Martin Jacobson is in pretty good shape to better his third place finish back at EPT Budapest - he has almost a two-to-one chip lead over the next guy.
We sadly missed the action, watching another player on the other side of the room dwelling up for some minutes. When we arrived at the table, William Thorson was already all in. He sighed, stood up, and looked as though he knew what was coming.
Thorson:
Guillermo Garcia:
"Marc, we need to keep it low," Thorson called over to one of the press up on the stage. The dealer did not oblige.
Board:
And that was that for Mr. Thorson.
Garcia meanwhile is in great shape now on 750,000.
25 players remain - when they get to 24 the day ends. This means that Tom Johansen's next day was at risk when he moved in with , up against chip leader Martin Jacobson's . He flopped a set, rivered quads, and play continued...
It's been another super-high-speed day of poker here in the Algarve and Martin Jacobson will be going into the final three tables of this Main Event with a frankly monstrous two-to-one chip lead over the next man.
The young Swede started the day near the top of the chip counts and after a great day, during which he knocked out Paul "Pab" Foltyn and Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly among others, he has ended up head and shoulders above the next man. You may remember Jacobson from EPT Budapest where he finished third, or indeed from this year's WSOP where he took fourth place in a $1,500 NLH event. He's never yet managed to lift the trophy in a big live tournament, but he now has a more than decent shot at this one.
Also still in the running as players disperse into the bars and restaurants of Vilamoura are Nicolo Calia who could be looking at making back-to-back EPT finals after his seventh place finish in Tallinn, as well as dangerous young Brits Sam Trickett and Toby Lewis, Dutch legend Rob Hollink, and English international footballer and Friend of PokerStars Teddy Sheringham.
Of the players who made it to Day 3, those who fell by the wayside included Arnaud Mattern (did not cash), Luca Pagano (broke his own record with a 16th EPT cash), Andre Coimbra of PokerStars Team Online, and former chip daddy Brandon Cantu whose prediction to our own Gloria Balding that he would make the final did not, in the event, come true.
Some players may find themselves distracted tomorrow by the intriguing Fairways & Felts golf/poker tournament in the morning (Teddy Sheringham, at least, is considering playing it at 8am and then coming back for the Main Event when necessary) but the rest of us will be back here at the Casino Vilamoura at noon GMT+1 when we will be playing right down to a final table. You don't want to miss this one.
Table 1
Tom Johansen (521,000)
Eliran Argelazi (202,000)
Konsta Vesterinen (284,000)
Kevin O'Donnell (196,000)
Marton Czuczor (440,000)
Robert Cezarescu (457,000)
Marco Leonzio (778,000)
Dmitry Gromov (315,000)
Table 2
Jason Lee (600,000)
Carolyn Gray (103,000)
Sam Trickett (712,000)
Sergio Coutinho (635,000)
Frederick Jensen (301,000)
Filipa Cerqueira (227,000)
Grzegorz Cichocki (333,000)
Teddy Sheringham (381,000)
Table 3
Toby Lewis (396,000)
Fabrizio Ascari (485,000)
Claudio Cecchi (168,000)
Martin Jacobson (1,362,000)
Rob Hollink (696,000)
Erik Van Den Berg (554,000)
Nicolo Calia (609,000)
Guillermo Garcia (766,000)