Day 3 of the EPT Tallinn Main Event has come to an end after the 63 players who started the day with high hopes were whittled down to just 24. When they return to their seats tomorrow at 1200 noon, the man they all have to catch is Ronny Kaiser who was the only player to break through the 1,000,000 chip barrier, ending the day with a very impressive 1,194,000 chips.
The young Swiss pro started the day with 269,600 chips and continually added to this throughout proceedings but it was not until right near the death that he won a monster pot to propel him well into the lead. In the hand he raised to 12,000 from the cutoff (blinds 3,000/6,000/500a) and was called by Jani Sointula. Liutauras Armanavicius then three-bet to 43,000 from the button only to see Kaiser come over the top and four-bet to 112,000. Sointula folded but Armanavicius moved all in for around 300,000 and Kaiser called.
Kaiser:
Armanavicius:
Kaiser was in a whole world of pain and looked set to lose the vast majority of his chips and this scenario looked ever more likely when the flop came down . The on the turn gave him some extra outs to a straight and one of them appeared on the river, the to improve Kaiser to an unlikely straight and the monster pot was his.
Kaiser's nearest rival is Poland's Grzegorz Cichocki who will start Day 4 with 867,000 chips, most of which he won from Nikolas Liakos, the chipleader on Day 2. The Swede had a horrendous day at the felt and busted out way before the money.
Making up the top five in chips is Jani Sointula (640,000), Johan van Til )598,000) and Sami Kelopuro (575,000). Although there are no longer any Team PokerStars Pros in the field or any former European Poker Tour champions, there are still three PokerStars Qualifiers in with a chance of glory. They are Michael Graydon (455,000), Stuart Fox (115,000) and Oleg Epp (111,000). Add to these the likes of Jeff Sarwer and Praz Bansi and we could be in for a real star-studded final table over the weekend.
As mentioned the last 24 players of the Main Event will return to their seats tomorrow at noon and will continue playing until only the final table of eight remain. Until we restart, the PokerNews live reporting team are going to represent the company at the free PokerStars party, well someone has to! Until tomorrow, it is good night from us.
Vojtech Ruzicka just added more than 140,000 chips to his stack after five-bet shoving all in. Johan van Til got the hand underway with a raise to 12,000 from the cutoff. The action then folded to Ruzicka in the small blind and he made it 38,500 to play. Next to act was Andrey Subbotin and he paused briefly before four-betting to 100,500, forcing van Til out of the pot but sending Ruzicka into the tank.
He sat completely still in Seat 1 before announcing, "I'm all in." He then informed Subbotin the bet was for around 480,000 and Subbotin quickly folded.
Michael Graydon raised to 15,000 on the button and Kjartan Jonsson called in the big blind. The flop came down and Jonsson check-raised to the tune of 46,500 and Graydon folded after originally betting 20,000 on the flop.
Jonsson opened for 15,000 in the small blind and Rolands Norietis called in the big blind. Jonsson was dancing away with his head while the dealer gave us a flop of and both players checked. The turn was the and Jonsson checked, Norietis bet 17,500 and Jonsson check-raised to 35,000. Norietis made the call and we saw a river of , Jonsson checked and snap-folded to a 42,000 Norietis bet.
Ronnie Kaiser has just coolered former chip leader, Liutauras Armanavicius, in the biggest pot of the tournament so far.
He raised to 12,000 from the cut-off and was called by Jani Sointula before Armanavicius three-bet to 43,000 from the button. Kaiser came back with a four-bet to 112,000 and he called when Armanavicius shoved for 300,000 or thereabouts. Sointula folded in the mix of all the action.
Kaiser:
Armanavicius:
The board ran to make Kaiser a straight to the queen. There were gasps from all those present. Kaiser has nearly 1.1 million chips now and will likely be the end of day chip leader as only more has to go before bagging begins.
Oleg Epp has managed to double up through Lauri Meidla over on Table 1. Meidla opened to 16,500 from the hijack seat and Epp three-bet all in for 59,500 in total from the button. Meidla thought for 30 seconds before making the call.
Meidla:
Epp:
Neither player improved on the board but Epp's jack kicker came into play and he now has 120,000 chips.
. The 
on the turn gave him some extra outs to a straight and one of them appeared on the river, the 
to improve Kaiser to an unlikely straight and the monster pot was his.
to make Jonsson a four-flush with his 
and Jonsson checked, Norietis bet 17,500 and Jonsson check-raised to 35,000. Norietis made the call and we saw a river of 
, Jonsson checked and snap-folded to a 42,000 Norietis bet.
