While everybody still left with chips in the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event has eyes on the $842,379 first-place payout, making the money is always the first goal on the checklist.
With the elimination of out 121st-place player the survivors will be assured of earning at least $6,739, although depending on how many re-entry bullets they fired, this figure may or may not represent a profit.
Maurice Hawkins just made his exit from the tournament after running his into the of Ronald Lee. Hawkins found no improvement from the community, and Lee added his chips to his stack.
David Glancy entered Day 3 with an above average chip stack and a great chance to make the money, but a series of disastrous hands ended his tournament early.
We saw Glancy's bustout hand go down, as his fell short to the held by Jay Sharon. The final board rolled out ace-high but no fours could be found, and Glancy's last 10 big blinds were shipped across the table. He was evidently frustrated at losing to players he deemed to "have no clue," but having lost with the worst of it preflop, we were curious as to why he was so heated.
According to Sharon and a few of Glancy's former tablemates, he suffered a series of bad beats in which Sharon's cracked his . Further compounding Glancy's bad day was a huge hand involving a misread as Glancy bet a huge portion of his stack, only to fold in the face of a raise before watching his opponent table nine-high for the needle. The downward spiral was on from there, and Glancy's day ended before the cash was reached.
John D'Agostino check-raised to 31,000 after an opponent fired a flop. His opponent came back with 60,000. D'Agostino decided to test his opponent with 110,000. The player thought for a bit before folding.
A player opened for 12,500 in middle position, only to see Faraz Jaka use his big stack to apply some pressure with a three-bet to 30,000 on the button.
The other player paused and took his time, looking over at the tournament clock to see just eight eliminations stood between him and a cash. Knowing that Jaka could easily afford to call an all-in four-bet, the player slid his cards forward into the muck.
Jaka just smiled a bit and rechecked his cards, before dragging another pot on the bubble.
Matt Stout opened for a raise from middle position, and Joe Serock three-bet to 27,000. In the small blind, Julio Belluscio made it 54,000, and Stout folded when it got back to him. Serock made the call after some thinking, and the two saw a flop of . Belluscio fired small, 22,500. Serock called him, and the turn brought a . Belluscio came out with 44,000, and Serock laid it down.
"I have my flight to Brazil today," Belluscio said, flipping over for an airball. "If I change it, I want chips."