Mash is the Chip Leader for the Second Straight Day in Seniors Event
What a day it was in Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship! The atmosphere was friendly and lively, yet fierce and competitive as the field narrowed to the final 19 players. The rail kept growing in the Amazon Room throughout the night, and spectators were truly treated to a show.
Day 2 chip leader Howard Mash (13,990,000) went wire-to-wire and finished Day 3 atop the leaderboard once again. Mash narrowly edged out Jean-René Fontaine (12,250,000), Farhad Jamasi (10,425,000) and Alan Ho (10,065,000), and that quartet of players were the only ones to finish the night above the 10-million chip mark.
The competition will be fierce when players return to finish the tournament on Day 4, as players like Dennis Brand (9,045,000), James McNurlan (8,800,000), Adam Richardson (7,975,000) and Roger Stewart (7,105,000) are right on the heels of the leaders.
The tournament was scheduled to play down to a final six on Day 3, but after 10 hour-long levels 19 players still remained, and many of them have plenty of chips. The final 19 will return to the Rio Sunday at 12 noon and play down to a winner, and it’s truly anybody’s tournament to win.
With the WSOP bracelet and a first prize of $662,594, Day 4 will no doubt be highly competitive. Mash will be chasing the biggest cash of his career, as his previous best is a $49,935 cash at the 2018 Wynn Summer Classic.
Fontaine is an EPT champion, taking down the EPT Barcelona National for a €547,000 in 2018. He’ll be looking to add another six-figure payday, as well as a WSOP bracelet, to his career accomplishments.
Notable bustouts on Day 3 included Layne Flack. The six-time WSOP bracelet winner busted out on the final level of the day, losing a nearly 10-million chip pot to Jamasi after going all in with a flopped combo draw that didn’t improve.
Barry Greenstein finished 57th ($10,122), Victor Ramdin finished 63rd( $10,122), Joe Schulman, who made the final table of this event last year, finished 64th ($8,410), and John Esposito finished 70th ($8,410).
Day 3 started with 252 players, and only 19 remain as this entertaining event comes to a finish on Sunday. Blinds will return to 80,000-160,000, with a 160,000 big blind ante, after 10 levels were completed on Day 3.
Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team to see who takes the bracelet as the Seniors Event reaches its climax!
Final day seating and chip counts
| Room | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 1 | 1 | Mansour Alipourfard | United States | 7,625,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 2 | Adam Richardson | United States | 7,975,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 3 | Mike Lisanti | Canada | 6,000,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 4 | Ali Zihni | United Kingdom | 7,300,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 5 | Donald Matusow | United States | 2,885,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 8 | Dane Nielsen | United States | 5,205,000 |
| Amazon | 1 | 9 | Jean Fontaine | France | 12,250,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 2 | Howard Mash | United States | 13,990,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 3 | Samir Husaynue | United States | 1,850,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 4 | Roger Stewart | United States | 7,105,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 5 | Farhad Jamasi | United States | 10,425,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 6 | Valerie Roussel-Galle | France | 3,400,000 |
| Amazon | 2 | 8 | Mats Karlsson | Sweden | 6,062,000 |
| Amazon | 3 | 1 | Dennis Brand | United States | 9,045,000 |
| Amazon | 3 | 2 | Peter Mullin | United States | 480,000 |
| Amazon | 3 | 3 | Robert Pacleb | United States | 1,450,000 |
| Amazon | 3 | 7 | Paul Ferdiani | United States | 1,750,000 |
| Amazon | 3 | 8 | Alan Ho | United States | 10,065,000 |
| Amazon | 3 | 9 | James Mcnurlan | United States | 8,800,000 |