stammen had something better with 
.
) and river (
) changed nothing and Madsen headed to the payout desk to collect, while the 18 players remaining prepared to bag and tag.
and Palermo 
and Palermo is eliminated in 20th place while Madsen was crippled.
to give Seiver an inside straight draw to go with his Ace. The turn was the 
and the river was the 
and the amiable Seiver is eliminated in 21st place while Kohlberg moved his stack to 920,000.
- until the flop fell 
to give Oboodi additional outs to oust the amateur, and one of those additions floated down the river when the 
hit the table. Oboodi's runner-runner spike to make Broadway did the job, and Daggett headed for the payout cage with a story to take home - along with $33,967 for his 22nd place finish.
on the turn to give Dunst Broadway.
, Harosh would've made a full house to stay alive. The river was the 
, an inconsequential card, and Harosh hit the rail in 23rd place.
on the river was but a formality, and Madsen doubled through.
.
and Dever was drawing dead. The river was the 
and Dever is sent home in 24th place. An excellent finish for the Borgata regular who was thrilled earlier when she found out she had made the money.
, both players in the blinds checked, and Hawkins continued for 35,000. Sylvia check-raised to 90,000, Korotki quickly cold-called, and Hawkins went into the tank. After a two-minute, agonizing tank, which looked a little embellished for the cameras, Hawkins made the fold.
for top two pair, and a few seconds passed before Korotki revealed 