Gary Tomes opened to 6,000 from the hijack and picked up two callers in Dustin Schoonover from the small blind & Viet Vo in the big blind.
The flop fell 3♥A♠8♠ and once it checked to Tomes, he continued for 7,000. Schoonover then check-raised to 17,000, Vo cold-called, and Tomes got out of the way.
A K♠ landed on the turn and Schoonover checked it over to Vo, who bet 34,500. Schoonover had just under 80,000 in his stack and was in the tank for around four minutes while he contemplated how to proceed. He looked like he was going to call, then fold, but eventually decided to shove for 79,500.
"Oh my god, what the hell," said a shocked Vo, who was laughing to himself at the situation.
"All that time in the tank, it's probably going to work for you," he added. Eventually, after spending a few minutes in the tank himself, Vo called.
"Do you have a flush?" asked Schoonover. "Yeah, I got it," replied Vo.
Dustin Schoonover: A♣K♥
Viet Vo: 9♠3♠
Schoonover couldn't believe it and was up and out the door as soon as the 4♠ hit the river. Vo, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief that his flush was good, which brought his stack to around 240,000.
"Nice hand," said one of the table. Vo responded, "Man, I thought he had it. All that tanking was going to work out for him."
In some parts of the world, they say that three is the magic number. Today sees Day 3 of the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event, the third-biggest Main Event of all time.
With the prize pool confirmed and a cool $10,000,000 awaiting the winner, the surviving field now combines for the very first time as they set their sights on continuing their Main Event journey.
The next stop? The money. From the starting field of 9,735, just 3,453 players remain, and from them, just 1,461 will be guaranteed a $15,000 payout. While it's unclear whether the money will be reached on Day 3 — last year ended 12 off the money — what is clear is that the tension will continue to ramp up as the soft bubble approaches.
2025 WSOP Main Event Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
The WSOP continues to be a global affair with five countries and an unincorporated U.S. territory represented in the top 10 chip counts. Leading the way is Day 2abc leader Oleksii Kravchuk who looks likely to become the first player to reach the million chip mark, starting the day with 937,500. Behind him comes San Kim (799,000)
Other big stacks to end the night were Nazar Buhaiov (633,500), Daniyal Gheba (625,000), Ibrahim Senoussi (625,000), Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Miltiadis Kyriakides (547,500), the "world-famous" Pat Lyons (467,500) and former WSOP Player of the year Josh Arieh (448,500).
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Oleksii Kravchuk
Ukraine
937,500
375
2
San Kim
United States
799,000
320
3
Randall Lack
United States
762,500
305
4
Fernando Rodriguez
Puerto Rico
749,000
300
5
Nicholas Bond
United States
724,500
290
6
David Cabrera Polop
Spain
704,000
282
7
Romain Locquet
France
673,500
269
8
Ryuta Nakai
Japan
648,000
259
9
Thomas Eychenne
France
644,000
258
10
Nazar Buhaiov
Ukraine
633,500
253
Away from the chip leaders, there are six former Main Event champions looking for deep runs, and they are led by Greg Raymer (226,000). Joining him are Phil Hellmuth (187,000), last year's champion Jonathan Tamayo (158,500), Damian Salas (129,000), Greg Merson (123,000) and Johnny Chan (94,500). Two former WSOP Europe Main Event champions are also present in the Day 3 field, with 2023 champion Max Neugebauer (435,000) and Jack Sinclair (120,000).
Phil Hellmuth
Hellmuth is not only joined by his son Phil Hellmuth III (80,500) but four other Hall of Famers with David Oppenheim (149,500) joined by Brian Rast (112,500), Daniel Negreanu (71,000) and Jennifer Harman (56,000).
The PokerNews team are ready for action, bringing you all the updates from the floor at the Paris & Horseshoe casinos. PokerGO will also live-stream cards-up coverage and commentary for the entire 2025 WSOP Main Event until a winner has been crowned in eight days from now.