Another 10 levels are in the book and only 17 remain in Event #46: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low 8-or-Better. The day began with 139 players all still alive attempting to make it to the final 45 and beyond, but at the end of the day the money bubble was breached and only 17 were left standing.
Plenty of notables fell just short of the money while some made it through the money and fell after. Some of those to fall short of the money were Eric Baldwin, Huck Seed, Thomas Keller, Yueqi Zhu, Jeff Madsen, and Matt Giannetti among others. Right on the bubble, Ali Eslami was eliminated by Ari Engel when Engel caught a flush and a better low to send him packing. After the bubble there were plenty of notables left alive, but they too fell one by one until there was just two tables remaining. Some of the notables who made the money but failed to travel further were Amnon Filippi, Gavin Smith, Mike Matusow, Raymond Davis, Tom Koral and Mark Gregorich.
Coming in with the chip lead tomorrow is Alexey Makarov who cruised under the radar building his stack all day long. Although we didn't catch Makarov play any huge pot, he was able to build up the biggest stack in the room and will lead the final 17 players when they return at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow. Just behind Makarov are John O'Shea, Zhen Cai, and Ashly Butler. Butler was on a short stack for most of the day but was able to pick it up in the last few levels of the night to end as one of the chips leaders.
The players will return to the Amazon Room tomorrow where they will battle it out to a winner. Seventeen players remain, but only one can claim the bracelet so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews.com where we'll bring you all the updates from Day 3 of Event #46: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low 8-or-Better.
From under the gun, Dylan Linde opened to 14,000. He found one caller from "Miami" John Cernuto in the small blind.
The flop came down and Cernuto check called a bet of 19,000 from Linde.
The turn was the and this time, Cernuto check raised all in over the top of a pot bet from Linde. Linde called and the two went to show down.
Cernuto:
Linde:
Cernuto was ahead, both players were tied for the low, but Linde was live with a flush draw and could pair any of his cards to take down the hand. The river was the though, keeping Cernuto in the lead with his high, and that was good to take three-fourths of the pot.
We didn't see any of the action but Joe Hachem was holding against an Robert Price's and the board ran out eliminating Hachem from the tournament in a very cruel fashion as Price rivered trips with his one live card.
At the same time Bryan Andrews was also eliminated at another table.
Brian Hacker opened the button to 10,000 only to have Michael Sanders three-bet the pot to 34,000 from the small. Gavin Smith then moved all in for 39,500 from the big blind and both Hacker and Sanders called.
The flop fell and Sanders moved all in for 22,500 and Hacker called.
Smith:
Hacker:
Sanders:
The turn and river landed the and and Smith was sent to the rail as Sanders scooped a huge pot to move to 165,000 while Hacker slipped to 70,000.
Action began with Allyn Jaffrey Shulman who made it 14,000 before the flop. "Miami" John Cernuto called in position.
The flop came down and Shulman continued with a bet of 20,000. Cernuto called without much thought.
The turn was the and very quickly Shulman announced pot, which ended up being 78,000. Cernuto went deep into the tank and counted his chips multiple times to try to figure out how much he would have behind if he called and lost, as well as how much exactly Shulman had behind, which was 32,000.
He was in the tank for nearly 5 minutes before he finally slid in the chips for a call. The river fell the and Shulman quickly went all in, and Cernuto called.
Shulman tabled which was good for a pair of aces and the nut low. Cernuto showed his for a pair of kings and the same low. With that, Cernuto received just a quarter of the pot and he was cut down while Shulman stacked her newly found chips. That pot pushed Shulman closer to the chip lead and put her inside the top five chip stacks in the room.
Ari Engel opened to 7,000 from the hi-jack and Ali Eslami made the call from the small blind to see a flop fall.
Eslami checked and Engel continued for 7,000 before Eslami check-raised to 16,000 leaving himself a single 500-denomination chips. Engel called - originally believing it was an all in - but then committed the additional chip when the landed on the turn. Eslami called and was at risk of being the bubble boy.
Eslami:
Engel:
With Eslami needing a diamond, ace, king, jack or five to stay alive, the river would land the to end his tournament on the stone bubble.
After a raise of 7,000 from Zhen Cai, David Baker moved all in over the top for about 16,000 more. Action folded back to Cai who went into the tank.
"This is the worst hand I've played all tournament," Cai said.
"Feel free to throw it away," Baker replied. "I know I've got you crushed so just pitch it so we can stop wasting time."
"Well, I guess this is how you win tournaments," Cai said before finally tossing in a call.
Cai:
Baker:
"Wow, you do have me crushed," Cai said to Baker upon seeing the hands.
The board rolled out giving Baker the a sixty-four low and a pair of threes for the win, doubling him up just a few eliminations away from the payout spots.
In a battle of the blinds we found Matt Woodward and Vladimir Shchmelev committing 22,500 each before the flop was spread by the dealer.
Woodward checked and Shchmelev bet out 20,000 before Woodward called all-in for roughly that amount.
Woodward:
Shchmelev:
With Woodward holding a virtual lock on the high with his flopped full house, the on the turn would give Shchmelev a low.
However it would be the devastating on the river that would see the whole pot over to Shchmelev as Woodward would be forced to make a nasty exit to the rail after being hit with Shchmelev's one-outer.
After a raise and a call preflop, Manuel Bevand and Gavin Smith took to a flop heads up. On that flop of Smith had a bet of 13,200 in front of him and was waiting for Bevand to act.
"Look, you can either put it in and I'll call, or you can pay me $4 and I'll show you the hand after you fold," Smith told Bevand. Eventually, Bevand folded, but he had his headphones on so he couldn't hear Smith's deal.
"Pay me four American dollars and you can see this hand," Smith told Bevand, who shook his head and declined the offer.
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman wasn't having it though. "I'll pay you the $4," She told Smith.
Smith obliged and turned up his and Shulman reached into her purse and paid him $4.
"I just want everyone to know that I played trips," Smith said after the hand.
"I know what you wanted those for," she said. "You wanted more tip money for drinks!"
Everyone at the table laughed and Smith collected the pot and an extra $4.
Mike Matusow found himself all in for his last 21,600 against Gary Bolden on a flop.
Matusow:
Bolden:
The turn and river ran out the and and Matusow doubled through.
The next hand he opened to 6,000 and Bolden made the call before Matusow bet pot - 15,600 - on the flop.
As Bolden was deliberating, Matusow stated, "get one more double up and you're all playing for 2nd boys!"
Bolden eventually mucked, and Matusow flashed his .
"I don't think I've had back-to-back ace-ace-deuce in my life!"
Matusow - who at one point early last level was down to just a few thousand courtesy of a river beat at the hands of Raymond Davis - has now built his stack back up to over 50,000 in chips.
and Cernuto check called a bet of 19,000 from Linde.
and this time, Cernuto check raised all in over the top of a pot bet from Linde. Linde called and the two went to show down.
though, keeping Cernuto in the lead with his 
high, and that was good to take three-fourths of the pot.
against an Robert Price's 
and the board ran out 
![[user80015]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Sanders moved all in for 22,500 and Hacker called.
and 
and Shulman continued with a bet of 20,000. Cernuto called without much thought.
and Shulman quickly went all in, and Cernuto called.
for a pair of kings and the same low. With that, Cernuto received just a quarter of the pot and he was cut down while Shulman stacked her newly found chips. That pot pushed Shulman closer to the chip lead and put her inside the top five chip stacks in the room.
landed on the turn. Eslami called and was at risk of being the bubble boy.
and Shulman reached into her purse and paid him $4.
and 
