“The Prince of Poker” Scotty Nguyen received airtime-a-plenty, baby, as part of ESPN’s continued coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. On Tuesday night, Day 3 of the $10,000 buy-in tournament aired with a feature table that included Nguyen, Adam Schoenfeld, David Sklansky, and Deuces Cracked founder Chuck Danielsson.
Seated at Table 2 were PokerStars pro Jason Mercier, Allied Network Solutions CEO Ted Bort, and November Niner Filippo Candio. After scooping a major pot, Bort once again began barking like a dog, leading Nguyen, who was seated nearby, to ponder, “Who let the dogs out, baby?” WSOP floor officials ultimately told Bort to stop being disruptive: “You can’t be yelling at the top of your lungs in the middle of a poker tournament.” Bort received a warning; his next infraction would result in a penalty.
Sklansky quickly departed after running 10-9 into A-9, while elsewhere in the room, back-to-back WSOP Main Event champ Johnny Chan claimed the chip lead. 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker was not as fortunate, as the Tennessee native was all-in pre-flop with 10-5 of spades and received a call from a player with K-8 of clubs. Neither player improved and “The Man Who Started it All” headed for the exit.
Following his run-in with Bort on Day 2B, Prahlad Friedman found the rail after running top two pair into a flush. Also busting was Full Tilt’s Erik Seidel, whose J-3 of spades could not draw out on A-8 of clubs. Godsmack’s Sully Erna, a staple of the Main Event, called all-in pre-flop with pocket queens, but ran smack dab into pocket kings and could not improve.
Former European Poker Tour (EPT) champ Sandra Naujoks doubled up through Michael Mizrachi. Despite the setback, all four Mizrachi brothers remained in the field as Day 3 drew to a close. To round out the first of two one-hour episodes, defending Main Event victor Joe Cada was all-in with A-Q, including the queen of spades, and up against pocket tens. Cada added a flush draw when the flop came all spades, but the turn and river blanked out and Cada, consoled by his agent Dan Frank, fled the Amazon Room.
The second episode got underway at 10:00pm ET and began with Michael Mizrachi once again doubling up an opponent. Then, Robert Mizrachi folded to an all-in from Lauren Kling, who may be ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad’s newest crush. At Table 2, Candio made waves by 5betting all-in with pocket sixes and getting Bill Melvin and Mercier to lay down A-K. The Italian showed his cards and earned props from the rest of the table.
Daniel Negreanu departed after flopping two pair and watching an opponent turn a straight. He’s made just two cashes in the Main Event in the new millennium (2001 and 2006). Negreanu, however, has dominated across “The Pond” in London, where he reached the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2008 and 2009.
Heather Sue Mercer was eliminated after running pocket fives into pocket kings, while Danielsson followed suit in similar fashion after running pocket jacks into pocket kings. Jean-Robert Bellande doubled up an opponent who drew out on his pocket queens by making a royal flush.
Candio’s road to the November Nine continued after a raising war pre-flop with Jordan Cristos, who held pocket aces. Candio held pocket kings and by the time the money went into the middle, a pile of 685,000 chips was up for grabs. The board blanked out until a king hit on the river, giving Candio a set and the largest pot of the night. Candio celebrated by rattling off a string of Italian words.
Others who received face time on Tuesday night included Robert Varkonyi, Vanessa Selbst, WSOP Player of the Year leader Frank Kassela, defending WSOP Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman, “The Simpsons” voice Hank Azaria, 2009 WSOP November Niner Eric Buchman, and James Carroll.
Catch the WSOP Main Event on ESPN every Tuesday at 9:00pm ET.
