It’s magic! Antonio Esfandiari, known as “The Magician,” leads the way after Day 3 of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). Esfandiari was also the chip leader after Day 2 and now stands as the only player above one million in chips. A top prize of $870,000 is on the line in the WPT event, which is being housed at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Fifty-four players remain out of a starting grid of 439 and the entire field is in the money. Ali Eslami was the Bubble Boy on Sunday after being ousted from the Five Diamond in 101st place. Eslami committed his chips in a race with A-K against the pocket tens belonging to Scott Vener. There was very little drama when the board ran out Q-7-4-7-J and Eslami departed the Bellagio empty-handed save three days’ worth of memories. The minimum payout in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament was just over $12,000.
DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija sent former WPT Championship winner David Chiu to the rail late in the day. Chiu was all-in before the flop with K-Q of hearts and ran into Makhija’s A-K. The flop came king-high, giving both players a pair, but Makhija remained out in front with an ace kicker. No help came on the turn or river for Chiu, who was ousted in 63rd place for $13,000.
Phil Ivey and Jason Mercier, the top two players on ESPN’s poker rankings dubbed “The Nuts,” were eliminated nearly back-to-back on Sunday from the Bellagio. Mercier was sent packing as part of a double elimination with K-8 against pocket fours and Doug Lee’s pocket nines. Lee flopped a set and never looked back, sending two players to the rail to vault up the leaderboard. He ended the day with a stack of 702,000, which is good for second place overall. However, Lee is still 300,000 behind Esfandiari.
Eliminated shortly after the money bubble popped was former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champ John Juanda. The Full Tilt Poker pro was all-in pre-flop with A-K of spades and up against Will Failla’s pocket kings and Freddy Deeb’s pocket queens. Failla’s superior pocket pair held for the win and Juanda banked $12,000 for his 92nd place finish.
Here are the top 10 chip stacks entering Day 3 of the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic:
1. Antonio Esfandiari – 1,082,500
2. Doug Lee – 702,500
3. Vanessa Rousso – 694,000
4. Freddy Deeb – 654,000
5. Nick Phillips – 559,000
6. Jerry Young – 550,000
7. Ray Dehkharghani – 522,000
8. Charles Caris – 512,000
9. Bryn Kenney – 458,000
10. Kianoosh Mohajeri – 452,000
Other top-flight poker pros who remain in the hunt for the WPT title include:
12. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little – 449,000
13. Doyle Brunson – 446,000
14. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 436,500
15. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger – 434,000
20. Eugene Katchalov – 365,000
22. Will Failla – 345,000
26. Marco Traniello – 315,000
31. Amit “amak316” Makhija – 287,000
37. Andrew “good2cu” Robl – 237,000
38. Andy Frankenberger – 233,000
39. David “Bakes” Baker – 225,500
45. Tim “tmay420” West – 113,500
53. Allen Kessler – 90,500
54. Jeff Shulman – 56,500
There are 15 minutes remaining in Level 15, where the blinds are 2,500-5,000 with an ante of 500. For those who have busted out of the WPT contest, the Bellagio will be holding a $5,000 buy-in tournament today at 2:00pm local time in the Fontana Lounge. Registration will remain open until 6:30pm. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.
