The 2012 World Series of Poker continued on Thursday as the final 31 runners of a 526-player field returned to battle it out for the Event 58: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better title. After ten levels of play, a winner was still undetermined, which meant the remaining three players will return for an impromptu Day 4 and battle it out for the gold bracelet and $330,277 first-place prize.
The man with the best chance of capturing the title is Viacheslav Zhukov, who bagged up 2.26 million and finished as the chip leader. Standing in his way are Roch Cousineau and Chris Bell, who sit with 1.64 million and 835,000 respectively.
We’ll have a full recap of the Day 3 & 4 action once a winner has been determined on Friday, but in the meantime here’s a look at the 27 eliminations from Day 3:
Place
Player
Prize
4th
David "ODB" Baker
$100,820
5th
Randy Ohel
$75,662
6th
Yuval Bronshtein
$57,339
7th
Jack Ward
$43,840
8th
Scotty Nguyen
$33,789
9th
Juan Ramirez
$26,235
10th
Daniel McNally
$20,520
11th
Felicia Johnico
$20,520
12th
Binh Nguyen
$20,520
13th
Dexter McNally
$16,255
14th
Antony Lellouche
$16,255
15th
TJ Scarber
$16,255
16th
Kyle Bowker
$12,881
17th
Stephen Su
$12,881
18th
Mickey Appleman
$12,881
19th
Antoine Saout
$10,310
20th
Jesse Cohen
$10,310
21st
Kami Chisholm
$10,310
22nd
Richard Sklar
$10,310
23rd
Lester Suppes
$10,310
24th
Loren Klein
$10,310
25th
Marco Oliveira
$10,310
26th
Lyric Duveyoung
$10,310
27th
Joshua Field
$10,310
28th
Brad Peeples
$8,329
29th
Bryan Devonshire
$8,329
30th
Karl Mahrenholz
$8,329
31st
John Guth
$8,329
The remaining three players will return at 2 PM PST on Friday to the stage in the Purple Section of the Amazon Room to finish this thing out. Join us then as we bring you all the action and eliminations on the way to crowing the latest WSOP champion.
Roch Cousineau opened for 115,000 under the gun and David "ODB" Baker defended from the small blind. The latter checked the flop, but then check-raised Cousineau's 180,000 bet the size of the pot. Cousineau simply said, "All in," and Baker got in for around 900,000 total.
Showdown
Baker:
Cousineau:
It was a bad spot for Baker as Cousineau held the better heart draw, an open-ended straight draw, and low outs if it came runner-runner. The turn was a dagger through Baker's heart as it gave Cousineau the said straight, while the sent him out the door in fourth place and putting an end to his dreams of a second bracelet.
Action folded to Randy Ohel in the cutoff and he raised pot. The button and small blind got out of the way, but Chris Bell repotted from the big. Ohel got his stack of 350,000 all in and Bell had him covered.
Showdown
Ohel:
Bell:
The flop was kind to Bell as it gave him a flush draw and a low draw, while the turn improved him to two pair. The river gave Ohel an inferior two pair, and he was eliminated in fifth place.
Ohel, who won Event 22: $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball earlier this series, fell short of his second bracelet, leaving David "ODB" Baker as the only man in this tournament left with a chance of capturing a second bracelet here at the 2012 World Series of Poker.
Randy Ohel limped from the hijack and Viacheslav Zhukov did the same from the cutoff. David "ODB" Baker was on the button and decided to raise the pot, making it 132,000 to go. The small blind got out of the way and Yuval Bronshtein opted to move all in for 140,000 total from the big. Ohel and Zhukov got out of the way and Baker made the call.
"I have the worst hand I've played all day," Baker said before tabling his cards.
Showdown
Bronshtein:
Baker:
Baker has been running well as of late, which was evidenced by the flop. "That's alright, I'll take half," Bronshtein said hoping he'd catch a qualifying low. The turn was a low card but it paired Bronshtein.
