Par BJ Nemeth
Jour 3 came to an end at 12:23 am ET when the field reached the final 27 players (from a record-setting field of 1,042). Here are the official chip counts, along with the number of big blinds in each stack. (The action is in Level 25, avec des stores à 12,000-24,000 et 3,000 ante.)
1. Brandon Novena - 3,343,000 (139 b)
2. David Grana - 2,224,000 (92 b)
3. Michael Simhai - 2,032,000 (84 b)
4. John D'Agostino - 1,933,000 (80 b)
5. Olivier Busquet - 1,676,000 (69 b)
6. Lee Childs - 1,579,000 (65 b)
7. Christian Iacobellis - 1,560,000 (65 b)
8. Sean Nolan - 1,559,000 (64 b)
9. Daniel Makowsky - 1,483,000 (61 b)
10. Dwyte Pilgrim - 1,300,000 (54 b)
11. Jeff Papola - 1,214,000 (50 b)
12. Kia Mohajeri - 1,211,000 (50 b)
13. Emad Alabsi - 1,000,000 (41 b)
14. Matthew Kolodziej - 973,000 (40 b)
15. Ofir Mor - 971,000 (40 b)
16. Benjamin Klier - 867,000 (36 b)
17. Rick Bordain - 866,000 (36 b)
18. Andrew Youngblood - 737,000 (30 b)
19. Mike Sexton - 640,000 (26 b)
20. Kyle Loman - 637,000 (26 b)
21. Sachin Ramrakhani - 632,000 (26 b)
22. Vichien Siprajim - 553,000 (23 b)
23. Kent Beaver - 550,000 (22 b)
24. Anthony Harb - 543,000 (22 b)
25. Douglas Kim - 538,000 (22 b)
26. Robert Infanzon - 385,000 (16 b)
27. John Leonard - 240,000 (10 b)
L'attribution officielle des sièges a également été publiée, et vous pouvez les retrouver en cliquant ici.
With all the basic data out of the way, here's a photographic look back at Day 3 of the WPT Borgata Poker Open.
Marc Goldman showed up to Day 3 more than an hour late. Fortunately, Goldman started the day fifth in chips, and an hour of blinds barely dented his stack. (A corner of the bag was ripped open so the dealer could properly blind off the chips.) Goldman survived through the money bubble, and finished in 511ère place, gagnant $10,340.
Giuseppe Pantaleo adds someone else's chips to his towering stack in the early levels of Day 3. Pantaleo started the day second in chips with 668,100.
Melanie Iglesias, Royal Flush Girl, suit les progrès de son ami Irv Gotti shortly before the field reached the money. Gotti has played in about a dozen major tournaments in recent years, but this marked his first successful cash. While the $9,339 il a gagné pour 56La 1ère place ne signifie pas grand chose pour le producteur de musique à succès, Gotti était extrêmement fier d'obtenir sa première arrivée dans l'argent.
Kimberly Lansing a interviewé Irv Gotti sur ce que signifie obtenir son premier argent, et vous pouvez regarder la vidéo en cliquant ici.
Avec 102 players remaining, the final 12 tables began hand-for-hand play until two more players were eliminated. Travell Thomas was the short-stack on the bubble with about 20,000 in chips -- less than a starting stack on Day 1. Thomas successfully folded his way through the money bubble, and then busted in 97ème place, gagnant $6,671 in the first WPT tournament that he ever entered.
Après que le terrain ait atteint l'argent, Giuseppe Pantaleo était devenu le chipleader. Pantaleo had so many chips that he needed help carrying the racks when he had to move to a new table. As it turned out, he also needed help holding onto his chips, because Pantaleo busted late in the day in 311ère place.
Avec 50-something players left in the field, Lee Childs (à gauche) joue une main contre Mike Sexton (en haut à droite). Sexton was the aggressor preflop, three-betting Childs, but then Childs raised back after Sexton bet out on a flop of [10c5s4c]. Sexton tanked for several minutes before he forfeited the pot à Childs.
