"John Doe" Leads By Large Margin After Day 3 of the $2,200 Warm Up
Day 3 of the Merit Poker Western Series $2,200 Warm Up started with 102 players out of a total field of 523 and ended with just 19 after ten levels of play.
Leading the way by a large distance at the end of the night was the man who wishes only to be known as John Doe (9,800,000). He started to build his stack in the early parts of the day and would just continue to grow throughout to finish with over 3 million more than second place.
Maxime Chilaud is that player in second place as the Frenchman finished the day with 6,755,000, which is almost 2 million more than third, creating a dymanic where the top two stacks have some considerable distance between each other and also from the rest of the pack.
In third place after Day 3 was Russian player Vladislav Fedoseev who bagged up 4,550,000. Helmut Phung (3,900,000) and Recep Aydemir (3,245,000) would round out the top five counts.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Doe | -- | 9,800,000 | 98 |
| 2 | Maxime Chilaud | France | 6,755,000 | 67 |
| 3 | Vladislav Fedoseev | Russia | 4,550,000 | 45 |
| 4 | Helmut Phung | Germany | 3,900,000 | 39 |
| 5 | Recep Aydemir | Turkey | 3,245,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Eli Saad | Lebanon | 2,660,000 | 26 |
| 7 | Andress Merheb | Lebanon | 2,600,000 | 26 |
| 8 | Valentin Tsoy | Uzbekistan | 2,570,000 | 25 |
| 9 | Halil Baybars | Turkey | 2,130,000 | 21 |
| 10 | Ryan Mandara | United Kingdom | 2,010,000 | 20 |
Behind the top five there are many players who are bunched together in chips, all within only a few chips of one another, which will make for an action-packed day of jostling for position on the final day tomorrow.
The day began with 102 and was steadily wilted down with eliminations until the money bubble where two players would be eliminated on the same hand at different tables to bring the field into the money. From there, the pace would stay consistent until after the final break. The eliminations would slow with Day 4 on the horizon and the play jumps becoming more significant where Nuri Hadioglu would become the last elimination of the night.
The remaining 19 players will hit the felt at 1 p.m. local time and play down to the $181,200 grand prize winner. Play will start at Level 27 with blinds at 50,000/100,000/100,000.
PokerNews will be on hand to cover every aspect of the action on Day 4.
. The turn was the 
and the river the 
to knock Hadioglu down to just 400,000.
but the river was the 
to bust Hadioglu who threw up his hand in disgust and walked away.
flop, but Doe's king-kicker stayed in front. Guven was already standing up from his seat by the time the 
river as Doe added more to his already massive stack.
and Hu's kings stayed in front to eliminate Genc in 22nd place.
and Doe finished with two pair to bust Mehreb in 23rd and climb to around 7,000,000.
and action checked to Mandara, who bet 210,000. Aydemir asked the dealer for the all-in triangle and placed it in front of him as Hu got out of the way. Mandara, though, called the bet for around 880,000.
for two pair, while Mandara was on a flush draw with 
turn and river missed Mandara and Aydemir doubled up.
. The turn was the 
to end the run for the Polish player.
turn and 
river.
and was eliminated.
to confirm his elimination.
