2017 Master Classics of Poker

On Day 3 of the Master Classics of Poker Main Event, 39 hopefuls started their quest for the final table. All were guaranteed a min-cash of €8,577. After 10 hours of play, 30 are back home with a great story about that one time they ran deep in the MCOP Main Event. 9 of them have an even better story and will be able to tell the tale of making the final table.

John Juanda is the most recognizable player to make it, the number 7 on the all-time money list didn't experience any major issues and navigated himself to a decent sized stack on the final table. A total of 8 nationalities are represented at the final table with some extreme poker talent represented. German high roller Claas Segebrecht leads the way with a massive chip advantage, he brings 138 big blinds to the table.

The day started with 39 players left in contention. The first 2 levels were dominated by bust outs, almost all the shorties fell. Vincent Calis (sixes into sevens) was the first of many to go to the payout desk.

As the shorties were gone, not every other hand was an all in and call anymore for quite some time. In fact, after the likes of Maxi Lehmanski, Bap de Haas, and Jean-Philippe Schoonbrood had been eliminated, it was relatively quiet for quite some time.

Ben Heath was the first of the next batch to go down. He bowed out running king-queen into aces. Two-time MCOP side event winner Rens Feenstra was next to go, getting it in with tens against the kings of Bart Lybaert. Dutch tv celebrity Alberto Stegeman, who's played this event for several years in a row now and has proven himself a true poker aficionado, went under in true gruel fashion. He got the classics set up of aces versus kings, with Claas Segebrecht this time being the beneficiary.

Some players in the event sighed a breath of relief when Martin Kabrhel got eliminated. The animated Czech player, who often needs a little more time than most of his competition, ran ace-queen into the kings of Kai Lehto.

Former MCOP Main Event and High Roller Champion Noah Boeken hit the rail in 15th place. He tried to use his ace-high flush blocker to leverage a fold from 2 opponents on the river. Unfortunately for him, Claas Segebrecht had the second nuts with king-five of hearts and wasn't too afraid of Boeken's possible nut flush. Boeken turned over nothing but ace-high upon getting called and left the casino in the late stages of the tournament.

Dutch players Fatih Aydin, Michiel Brosky, and Dennis Lavrijsen, as well as Iranian player Nariman Yaghmai were knocked out before the final table bubble was ignited. With hand over hand, several players doubled before Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank hit the rail in 10th place. He reshoved with pocket eights, only to find Claas Segebrecht with aces behind him. The board never made things exciting and the final table was set.

Only a single Dutchman will be represented at the final table of the biggest poker tournament in the Netherlands. The final table starts at 3 p.m., preceded by a spectacular opening where every player is walked to the final table with their favorite song blasting through the speakers in the casino. Check back tomorrow for continued coverage of the Master Classics of Poker.

The seat order is to be posted online later, as soon as the tournament organization has done the redraw. Expect an end-of-day recap later tonight.

From the cutoff, Marijn van Puffelen opened for 36,000. His neighbor on the button, Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank, shoved the button for 215,000. Chipleader Claas Segebrecht over shoved from the small blind which got rid of the big blind and initial raiser Van Puffelen.

Christopher Frank:
Claas Segebrecht:

The board ran out and Frank hit the rail in 10th place. With just 9 players remaining, play has stopped for the night.

The remaining 9 players return to Holland Casino Amsterdam at 3 pm to play down to a winner. All of them are guaranteed €23,926.

Kai Lehto opened the hijack for 35,000 (with over 300,000 behind) and his neighbor Dennis Lavrijsen went into the tank for a bit. After about 2 minutes or so, he pushed for 296,000.

Moritz Dietrich folded right away but small blind Bart Lybaert wasn't so eager to throw his cards into the muck. He checked his cards 3 times and eventually pushed. Juanda folded his big blind right away, and so did Lehto.

Dennis Lavrijsen:
Bart Lybaert:

The board came an uneventful and Lavrijsen hit the rail in 11th place for €19,976. The Main Event is now hand for hand on the Final Table bubble.

Bart Lybaert opened the button for 38,000 and big blind Igor Yaroshevskyy defended.

Both of the players involved checked on and the on the turn was seen for free. Yaroshevskyy bet 40,000, Lybaert called.

The completed the board and Yaroshevskyy bet 120,000. Lybaert called but had to muck upon being shown .

Another 15-minute break for the players.

Action folded to Claas Segebrecht in the small blind and he opened for 40,000. Nariman Yaghmai thought about it for a bit and eventually decided to call from the big blind.

The flop came and Segebrecht bet 38,000. Yaghmai shoved all in and Segebrecht snap called.

Nariman Yaghmai:
Claas Segebrecht:

The turn and river were both blanks and Segebrecht knocked out his Iranian opponent.