That meant Baker would take down the pot with a high card, which is exactly what he did when the peeled off. With that, Bronshtein shook hands with the remaining five players and took his leave in sixth place.
David "ODB" Baker raised to 55,000 from the cutoff only to have Jack Ward three-bet to 201,000 from the button. Both blinds got out of the way, Baker potted, and Ward called off for 259,000 total.
Showdown
Baker:
Ward:
"You can pair that card," Ward told Baker about his four on the , eluding to the fact that he would make a wheel. It was certainly wishful thinking, and a wish that would not come true as the appeared on the turn followed by the on the river.
Ward was all smile as he shook hands with a few players and then exited the stage in seventh place, good for $43,840.
We didn't catch the preflop action, but we do know that on a flop of things exploded between Scotty Nguyen and David "ODB" Baker that resulted in the former being all in for around 240,000.
Showdown
Nguyen:
Baker:
Both players had flopped trip threes, but Baker's ace kicker had him out in front. Nguyen needed some help if he was going to keep the hope of a sixth bracelet alive, but it was not to be as the turn and river blanked.
Nguyen, who finished runner-up in Event #24 $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better earlier this series, exited in eighth place with his second final table of the summer under his belt.
David "ODB" Baker and Roch Cousineau each put in 45,000 preflop and saw a flop of . Cousineau checked and allowed Baker to bet 90,000, but then he sprung to life with a check-raise to 275,000. Baker responded by moving all in for 324,000 more, and Cousineau made the call.
Showdown
Cousineau:
Baker:
Baker held the nut straight, while the turn gave both players the same low. The river changed nothing and Baker took the high and half the low, quartering Cousineau in a very juicy pot.
The first elimination here at the final table has no occurred. It started when the table folded it around to Juan Ramirez on the button. He raised the pot (56,000) and received the call from Roch Cousineau in the big blind.
Flop:
On the flop, Cousineau slid out a stack large enough to put Ramirez all in. Ramirez made the call and the two players turned their hands over.
Ramirez:
Courineau:
Ramirez was in front at this stage, but the on the turn changed that. The on the river changed nothing and it was all over in ninth place for Ramirez.
Daniel McNally got all in preflop for 68,000 and was up against Roch Cousineau.
Showdown
McNally:
Cousineau:
The flop was interesting as it gave Cousineau a pair of sevens and the nut low, while McNally picked up a flush draw. Unfortunately for the latter, he would receive no help on the turn and river, putting an end to his run in tenth place.
Felicia Johnico has just been eliminated in 11th place, which brings us to our "unofficial" final table of 10. The last hand of Johnico's night saw her all in preflop with her extreme short stack, while Roch Cousineau and Viacheslav Zhukov continued playing the hand.
Cousineau and Zhokov both checked the flop and then Cousineau bet 76,000 on the turn. This amount saw Zhokov fold and promtped Cousineau and Johnico to reveal their hands.
Cousineau:
Johnico:
Cousineau had the full house and with an on the river changing nothing, Johnico was eliminated.
flop, but then check-raised Cousineau's 180,000 bet the size of the pot. Cousineau simply said, "All in," and Baker got in for around 900,000 total.
turn was a dagger through Baker's heart as it gave Cousineau the said straight, while the 
sent him out the door in fourth place and putting an end to his dreams of a second bracelet.
flop was kind to Bell as it gave him a flush draw and a low draw, while the 
turn improved him to two pair. The 
river gave Ohel an inferior two pair, and he was eliminated in fifth place.
flop. "That's alright, I'll take half," Bronshtein said hoping he'd catch a qualifying low. The 
turn was a low card but it paired Bronshtein.
. Cousineau checked and allowed Baker to bet 90,000, but then he sprung to life with a check-raise to 275,000. Baker responded by moving all in for 324,000 more, and Cousineau made the call.
![[user162117]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
on the river changed nothing and it was all over in ninth place for Ramirez.
flop was interesting as it gave Cousineau a pair of sevens and the nut low, while McNally picked up a flush draw. Unfortunately for the latter, he would receive no help on the 
