Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship Day 3 | 2013 World Series of Poker

07-02-2013 12:54 UTC-7

Doyle Brunson Among 78 Players Returning for Day 3 Action

Chad Holloway

Welcome back to the 2013 World Series of Poker Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship. What started with 132 players (up 24 from 2012) is now down to 78 after ten levels of play. Today, those players will return to the Tan Section in the Amazon Room for five more levels of play, and while we don't expect to hit the money at 16, we should come fairly close.

The man best position to make a run at the $1,774,089 first-place prize is David Benyamine, who bagged up the chip lead last night with 729,000. Other notables still in contention include Jonathan Duhamel (666,100), Matthew Ashton (635,500), Troy Burkholder (623,000), Jean Gaspard (600,100), Brian Rast (489,500), Shaun Deeb (453,600), Justin Bonomo (343,600), Joe Hachem (326,000), Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (325,000), Huck Seed (309,400), Erick Lindgren (276,000) and Doyle Brunson (265,000).

This marks the first event of the summer for Brunson, a ten-time bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer. The veteran had stated that he would not be playing the 2013 WSOP, but apparently he couldn't resist the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship and the many prop bets he has made around it.

Brunson almost lost all of those bets late last night. He was down to just 40,000 at the start of Level 10, but by the end of it he'd increase that sixfold. That was thanks to doubles through Jennifer Harman and Cole South, with lady luck smiling on the ten-time bracelet winner on the latter double.

Rest assured we'll be keeping an eye on Brunson and all of your favorite poker players throughout the day. Day 3 will begin at at 2 p.m. PDT, which is about an hour from now. Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team then for all the action and eliminations from another day of action here in Event #55: The $50,000 Poker Players' Championship.

Tags: Doyle Brunson

07-02-2013 15:02 UTC-7

Former Champ Sentenced to Hang

Chad Holloway

Level 11

Pot-Limit Omaha

Back in 2011, Brian Rast won this event for $1.7 million. As one of only two former champ still in the field (the other is David Bach), Rast is looking to join Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi on becoming just the second players to win the title twice. Unfortunately his chances of doing that just took a big hit.

We caught the action with a little over 200,000 in the pot and a board reading . Rast was in the small blind and squaring off against Tommy Hang, who was in the big. Rast was first to act and slid out a hefty bet of 200,00 and Hang thought for about 30 seconds before announcing that he was all in for a bit over 400,000 total. Rast only had 132,000 behind and preserved it with a quick fold.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tommy Hang	800,000 400,000	400,000
Brian Rast	132,000 -18,000	-18,000

Tags: Tommy Hang Brian Rast

07-02-2013 15:41 UTC-7

McCormick Gets Aced

Mateusz_Pater

Level 11

The action folded around to John Juanda, who opened from the hijack, before Tom McCormick committed the last of his chips in.

“I have to call,” sighed Juanda, before rolling over his .

McCormick quickly stood up from his chair, after tabling his , and watched as the board came down , to see him eliminated from the tournament, just short of the break.

Player	Chips	Progress
John Juanda	230,000

Tom McCormick	Busted

Tags: John Juanda Tom McCormick

07-02-2013 16:21 UTC-7

Duhamel Takes out Ausmus

Mateusz_Pater

Level 12

No Limit Hold’em

Jeremy Ausmus opened to 10,000 from under the gun, as the action folded around to Jonathana Duhamel in the small blind. He raised it up to 20,500, before Ausmus opted to move all in for his remaining 91,500 in chips. He was snap called, as the cards were turned over.

Ausmus:
Duhamel:

The board ran out , to see Ausmus eliminated shortly after returning from the break.

“If they bring my food, just tell them what happened,” joked Ausmus, who received a collection of laughs from each of his opponents on the table, as he made his way towards the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Duhamel	690,000 105,000	105,000

Jeremy Ausmus	Busted

Tags: Jeremy Ausmus Jonathan Duhamel

07-02-2013 17:33 UTC-7

Mercier Shown No Mercy

Chad Holloway

Level 12

Pot-Limit Omaha

We caught the action on a flop with approximately 110,000 in the pot. Jason Mercier had moved all in from the big blind for his last 41,800 and David Benyamine called from the under-the-gun position. Kevin Song then raise the size of the pot from the button and drove Benyamine from the hand.

