Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier vaulted to the top of the leaderboard Friday evening and will enter Day 4 of the World Series of Poker Main Event as the chip leader with 1,380,500 in chips. Fellow Frenchman Ludovic Lacay is second with 896,000.
Day 3 began with 2,044 players and 789 survivors advanced. With the top 646 spots being paid, we are currently 141 spots from the money, which will likely be reached on Day 4. Everyone that cashes will earn a minimum of $ 21,365.
While the rapid eliminations were eye opening on Day 3, the biggest story was Grospellier. A sudden rush of fear came over the Amazon Room as word got out about Grospellier’s tower of chips that eclipsed the one million mark late in the evening. Most of those came in a pot against Jerry Wong, which gave Grospellier a jolt into the chip lead. With the board reading [9h][7s][2c][Kc][Ah] Wong bet 33,000 and Grospellier raised to 133,300. Wong then moved all in for a total of 390,000, and after a few minutes of thought Grospellier called:
Wong: [Kd][Qs]
Grospellier: [9d][9c]
Grospellier’s set of nines were good and Wong was sent packing. Grospellier, meanwhile, had so many chips in front of him that the tournament staff had to exchange several of his lower denomination chips for higher ones.
“It was a very good day”, Grospellier said after play concluded for the night. “The beginning was pretty slow. Then, I began to get good hands and I picked my spots pretty well. I got good hands and people tried to push me off hands when I would flop sets, so it was pretty good timing. Anyone that was weak and trying to stay alive, I tried to push around but that’s about it.”
Grospellier already has amassed nearly $6 million in live poker tournament winnings, all within the past four years. His major titles include two wins in 2008, at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and the Festa Al Lago Championship. He also finished fourth in the NBC Heads-Up World Championship held earlier this year.
Several former world champions continued play on Day 3 and all but two survived. Bobby Baldwin, Phil Hellmuth, Dan Harrington, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Joe Hachem, and Peter Eastgate all advanced to Day 4, while Greg “Fossilman” Raymer and Carlos Mortensen were eliminated. Other big names joining Raymer and Mortensen on the rail Friday were Humberto Brenes, John Juanda, Liz Lieu, Ville Wahlbeck and actor Jason Alexander.
With Wahlbeck’s elimination on Day 3, Jeffrey Lisandro officially locked up the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year title. When the results became known, Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack took the microphone and approached Lisandro, who was playing at the ESPN feature table. He announced Lisandro’s achievement, which received a nice round of applause. All of Lisandro’s opponents at the table also offered handshakes and congratulatory remarks. Lisandro was eliminated later in the day.
Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts along with some notables heading into Day 4 of the WSOP Main Event:
1. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – 1,380,500
2. Ludovic Lacay – 896,000
3. Jason Brice – 858,500
4. Benjamin Jensen – 835,500
5. Kasper Cordes – 796000
6. James Akenhead – 794,000
7. Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp – 792,000
8. Tyler Patterson – 784,000
9. Adam Bilzerian – 767,000
10. Christian Heich – 735,500
Kenny Tran – 666,500
Justin Bonomo – 517,500
Phil Hellmuth – 485,000
Mike Sexton – 414,000
David Benyamine – 381,500
Phil Ivey – 371,000
Lou Diamond Phillips – 359,500
Alexander Kostritsyn – 340,500
Joe Sebok – 297,500
Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 297,000
Paul Wasicka – 294,000
Peter Eastgate – 292,500
Antonio Esfandiari – 283,500
Joe Hachem – 239,500
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – 232,500
Tom Schneider – 231,000
Dan Harrington – 187,500
Vitaly Lunkin – 159,500
JC Tran – 119,000
Greg “FBT” Mueller – 101,500
Day 4 of the Main Event will get underway at Noon Vegas time on Saturday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuing updates on the 2009 World Series of Poker.
