"I said that I was going to knock him out on his birthday, I almost forgot," Frank Kassela said with a big smile as the dealer made reference to something the 2010 WSOP Player of the Year said.
Kassela has just knocked out Brian Hastings on his birthday, and he told us what happened.
Kassela made an eight perfect against Hastings' eight-six and that was it for the former winner of the $10,000 Heads Up Championship.
"I'm just a cynical old man," Kassela added, "I don't give a s**t about birthdays."
The players at the table, including Kassela, laughed. The tournament is now down to 37 players.
Allen Kessler checked to Jason Mercier on a flop of , and he fired out 31,000. David Steicke called in position, Kessler folded, and the turn was the .
Mercier reached into his stack, betting another 62,500, and Steicke tank-called. The completed the board and Mercier emptied the chamber, firing a third and final bullet worth 87,000. Steicke pulled out enough chips to make the call, mulled the decision over for two minutes or so, then committed it.
The two-time WSOP bracelet winner revealed for kings and sixes, and Steicke mucked.
Under unknown circumstances, Phil Ivey has been eliminated. Scott Seiver was kind enough to share a little information about his bust out. Seiver explained that Ivey was very short when he ended up all in with a pair of fours in stud against Seiver's aces. Ivey couldn't improve and was eliminated.
With the elimination, Ivey's rocky summer continued as he's only managed to notch just one cash at the 2014 WSOP.
Calvin Anderson raised to 12,000 from under the gun, Abe Mosseri called in the cutoff, and Mike Leah moved all in for 125,000 on the button. Anderson quickly folded, and Mosseri snap-called, showing .
"I was afraid of that," Leah sighed, waiting a few seconds to show .
"If anybody can do it," said Matt Glantz, "It's Mike Leah."
The flop fell , giving Leah a gut-shot straight draw, and Glantz chuckled. The turn was the , giving him a pair and more outs to survive.
"Wow," Glantz said.
The on the river was a brick, however, and Leah was eliminated shy of the money. Mosseri, on the other hand, is up to 1.1 million.
"This is disgusting," Glantz joked. "The great Abe over one million chips."
We're sure the friendly ribbing will continue at Table 360, as Chris Klodnicki replaced Leah at the table.
After folding to three-bet shove from James Obst, John Hennigan was all in for 135,500 from the hijack seat. Obst called on the button, and the rest of the action folded through.
Hennigan:
Obst:
The dealer fanned , giving Hennigan an unbeatable straight flush, and the players at the table yelled "ohhhhh." The turn and river came , respectively, and Hennigan doubled to 290,500.
Doyle Brunson went through plenty of swings on Day 3 of this tournament but in the end, he couldn't get an upward trend going. On Brunson's final hand he raised and Brock Parker made the call.
The flop brought , as Parker relayed the hand to us, and Parker called a bet. On the turn, another hit and Parker put Brunson all-in for an additional 2,200 after he had bet. Brunson called and tabled , in need of help against Parker's .
The river brought a and Brunson hit the rail not too far from the money.
David Oppenheim completed and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier made it two bets from the next seat over. Brandon Shack-Harris called and it folded back over to Oppenheim who came along as well.
Oppenheim had first action on fourth and fired out a bet. Both of his competitors called and the same action happened on fifth street. On sixth, Oppenheim pulled a jack, giving Shack-Harris first action. He led at the pot and both Oppenheim and Grospellier called.
On seventh, Shack-Harris bet one last time. Oppenheim called and Grospellier flung his hole cards into the muck before dragging in his board cards and tossing them away as well.
"Seven-perfect," said Shack-Harris, showing in the hole.
Oppenheim mucked his hand and Shack-Harris raked in this sizable razz pot. Shack-Harris now has about 690,000 while Oppenheim has dropped to 330,000 and Grospellier to 235,000.
John Monnette moved all in for 6,000 on the button, Abe Mosseri called, and Chris Klodnicki moved all in for 31,000 out of the big blind. Mosseri called.
Player
Draw 1
Draw 2
Draw 3
Mosseri
4
1
1
Klodnicki
1
1
1
Monnette
2
1
Pat
When Mosseri called for four cards on the first draw, several players at the table laughed. When he only had to draw one on the second, the laughs became louder.
On the final draw, the players opened their cards.
Mosseri:
Klodnicki:
Monnette:
Mosseri rolled over a , giving him an eighty-six, and Klodnicki pealed a .
"Another four-card draw for Abe," Mosseri said, grinning and pulling in the pot.
Monnette and Klodnicki were both eliminated, and Mosseri is up over 1.7 million chips.
Day 3 of Event #46: $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, one of the most prestigious events of the 2014 World Series of Poker, is officially in the books! The day began with 55 players returning to the felt and at the end of the night just 22 bagged up. Abe Mosseri holds the chip lead heading into Day 4 with 1.727 million in chips.
Mosseri's rise toward the top of the chip counts began during a confrontation with Mike Leah roughly halfway through the day. During that hand, Calvin Anderson opened with a raise and Mosseri flatted from the cutoff. Leah three-bet shipped all in from the button and Anderson let go of his cards. Mosseri snap-called and tabled pocket queens. Mosseri's ladies were miles ahead of Leah's and they ultimately held to score the knockout. Later in the day, Mosseri eliminated both John Monnette and and Chris Klodnicki in a hand of triple draw where he opened with a four-card draw and finished with an eighty-six.
While Mosseri bagged up the largest stack of the day, other players had stellar days as well. Behind Mosseri in the counts is none other than Brandon Shack-Harris with 1.185 million. Shack-Harris is looking to add to his already stellar summer where he won his first bracelet Event #3: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. Shack-Harris also came runner-up in Event #18: $10,000 Seven-Card Razz Championship and scored a third-place finish in Event #43: $1,500 Limit Hold'em Other players who finished over one million in chips include Matt Glantz (1,083,000), Robert Mizrachi (1,020,000), and Frank Kassela (1,004,000). Start-of-day chip leader Jason Mercier had a roller coaster of a day but survived onto Day 4 with a stack of 375,000.
Other players coming back for Day 4 include Scott Seiver (886,000), 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel (747,000), Jesse Martin (726,000), Melissa Burr (622,000), Todd Brunson (585,000), John Hennigan (263,000), and David Oppenheim (216,000).
Unfortunately for about 60% of today's returning field, the hope of making the money in Event #46 was dashed. Scott Clements, 2009 $50K H.O.R.S.E. champion David Bach, Marco Johnson, Stephen Chidwick, and Josh Arieh were all eliminated from play fairly early in the day. Shaun Deeb had a particularly brutal round of no-limit hold'em, losing five consecutive hands and busting shortly thereafter. Other players eliminated before the bag and tag include Phil Ivey, Eli Elezra, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Brian Hastings, John Juanda, Calvin Anderson, Andy Bloch, and ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson.
Play resumes on Wednesday at 2 p.m. local time where the final 22 players will once again return to the Amazon Room for Day 4 of this illustrious tournament. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide all of the latest coverage from the tournament floor.
Meanwhile, Remko Rinkema spoke with one of the final 22, Melissa Burr, about her roller coaster Day 3. Take a look: