Main Event
Day 3 Started
2012 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 WinStar River Poker Series
Buy-in
$2,100
Prize Pool
$2,788,000
Entries
1,396
Level
34
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
20,000
Newcombe Leads the Final 15
Welcome to PokerNews' coverage of Day 3 of the 2012 WinStar River Poker Series Main Event. The starting field of 1,396 entrants is down to just 15 players, each with hopes of capturing the $651,559 first-place prize. Leading the way into Day 3 is Matt Newcombe with 3,245,000. He is followed by Aaron Massey with 2,895,000 and Peter Zhmutski with 2,865,000.
After a total redraw following Day 2 action, here are the seating assignments for today's action.
Table 51
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Newcombe | 3,245,000 |
| 2 | Chris Hooper | 1,050,000 |
| 3 | Matt Shepsky | 820,000 |
| 4 | Jay Merchant | 300,000 |
| 5 | Cord Garcia | 1,090,000 |
| 6 | Peter Zhmutski | 2,865,000 |
| 7 | Mark Kehrees | 745,000 |
| 8 | Richard Tygum | 2,095,000 |
| 9 | --empty-- | -- |
Table 52
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Massey | 2,890,000 |
| 2 | Patricia Cardner | 1,200,000 |
| 3 | Justin Gardenhire | 905,000 |
| 4 | Ron Roberts | 435,000 |
| 5 | Sam Murphy | 535,000 |
| 6 | Brad Tucker | 640,000 |
| 7 | Andy Robinson | 2,135,000 |
| 8 | --empty-- | -- |
| 9 | --empty-- | -- |
Play is scheduled to resume at noon local time, about 25 minutes from now, and will carry on until a champion emerges. Be sure to keep it here at PokerNews throughout the day for updates on all of the action!
Level: 27
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 5,000
Zhmutski Takes Chip Lead
Peter Zhmutski opened to 120,000 from under the gun and it folded around to Matt Newcombe who three-bet to 350,000 from the hijack. Every other player at the table released their cards and it was back on Zhmutski who moved out a call.
The flop came down 
and Zhmutski wasted no time pushing out a whopping 500,000. Newcombe relinquished his hand and Zhmutski took down the pot, making him the new largest stack in the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,200,000 | 335,000 |
|
2,880,000 | -365,000 |
Brad Tucker Eliminated in 15th Place ($27,880)
The action at the table folded to short stack Brad Tucker's button. Tucker moved all in for about 550,000 and the small blind folded. Aaron Massey peeked at his cards in the big blind and announced a call.
Tucker: 
Massey: 
The board fell 
and Tucker was unable to improve to beat Massey's pocket jacks. Tucker will take home $27,880 for his 15th place finish.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,420,000 | 530,000 |
|
|
Busted |
More For Massey
Richard Tygum opened to 100,000 from the hijack and Aaron Massey decided to three-bet to 265,000 from the button. The blinds folded and Tygum called.
The two were heads up to see a flop of 
and they both checked. The 
fell on fourth street and Tygum checked. Massey fired 200,000 which prompted Tygum to push out a check-raise to 500,000. Massey called and they both checked the 
river.
Tygum showed 
but it was ultimately the second best hand as Massey held 
for aces and eights. Massey has now cracked the four million chip mark while Tygum has fallen to 1,250,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,300,000 | 880,000 |
|
|
1,250,000 | -845,000 |
Zhmutski Takes More From Newcombe
Peter Zhmutski opened to 95,000 from the hijack and Matt Newcombe re-raised to 200,000 from the button. Zhmutski called and the flop came down 
.
Zhmutski led out for 200,000 and Newcombe flat called the bet. The dropped down on the turn and Zhmutski continued his aggression with a bet of 275,000. In the end, Newcombe opted to go no further than fourth street and Zhmutski took the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,700,000 | 500,000 |
|
|
2,400,000 | -480,000 |
Garcia Grabbing Chips
It folded to Cord Garcia's button and he raised to 95,000. Peter Zhmutski called from the small blind and the big blind folded.
The dealer spread out 
and both players checked their options. The 
fell on the turn and Zhmutski check-called a bet of 155,000. Zhmutski check-called for a second time when the 
hit the river. This time, the magic number was 285,000, and when Zhmutski saw that Garcia had 
, he was forced to ship his chips to the stack next door.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,100,000 | -600,000 |
|
1,950,000 | 860,000 |
Richard Tygum Eliminated in 14th Place ($36,244)
Justin Gardenhire opened to 80,000 from under the gun and Richard Tygum called from the cutoff. Andy Robinson looked at his cards on the button and decided to three-bet to 240,000. Gardenhire folded and Tygum called.
came down on the felt and Tygum checked. Robinson continued for 225,000 and Tygum raised all in for about 870,000. Robinson called and showed 
which was crushing Tygum's 
.
The board was finished with the 
and the and Tygum was sent to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,250,000 | 1,115,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Sam Murphy Eliminated in 13th Place ($36,244)
Action folded around to Sam Murphy in the hijack and he moved his short stack of 340,000 all in. Aaron Massey called from the button and the rest of the table folded.
Murphy:
Massey: 
Murphy was flipping for his tournament life but failed to improve on the flop. The 
turn was also no help to him and he would need to pair up on fifth street. Unfortunately, the river brought the and he was forced to settle for a 13th place finish.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,150,000 | 850,000 |
|
Busted |