WSOPE, Event 3 - £10,000 NLHE, Day 3: Vathne Soars as Bubble Bursts
84 players returned to London's Empire Casino on Friday to play Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Europe £10,000 Main Event. Gus Hansen started the day with the chip lead in a field that saw such poker superstars as Tony G, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke and Jamie Gold play for their shot at the £1,000,000 first-place prize and the WSOPE bracelet. The feature table was stacked with stars and chips, looking like this as play began:
Seat 1: Patrick Antonius - 283,200
Seat 2: Erik Joergensen - 22,100
Seat 3: Magnus Persson - 165,600
Seat 4: Matthew Carter - 58,400
Seat 5: Daniel Negreanu - 31,700
Seat 6: Will Durkee - 92,600
Seat 7: Sam Norman - 29,600
Seat 8: Gus Hansen - 349,400
Seat 9: Sergey Feklisov - 115,500
Phil Hellmuth's quest for a record 12th WSOP bracelet ended very early in the day, when he ran his 8♠8♥ into Matthew McCullough's Q♠Q♦. When the flop came A♦9♣Q♥, Hellmuth's tournament rested on few outs. The turn brought no help as the K♦ left Hellmuth drawing dead and the 11-time WSOP champion headed to the rail.
2007 WSOP Player of the Year runner-up Jeffrey Lisandro was one of many players on Day 3 to get their aces cracked, but Lisandro went out in spectacular fashion, running into Marco Traniello's K♣K♥. All the chips went in the middle pre-flop, and Traniello hit the flop of 2♠K♠4♠ hard, leaving Lisandro drawing thin. The K♦ on the turn made quads for Traniello and left Lisandro on the rail.
Daniel Negreanu cracked aces shortly afterwards, turning a flush against Gus Hansen. Both players checked the flop of A♥3♦2♦, and Negreanu led out on the turn 9♦. Hansen called, and went into the tank for a while before calling Negreanu's river bet. Hansen's A♦A♠ was no match for Negreanu's 8♦7♦, and Hansen's chip lead took a big hit. Later in the day, Negreanu cracked aces again, this time doubling through Patrik Antonius with 5♠3♠. On a flop of 5♦4♦2♣, Negreanu moved all in over the top of Antonius' raise. Antonius called and tabled A♣A♠, and Negreanu held 5♠3♠. The 10♠ on the turn helped neither player, but the A♦ made the wheel for Negreanu, bettering Antonius's trips. Despite this good fortune, Negreanu was eliminated as the evening progressed.
Other notable players eliminated on Day 3 included Tony G, Joe Beevers, Jimmy 'Gobboboy Fricke and Jon 'Pearljammer' Turner. Hoyt Corkins moved all in with A♦10♥, and was drawing thin when Johannes Forsar re-raised all in to isolate and tabled Q♥Q♠. No help on the board for Corkins, and he went to the rail shortly before the bubble. Jen Harman wound up on the wrong end of Annette 'Annette_15' Obrestad's pocket kings, and couldn't catch an ace for her A♣10♥. Obrestad made a set on the flop and Harman was eliminated.
Jeff Buffenbarger was the bubble boy, finishing in 37th place to the relief of the other short stacks. When Ian Frazer raised pre-flop, Buffenbarger called all in, and John Tabatabai also called. The board of 8♦8♣4♥Q♠2♥ made a pair of fours for Tabatabai with 4♠5♥, and Buffenbarger was eliminated one out of the money. The 36 remaining players were guaranteed at least £27,150 for their efforts.
After the bubble burst, it didn't take long for the shortest of stacks to go into the middle, with Bob Willis heading to the rail in 36th place. Willis pushed all in with A♣K♣ and was called by Aleksander Vathne with K♥K♦. No ace on the board, and Willis headed to the cashier's cage to collect £27,150 for his tournament. 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold was next to fall, as Marco Traniello sent him to the rail with Q♠Q♥ against Gold's K♦10♦. Gold caught a ten on the flop, but no further help, and he was eliminated in 35th (£27,150). Ian Frazer (34th) and Martin Johnson (33rd) were the last two players eliminated before play ended for the night. They each also received £27,150 for their play.
As play ended for Day 3, Aleksander Vathne had taken over the chip lead, with plenty of high-powered opponents near the top of the leader board. Gus Hansen finished Day 3 fourth in chips, while Duke and Obrestad also finished up with big stacks. Other notable players surviving Day 3 included Antonius, Traniello, Kenny Tran, William Durkee and Erick Lindgren. Here are the full chip counts and seating assignments for Day 4:
Table 1:
Steven van Zadelhoff — 259,500
Annie Duke — 286,500
Julius Colman — 78,000
Theo Jørgensen — 457,000
Oyvind Riisem — 401,500
Terry Cook — 147,000
Erick Lindgren — 54,500
Patrick Jouven — 39,500
Table 2:
Dominic Kay — 430,500
Marco Traniello — 101,500
Will Durkee — 264,500
James Keys — 247,500
Kenny Tran — 64,500
Nicolas Levi — 98,000
John Tabatabai — 335,000
Marcello Marigliano — 65,000
Table 3:
Tino Lechich — 184,500
Karl Mahrenholz — 297,000
Henrik Waltersson — 159,500
Aleksander Vathne — 470,500
Shaun Needham — 39,000
Jakob Paulsen — 383,500
Abishek Khaitan — 178,500
Annette Obrestad — 311,400
Table 4:
Patrik Antonius — 174,000
Janne Lamsa — 120,000
Magnus Persson — 238,500
Pat Scanlon — 200,000
Andreas Bergren — 215,000
Matthew McCullough — 182,500
Gus Hansen — 398,000
Johannes Korsar — 346,000
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