Dwyte Pilgrim a été considéré comme l'un des meilleurs joueurs de poker de tournois de « ligue mineure » du jeu, earning more than $740,000 in smaller events since he began playing the tournament circuit two years ago. While he has earned three rings on the WSOP Circuit, Pilgrim said, "The circuit ring is definitely a great accomplishment. … That's a great place to start, but you know, the WPT is the place to be. World renowned." This is Pilgrim's first cash in a WPT event, but he has his eyes firmly focused on making the televised final table, surviving Day 3 with an above-average stack of 1,300,000. Pilgrim added, "Last year, I think I was the 'Rookie of the Year.' This is my first year contending with the big dogs."
Even when he's out of focus, Mike Sexton is still recognizable as the Poker Hall of Famer that he is. When Sexton originally signed on to be a commentator for WPT final tables, his contract stipulated that he couldn't play in any events (except for the WPT Celebrity Invitational). In the last few years, that restriction has been removed, and Sexton plays a few events each year. This marks his first cash in a WPT event, and it came on the day before his birthday. Yes, Wednesday is Mike Sexton's birthday, and he'd probably like to gift himself by reaching the final six -- Sexton is still alive with 640,000 en chips.
Brandon Novena (debout, au centre) célèbre après avoir éliminé Andrew Badecker (assis, à droite) sur un bad beat. Badecker three-bet all in from the big blind with [AhJs], and Novena tank-called with [As9s]. Novena paired his nine on the flop to bust Badecker in 30th place and increase the size of his own chip stack. Novena had a rough start to this tournament, dropping down to less than 1,400 en chips le jour 1. But Novena not only survived, he thrived. He went on a rush in the second half of Day 3 to finish the day with a huge chip lead -- nobody else finished within a million of Novena's 3,343,000.
Avec 28 players remaining after midnight, play continued until one more player was eliminated. Defending champion Olivier Busquet (foreground, bottom right) was the big story at Table #3, and he finished the day fifth in chips with 1,676,000. Olivier Busquet pourrait-il devenir le premier joueur de l’histoire à défendre avec succès un titre WPT l’année suivante ? You'll have to follow the live updates on Wednesday to find out if he can reach the final six.
Dans la dernière main du jour 3, Saturnino Rodriguez (far left, wearing black) and John D'Agostino (seated, center) got it all in on a board of [9c7c2c]. Rodriguez's [AsKh] (ace high) could only hope for a flush on the board to chop the pot against D'Agostino's [9d9s] (set of nines). But the final board showed [9c7c2c8h10c] to give the pot to D'Agostino. The chip stacks had to be counted down to see who had more chips, and this photo was taken as it was determined that Saturnino Rodriguez had been eliminated in 28th place -- bringing Day 3 to an end at 12:23 suis ET.
John D'Agostino started Day 3 as the chipleader and finished the day fourth in chips with 1,933,000. But it wasn't an easy ride in between, as D'Agostino was up and down for a while. D'Agostino has experience on his side; while he has taken a tournament hiatus in recent years to focus on cash games, he has made two televised WPT final tables here at Borgata in 2005 et 2006. (This photo was taken moments after the final hand, right before D'Agostino counted and bagged his chips.)
Dwyte Pilgrim was one of the 27 surviving players at the end of the night, et la 1.3 million in chips in this bag puts him slightly above average heading into Day 4.
Jour 4 commence demain (mercredi) à 11:00 am ET, when the final 27 players return to play their way down toward the televised WPT final table (six players). While all of the action to this point has been in the Borgata's Event Center, Day 4 will take place in the Borgata Poker Room. Why? So the WPT Crew can transform the ballroom into the stage for Thursday's final table.
Revenez sur WorldPokerTour.com pour une couverture complète en direct, y compris le nombre de jetons, des photos et des interviews vidéo avec Kimberly Lansing.