Song:
Mercier:

Song had flopped a set and had Mercier in dire straights. A queen was Mercier's best bet, but neither the turn nor river were the lady he was looking for. With that, Mercier grabbed his backpack and made a hasty exit from the tournament floor.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Benyamine	700,000 -50,000	-50,000

Kevin Song	520,000 150,000	150,000

Jason Mercier	Busted

Tags: Kevin Song Jason Mercier David Benyamine

07-02-2013 17:41 UTC-7

Massive Three-Way Pot Sees Ashton Vault to Nearly 800K

Chad Holloway

Level 12

Pot-Limit Omaha

We're not sure of all the details, but we do know a massive hand just went down over in the corner of the room. We arrived on the flop to discover a three-way betting war created a nearly 900,000 pot with Todd Brunson and Matthew Ashton all in against Brandon Cantu.

Ashton:
Brunson:
Cantu:

To say it was an action flop would be an understatement. Brunson, who had the shortest stack, had flopped a wrap while Ashton, who was in for 307,000, had top set and a flush draw. Cantu, who had them both covered, was drawing to an open-ended straight and the nut flush draw.

A large crowd of players gathered around the table to sweat the action, but all the excitement came to a sudden halt when the dealer burned and turned the , giving Ashton a full house and the guaranteed win. After the meaningless was put out on the river, Brunson exited the tournament area and Cantu shipped the vast majority of his chips to Ashton, who is now the chip leader.

Player	Chips	Progress
Matthew Ashton	800,000 360,000	360,000

Brandon Cantu	54,000 -256,000	-256,000

Todd Brunson	Busted

Tags: Brandon Cantu Matthew Ashton Todd Brunson

07-02-2013 18:55 UTC-7

Hastings Eliminated

Mateusz_Pater

Level 13

No Limit Hold’em

Jonathan Duhamel opened to 12,000 from the hijack, before Mike Gorodinsky bumped it up to 28,500. Brian Hastings looked over at Gorodinsky’s stacked, before announcing all in, for around 100,000 in chips. Duhamel quickly got out of the way, before Gorodinsky made the call, as both players tabled their cards.

Gorodinsky:
Hastings:

The board ran out , to see Hastings hit the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Hastings	Busted

Tags: Brian Hastings Jonathan Duhamel Mike Gorodinsky

07-02-2013 19:11 UTC-7

Doyle Brunson Eliminated

donpeters

Level 13

Stud

Doyle Brunson, the "Godfather of Poker" and 10-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner, has been eliminated.

Doyle Brunson: () /
Ofir Mor: () /

All of Brunson's chips went in on sixth street against Ofir Mor when he held two pair, sevens and sixes. Unfortunately for Brunson, Mor had a better two pair with aces and tens. Brunson finished with the on seventh street, which didn't help him improve, and he was eliminated. Mor finished with the .

Brunson, who has cashed for $398,880 in the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship over the years, will not be adding to his impressive tournament record in this event. He also will not be collecting on any of the bets he made at the beginning of this event.

For Brunson, this was the first event he played this summer, and it may be the only event. Coming into the 2013 WSOP, Brunson stated that he was going to pass on tournament play, but did alter that decision to play this event. Whether or not he will be back for another remains to be seen, but you can keep your eyes locked here on PokerNews for all the latest.

Player	Chips	Progress
Doyle Brunson	Busted

Tags: Doyle Brunson Ofir Mor

07-02-2013 19:21 UTC-7

Cantu Busts

Mateusz_Pater

Level 13

Greg Mueller opened to 12,000 from under the gun, before Betrand Grospellier bumped it up with his own raise. Brandon Cantu moved all in for just over 30,000, before Mueller also announced all in, forcing a fold from Grospellier.

Mueller:
Cantu:

The flop was good for Cantu, as it fell , but Mueller took the lead when the fell on the turn. The was no help for Cantu, as he made his way out of the tournament floor.

Brandon Cantu @brandoncantu

Out coldest beats I have ever taken played perfect today horrifically unluckyJuly 02 2013

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Player	Chips	Progress
Greg Mueller	335,000

Bertrand Grospellier	225,000 -205,000	-205,000

Brandon Cantu	Busted

Tags: Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier Brandon Cantu Greg Mueller

07-02-2013 21:35 UTC-7

Bohlman Busts

[user101598]

Level 14

Stud-8

Scott Bohlman: / /
Andrey Zaichenko: / /

Bohlman completed, Zaichenko raised, and Bohlman called. Bohlman check-called a bet on fourth, then check-called all in on fifth.

Bohlman:
Zaichenko:

Sixth street gave Bohlman the lead with fours and deuces, but Zaichenko made a low on sixth. He then ripped over a second three - the - to give him a better two pair, and Bohlman was unable to make a better two pair or full house when he turned over the on seventh.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Zaichenko	240,000 156,000	156,000

Scott Bohlman	Busted