With about 135,000 in the middle on a 3♣2♦2♥ flop, Senhao Cao checked the big blind with only 35,000 behind, and Jeremy Pekarek bet 35,000 in middle position.
Cao exhausted all his time extensions with the possibility of a pay jump before he put in his remaining chips.
Senhao Cao: A♥4♦
Jeremy Pekarek: Q♠Q♦
Cao needed an ace or five to survive, but the 6♥ turn and 8♣ river bricked out and he was eliminated.
Action folded to Girish Reknar in the cutoff who raised to 50,000. Noah Bronstein was in the big blind and after a moment of thought, arrived at the decision to jam. Reknar called off his smaller stack, setting up a runout and putting himself at risk.
Girish Reknar: J♦J♥
Noah Bronstein: A♦Q♣
The board ran out 7♣4♣4♠9♥3♦, securing a full fouble for Reknar and leaving Bronstein on less than 10 big blinds.
Leonardo Castro was eliminated by Jonathan Borenstein in one of the first hands of the day.
Castro had moved all in for around 180,000 with K♥J♥ as he was called by Borenstein with Ax10x and couldn't pull ahead as the board bricked out to make him the first elimination of the day.
The first PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas Main Event in 12 years has reached it's Day 3 session with 34 players remaining from 1,095 entries who will head to Resorts World Las Vegas to take their seats in an attempt to march towards a final table appearance and ultimately, an NAPT Main Event title.
Sitting atop the field when Day 3 gets underway will be Anthony Dianaty who could do wrong late on Day 2, consistently adding to his growing chip stack throughout the last few levels of the night to bag 3,220,000. There is no easy path to victory, though, as the field is peppered with names that will undoubtedly be a big problem for anyone looking to run away with the title. Among the final 34 are Nick Schulman, who bagged a top three stack worth 1,860,000, two-time bracelet winner Scott Ball (1,785,000), Aaron Massey (1,425,000), three-time bracelet winner Ryan Leng (770,000), David Jackson (570,000) and the world's most subscribed poker YouTube vlogger, Masato Yokosawa, who will sit down behind 995,000 when play resumes.
Top Ten Stacks Coming into Day 3
RANK
PLAYER
COUNTRY
CHIP COUNT
BIG BLINDS
1
Anthony Dianaty
USA
3,220,000
129
2
Liran Betito
Israel
1,885,000
75
3
Nick Schulman
USA
1,860,000
74
4
Jonathan Borenstein
USA
1,855,000
74
5
Scott Ball
USA
1,785,000
71
6
Sergio Aido
Spain
1,635,000
65
7
Aditya Prasetyo
USA
1,435,000
57
8
Aaron Massey
USA
1,425,000
57
9
Timothy Rutherford
Canada
1,305,000
52
10
Ryan Yu
Canada
1,225,000
The field started Day 2 with 252 players and whittled it's way down to the top 159 that would receive a payout, but bubble play was long and brutal as the room saw multiple come-from-behind doubles on the stone bubble, including a runner-runner straight to crack aces and keep hand-for-hand play going for well over an hour. Once the bubble had finally burst, action picked back up with a slew of all-ins and calls taking place over the next hour to cut the field down even further.
NAPT Main Event Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$268,945
18
$10,495
2
$168,175
19
$10,495
3
$120,130
20
$10,495
4
$92,410
21
$9,125
5
$71,080
22
$9,125
6
$54,680
23
$9,125
7
$42,060
24
$7,935
8
$32,355
25
$7,935
9
$24,885
26
$7,935
10
$19,140
27
$7,935
11
$19,140
28
$6,905
12
$15,950
29
$6,905
13
$15,950
30
$6,905
14
$13,875
31
$6,905
15
$13,875
32
$6,005
16
$12,070
33
$6,005
17
$12,070
34
$6,005
Players that made Day 2 but couldn't survive to the Day 3 session included David Dongwoo Ko, Dean Morrow, Brandon Cantu, Landon Tice and PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot, who was left short late in the day after a blind versus blind confrontation, busting just a few hands later.
Parker Talbot
Action for Day 3 will pick up at 12:00 p.m. local time with 75-minute levels and blinds of 10,000/25,000 and a big blind ante of 25,000. Today's action will also be live-streamed with cards up over on PokerStars' YouTube channel starting at 12:30 p.m. PST.
Keep the station stuck on PokerNews to get up-to-date coverage of the exciting conclusion from the floor of the 2023 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event!
