Welcome to PokerNews' Day 3 coverage of the PokerStars Festival New Jersey Main Event.
The starting field of 208 players is down to just 23, each looking to capture the first-place prize of $38,220. On top of the chip counts is David Johnston with 534,000, and a talented pack is hot on heels. Chris Dombrowski (494,500), Michael Gagliano (484,000), Dan Howe (480,000), and Matt Affleck (418,000) round out the top five chip counts. Also still in the field are PokerStars qualifier Peter Smyth (102,500), PokerStars Team Online's Randy Lew (100,500), NJCOOP Main Event champion Jesse "ROU$EY" Elliott (84,500), and Darren Elias (66,000).
The plan for the day is to play until the final table of eight players is reached. Each player right now is guaranteed $2,331, and a seat at the final table will lock up $4,455.
Here is the Day 3 table and seat draw:
Table
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
1
Peter Smyth
UK
102,500
1
2
Jason Acosta
USA
137,000
1
3
Darren Elias
USA
66,000
1
4
Robert Cheung
Canada
53,000
1
5
Randy Lew
USA
100,500
1
6
Dan Howe
USA
480,000
1
7
Eli Kim
USA
113,500
1
8
Jovy Ounthongdy
USA
268,500
2
1
Sridhar Sangannagari
USA
338,500
2
2
--empty--
2
3
Jack Duong
USA
51,000
2
4
John Gulino
USA
246,500
2
5
Rocco Dicondina
USA
93,500
2
6
Wayne Gerichten
USA
54,000
2
7
Matt Affleck
USA
418,000
2
8
NIck Aguilera
USA
247,000
3
1
Ruben Costa
USA
132,600
3
2
John Kim
USA
109,500
3
3
David Vamplew
UK
219,000
3
4
Tom Revello
USA
199,500
3
5
Jesse Elliott
USA
84,500
3
6
David Johnston
USA
534,000
3
7
Chris Dombrowski
USA
494,500
3
8
Michael Gagliano
USA
484,000
Play begins at 11 a.m., so keep it here throughout the day for live updates on the action.
Jovy Ounthongdy opened to 14,000 from under the gun, Jason Acosta called from the hijack, Randy Lew three-bet shoved from the button for about 90,000, Ounthongdy reshoved for about 260,000, and Acosta folded.
Ounthongdy:
Lew:
The board came down , no help to Lew, ending his tournament in 20th place.
Matt Affleck opened early and David Vamplew made it a three-bet to about 35,000 on his immediate left. Action folded back to Affleck, who opted to see the flop. Affleck came out betting after a long pause, sliding in 40,000. Vamplew called. On the turn, Affleck announced he was all in. Vamplew shrugged and looked ready to snap but then thought for about 30 seconds. Eventually, he did decide to call.
Vamplew:
Affleck:
Affleck just needed to dodge an eight, and he was successful when the fell.
Tom Revello raised to 18,000 from under the gun, Peter Smyth three-bet to 46,000 from the hijack, Sridhar Sangannagari called from the small blind, and Matt Affleck four-bet to 121,000 from the big blind. Revello tanked for about two-and-a-half minutes before he five-bet shoved for 437,000, Smyth and Sangannagari folded, and Affleck called after about 30 seconds.
Revllo:
Affleck:
The board came down , giving Affleck queens full of fives to eliminate Revello.
Peter Smyth opened to 30,000 in middle position, and Jovy Ounthongdy shoved all in from the button for about 105,000. Eli Kim wasted no time shoving from the big blind, and Smyth drew a deep breath and asked for a count before realizing Kim covered his own 570,000 pretty easily. After thinking for more than a minute, Smyth called.
Smyth:
Ounthongdy:
Kim:
The dealer spread a flop of , and Ounthongdy picked up outs with an open-ender. The turn was a , helping nobody. On the river, it was Kim improving with an for a set. He raised his arms in victory and scooped the massive pot, eliminating two opponents.
Sridhar Sangannagari opened to 42,000 from the hijack, Michael Gagliano three-bet to 90,000 from the cutoff, Sangannagari four-bet shoved for about 170,000, and Gagliano called.
Sangannagari:
Gagliano:
The flop came down to give Sangannagari a little help, and the turn gave him the lead with trip queens. However, the landed on the river to give Gagliano kings full of queens to eliminate Sangannagari in sixth place.
, no help to Elias, ending his run in 23rd place.
, no help to Lew, ending his tournament in 20th place.
turn, Affleck announced he was all in. Vamplew shrugged and looked ready to snap but then thought for about 30 seconds. Eventually, he did decide to call.
fell.
, giving Affleck queens full of fives to eliminate Revello.
, racing with Dombrowski's 
, no help to Dombrowski, ending his tournament in 11th place.
, giving Affleck aces and queens with a king kicker to eliminate Cheung in 10th place.
, and Ounthongdy picked up outs with an open-ender. The turn was a 
