Welcome back to the Rio! We are hoping to award another bracelet tonight, as 22 players return for Day 3 of Event 56: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. It's deja vu all over again from yesterday, as Donald Vogel is your chip leader coming into today with just under 1.3 million. Vogel was also the leader heading into Day 2 of this event.
He's got two players nipping at his heels who are also in the million chip club. Gianluca Mattia will be looking to take the bracelet home to his native country Italy, but safe to say that most eyes will be on 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate, who comes into today third in chips.
Eastgate has not registered a cash at the WSOP since 2009. As many know, Eastgate shocked the poker world when he announced that he was retiring from poker in 2010. However, he has made his return to the felt, and he will be looking to add a second bracelet to his already growing poker legacy.
There are a couple other players to keep your eye on as well. Alexander Queen, or "Argentina Boy" as he is known online, comes into today with 585,000 in chips. He already has a final table this year, finishing 8th in Event 13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em. He will be looking to top that today.
Also still in the hunt are 2011 November Niner Sam Holden(425,000), and WPT Champion Will "The Thrill" Failla, who comes into today as the short stack with just 85,000.
Play will get underway at 1 PM local time, and the goal is to play down to a winner! If we don't have a winner after 10 levels, the staff and remaining players will decide whether to continue play tonight, or come back for a Day 4 tomorrow. Stay tuned to Pokernews for every flop, turn, and river, as we bring you all of today's action!
Bastian Fischer open shoved all in for 350,000 in early position, and Eliyahu Levy, who was next to act, moved all in over the top. Everyone else got out of the way, and the cards were tabled.
Levy:
Fischer:
Pretty much all the suspense was taken out when the dealer fanned out a flop of . Any miracle Fischer could catch when out the window when the hit the turn. The meaningless river was the , and Levy collected the chips, while Fischer was sent to the rail.
Action folded all the way around to Gianluca Mattia in the small blind, and he limped in. Eliyahu Levy was in the big blind, and he quickly tossed out a raise of 50,000 more. It was back to Mattia, and after about 30 seconds of thought, he moved all in. Levy SNAP called, and he saw that he was in great shape.
Levy:
Mattia:
The flop looked scary for Levy, but it was safe, coming . The on the turn kept Levy out front, and the river came the . Mattia was sent to the rail, and in a flash, we have reached out final table.
Tomas Trampota started off a recent hand by raising it up to 60,000 from middle position. Eliyahu Levy was next up and he made the call. Action folded over to Bassel Moussa who moved all in for 175,000. Action folded back to Thomas Trampota who took about 30 seconds before moving all in himself. Levy took about 4 seconds before making the call for all of his chips.
Levy:
Moussa:
Trampota:
The board came out and Levy came out on top with two pair, aces and queens. Moussa was eliminated, and Trampota was basically crippled down to 150,000.
Tomas Trampota started the final table with high hopes, as he was the second biggest chip stack to start nine-handed play. However, he was crippled in the last hand before the break, and he was eliminated on the first hand back.
Trampota open shoved in early position for his last 150,000, and it folded around to Donald Vogel, who made the call. The cards were flipped, and Trampota was in rough shape.
Trampota:
Vogel:
Trampota would need a ton of help to catch up, and he got the exact opposite of help when the flop came . Trampota's only hope was running diamonds for a flush, or running straight cards for a chop. However, the on the turn ended things. The meaningless river was the , and Trampota headed to the rail in 8th place.
Action folded around to Steven Goldberg in the small blind, and he raised it up to 95,000. Donald Vogel defended his big blind, and the dealer fanned out a flop of . Goldberg led out for 75,000, and Vogel quickly called. The turn was the , and this time, Goldberg fired out 145,000. Vogel tanked for about 30 seconds before announcing all in. Goldberg called off his remaining stack, and he was at risk and behind.
Goldberg:
Vogel:
Vogel was in the lead, but he would have to dodge the straight and flush draw outs of Goldberg. He was able to do just that, as the river brought the . Vogel collected the chips, while Goldberg heads over to the payout desk to collect his near $85,000.
With Goldberg's elimination, we have reach the six-figure payday plateau.
David Borg instigated this most recent hand by raising it up to 90,000 from middle position. Peter Eastgate made the call from the hijack, Eliyahu Levy did the same from the cut-off, and Andrew Taylor completed from the big blind.
The flop came and the table checked over to Levy who bet out 200,000. Taylor then raised to 565,000. Borg and Eastgate folded, and Levy made the call.
The on the turn saw Taylor move all in and Levy call.
Levy:
Taylor:
Both players had a flush, but Levy was ahead. Only the could save Taylor. He received no such luck as the fell on the river.
When we came back from the dinner break, Eliyahu Levy held over a third of the chips in play with five left. Now, he is our fifth place finisher. Most of the damage was done by Tomas Junek. Action started with Peter Eastgate raising in the cutoff. He got three callers: Levy on the button, Junek in the small blind, and Donald Vogel in the big blind.
The flop came down , and it checked around to Levy, who fired out 500,000. Junek thought for about 30 seconds before moving all in for just under three million. It got back around to Levy, and he thought for about five seconds before calling, making the biggest pot we've seen all tournament.
Levy:
Junek:
Junek was miles ahead with his set, and Levy would need runner runner to win the pot. That went out the window when the turn and river both came deuces, and Junek took the massive pot to double up to six million.
On the next hand, Levy shoved all in with , and Vogel called with . This time, the best hand held, as the board ran out . In a flash, Levy became our fifth place finisher, while Junek is now our overwhelming chip leader.
Peter Eastgate was first to act and he raised it up to 210,000. The table folded around to Donald Vogel in the big blind who moved all in for 1,650,000. Eastgate made the call and cards were exposed.
Eastgate:
Borg:
The board came and with that Borg found a double up, and moved to 3,400,000, while Eastgate moved in the opposite direction and sat with around 500,000.
The very next hand saw Borg raise preflop, and Eastgate move all in. The table folded back around to Borg and he made the call.
Eastgate:
Borg:
The board came and with the seven on the turn Eastgate was allowed to double up, back to 1,000,000.
It just wasn't meant to be for the 2008 Main Event Champion. Shortly after being crippled, Eastgate shoved all in for his last million. It folded around to David Borg, who called as soon as he looked at his cards.
Eastgate:
Borg:
The board provided no help for Eastgate, as it ran down . Eastgate will take home just under $210,000 for his efforts, while David Borg jumps up to four million after the hand.
. Any miracle Fischer could catch when out the window when the 
hit the turn. The meaningless river was the 
, and Levy collected the chips, while Fischer was sent to the rail.
. The 
on the turn kept Levy out front, and the river came the 
. Mattia was sent to the rail, and in a flash, we have reached out final table.
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and Levy came out on top with two pair, aces and queens. Moussa was eliminated, and Trampota was basically crippled down to 150,000.
on the turn ended things. The meaningless river was the 
. Goldberg led out for 75,000, and Vogel quickly called. The turn was the 
could save Taylor. He received no such luck as the 
