2011 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Day 3: Max Silver Leads The Way
At the end of Day 3 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, 25 players remained. The tournament team set a very optimistic challenge on Tuesday: to reduce the playing field from 116 to 16 by the end of the day. As play crept into the early hours of the morning, a decision was made to stop the day at the end of Level 19 with 25 players remaining.
As play entered the final level, the race for the chip leader's spot was a spectacle centering on two players from the U.K.: Max Silver and Chris Moorman. Until both bags were packed and sealed, no one knew that Silver controlled the chip lead by a difference of 11 chips!
Last year in September, Max Silver became a well-known name on the European poker scene after winning the UKIPT in Dublin and then a side event at EPT London. Fast forward 12 months and Silver had not cashed in a single live event, but as he rolled into his favorite month, his luck began to change. He finished 28th at the WPT Grand Prix de Paris, fourth at UKIPT Dublin, and then fourth in the WSOPE Event #4 €3,200 Shootout a few days ago.
To top off a fantastic few months, Silver finished 11 chips ahead of his nearest rival with 1,780,000 chips. The pivotal point in the tournament for Silver came with the exit of another countryman. Mathew Frankland was coasting through the day when he ran into Silver’s stack in a flush-over-flush confrontation. When Frankland hit the rail, Silver’s confidence hit an all-time high, and from then on, his stack just continued to grow as fast as Jack's bean stalk.
Chris Moorman spread his name around the poker world when he received notoriety for his performances in cyber space. But recently, he has been showing everyone that he also knows his way around a live card room. And boy, when that lad turns up, can he play! In January, Moorman finished in seventh place at the Aussie Millions Main Event before having a crazy summer in Las Vegas, where he won over $1 million at the WSOP. The last time he cashed in a live event on European soil was at the WSOPE in 2010 — and he just did it again, only this time he might just go all of the way.
It all began going right for Moorman when he was seated at the same table as the two chip leaders at the time, Constant Rijkenberg and Melanie Weisner. The critical turning point centered around a hand between Moorman and Rijkenberg that was played on the bubble. Moorman raised to 12,000 in the hijack and Rijkenberg defended his big blind. The flop was J♠ 4♠ 4♦ and Rijkenberg bet 25,000, Moorman raised to 56,000 and Rijkenberg called. The turn was the 5♦ and Rijkenberg check-called a 114,000 Moorman bet. The final card was the 9♥ and Rijkenberg checked again. Everyone in the room was watching Moorman as he moved all-in for 229,000 and incredibly could have been the bubble boy. Rijkenberg made the call and Moorman showed pocket queens for his three streets of value and a sick looking Rijkenberg was left nursing his broken stack. Moorman was then moved to the feature table, which was being live-streamed, and he ran amok. He eliminated Hoyt Corkins, Freddy Deeb, Carbone Damiano and Melanie Weisner.
Moorman exchanged a potential bubble spot for one of the top spots, so who was the unfortunate bubble boy? It turned out to be Barry Greenstein, and he told us that his own girlfriend had predicted his bubble position via a text message. Brian Roberts now has a signed copy of Ace On The River for eliminating Greenstein in 65th place.
Joining Moorman on Day 4 are a host of stars and dangerous players including Shawn Buchanan (1,267,000), Patrik Antonius (696,000), Jake Cody (522,000), John Duthie (314,000), Erik Seidel (242,000), Tony G (226,000) and John Eames (210,000).
Players who did not survive Day 3, but did cash were Liv Boeree, Freddy Deeb, McLean Karr, Hoyt Corkins, Constant Rijkenberg, Barny Boatman and Victor Ramdin.
Day 4 will begin at 1400 CET (0500 PDT) and will end when the final table is reached. The PokerNews Live Reporting Blog will have the play-by-play of all the action.
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