For the first time during the 2012 World Series of Poker Championship Event, the entirety of the field gathered together in the Amazon Room at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino for Day Three of the event. After three versions of Days One and Two were wrapped up, there were 1738 players who came through the 6598 player minefield to still have the dreams of taking down poker’s greatest championship.
At the start of the day, France’s Gaelle Baumann was the only player who had eclipsed the 500K mark in chips (505,800, to be exact) but, soon after the opening of action at noon yesterday, she had plenty of people joining her in that exclusive club. Jason Somerville was one of those who quickly ascended the leaderboard in what would prove to be a fairly exciting hand. After a bet in front of him, Somerville made the call only to see one of the blinds move all in and the original bettor also push his stack. Somerville made the call, tabling his pocket Jacks over Big Slick and Big Chick. A K-K-J flop furthered Somerville’s lead to a full house (and left Big Slick looking for an Ace or the case King and Big Chick virtually drawing dead). Once the board completed with a ten on the turn and a deuce on the river, Somerville had catapulted up to 550K in chips.
Another contender from the opening days of the WSOP Championship Event also made his way into the 500K club. Nghi Van Tran would knock heads with 2008 World Champion Peter Eastgate on a 3♣ 2♥ 5♥ flop that eventually saw Eastgate put his tournament life on the line. Once the cards were turned, Tran’s pocket tens would have to fade a world of Eastgate draws with his A♥ 6♥. Tran was able to do that when a seven on the turn and an eight on the river failed to connect with the former World Champion, pushing Tran’s stack to 500K.
About this same time, the tournament lost its defending champion. Starting off on the short stack, reigning champion Pius Heinz found a spot to push while holding pocket sixes. Unfortunately for him, Gioang Nguyen looked down to find pocket Aces and immediately made the call. Once the board ran dry for Heinz, he was gone and there will be a new World Champion in 2012.
And this was just within the first hour of play!
For her part, Baumann would spend much of the day spinning her wheels. Although she would fall from the lead around the midpoint of the afternoon’s play, she was able to keep her head above water and maintain a strong chip stack. By the end of the Day Three action, the Frenchwoman had slightly increased her stack to around 599K, making her a strong contender to make the money if not drive even deeper into the tournament.
While Baumann slipped down the leaderboard a bit, there were players more than happy to take her place. By the early evening hours, A. J. Jejelowo had emerged as a contender by pushing his stack up to 776K. Jejelowo would ride that stack to the dinner break, by which time Ben Alcober (940K) and Armando Fernandez (850K) would pass him for the lead.
When the players returned from the dinner break, an important milestone was passed for this year’s WSOP Championship Event. As the clock approached 9PM, the 1000-players remaining mark was cracked. With 666 players receiving a payday from this tournament, there was still a great deal of work left to be done for the evening, however.
Jejelowo was able to get off to a nice start following dinner, but Alcober kept the lead by keeping pace with him, moving over the million chip mark in the process. As these two jousted with each other, the final level of the night would provide a new challenger for the 2012 World Championship.
Having avoided much attention throughout the day, Dave D’Alesandro mounted a charge that would push him into the chip lead by the end of action early this morning. On one of the last hands of the night, he would eliminate an all-in opponent when his pocket Jacks were able to withstand the assault of his foe’s A-9. That hand would push his stack over the one million mark and would ensure that he will get much more attention today:
1. Dave D’Alesandro, 1.1 million
2. Sean Rice, 1.076 million
3. Jacob Balsiger, 1.065 million
4. Leo Wolpert, 1.003 million
5. Eric Greenberg, 963,000
6. A. J. Jejelowo, 928,500
7. Daniel Rubb, 834,500
8. Jonathan Seelbach, 824,000
9. Michael Ferrell, 821,000
10. Paul Volpe, 820,000
There are a few “big dogs” that have been able to stake themselves in the Top 50 and might just have something in store for the leaders. After making a miraculous double up to keep her in the fight, Vanessa Selbst is just off the Top Ten in twelfth place with her 814K in chips. Alcober faltered a bit through the late night hours, but he will have 789,500 in ammunition (14th) for Day Four’s fight. Also in the Top 50 are Erik Hellman (18th, 746K), Sorel Mizzi (19th, 738K), Vivek Rajkumar (23rd, 678K), John Phan (24th, 655K), Marc Karam (28th, 650K), Somerville (34th, 637K), Marcel Luske (45th, 602K), Baumann (46th, 599K), Shaun Deeb (47th, 598K) and Erik Cajelais (50th, 585,500).
With over 1000 players eliminated through the day, there are some familiar faces that will have to pass the time somewhere other than the Amazon Room. John Racener, Vicky Coren, Karina Jett, Barry Greenstein and former World Champions Dan Harrington, Robert Varkonyi and Jerry Yang, along with Eastgate and Heinz.
Today’s Day Four action will have a heavy dose of drama to welcome the players back to the felt. With 720 players left, 54 of those players will come back for nothing other than the honor of having made it this deep in the Championship Event. The money bubble should burst at some point in the late afternoon, more than likely, and the first payouts from the $62 million prize pool will start flowing out to players who can add a cash in the 2012 World Series of Poker Championship Event to their poker resumes.