Hand #67: Chance Kornuth raised to 250,000 on the button and Sam Soverel three-bet to 1,000,000 from the small blind. Kornuth gave it some thought but folded before his time was up.
Hand #68: Sam Soverel opened to 265,000 on the button and Elio Fox called from the small blind. The two players saw a flop of and Fox started with a check. Soverel continued for 300,000 and Fox instantly folded.
Hand #69: The action folded to Dmitry Yurasov in the small blind who just limped in. Andrew Lichtenberger raised to 325,000 in the big blind and Yurasov called. The flop came and Yurasov checked to Lichtenberger who continued for 150,000. Yurasov check-raised to 400,000 and Lichtenberger called.
The turn brought the and both players checked to the on the river. Yurasov made a small bet of 250,000 and Lichtenberger used a time extension before pushing in a raise to 1,750,000, leaving only 200,000 behind. Yurasov dipped deep into the tank, using up four of his time extensions before making the call. Lichtenberger turned over for a king-high flush and Yurasov mucked his cards.
Hand #70: Sam Soverel opened the hijack for 260,000 and received calls from Elio Fox (cutoff) and Andrew Lichtenberger (small blind.)
Everything was relatively quiet on the flop of as it was checked through.
The on the turn, though, not so much. Lichtenberger lead out for 350,000 and Soverel raised to 1,400,000 with 1,925,000 behind. Fox went into the tank and used some time bank cards before shoving all in. Lichtenberger needed his full 30 seconds before he released his cards into the muck. Soverel thought about it for just as long but eventually called.
Sam Soverel:
Elio Fox:
Fox needed the board to pair but it failed to do so with the on the river. Fox parted ways with 3,325,000 in chips, making Soverel the new chipleader.
Hand #71: Sam Soverel opened to 200,000 in middle position and Elio Fox three-bet to 625,000 in the hijack. Andrew Lichtenberger four-bet to 1,375,000 on the button and everyone quickly folded.
Hand #72: Lichtenberger raised to 250,000 from the cutoff and picked up the blinds and ante.
Hand #73: Lichtenberger opened again to 250,000 and got folds from the table.
Hand #74: For the third straight hand, Lichtenberger raised to 230,000 but this time found a customer from Nick Petrangelo in the hijack. The flop came and Lichtenberger check-folded to a bet of 230,000 from Petrangelo.
Hand #75: Chance Kornuth raised to 275,000 in the hijack and Dmitry Yurasov defended from the big blind. The flop fell and both players checked to the on the turn. Yurasov checked again and Kornuth dropped in a bet of 235,000. Yurasov called and the hit the river. Both players checked and Yurasov tabled while Kornuth held to collect the pot.
Hand #76: Soverel raised to 200,000 in the cutoff and Lichtenberger called from the big blind. The flop came and Lichtenberger check-folded to a bet of 225,000 from Soverel.
Hand #77: Fox raised to 200,000 in the cutoff and Yurasov slid out a re-raise to 1,200,000 on the button. The blinds folded and Fox's cards quickly hit the muck as well.
Hand #78: Sam Soverel opened for 240,000 under the gun plus one before Elio Fox shoved for 2,345,000 from the hijack. The action folded to Ben Heath in the big blind who asked for a count. He eventually shoved all in and Soverel quickly folded.
Elio Fox:
Ben Heath:
Fox, at one point chipleader at this final table, was at risk of busting out as Day 3's bubble.
The board ran out and Fox was eliminated in seventh place for $192,794.
The remaining players return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino at noon tomorrow. They are guaranteed $251,128 and will battle it out for the first-place prize of $1,484,085 under the PokerGO cameras.
Play has wrapped up. We'll be back shortly with end-of-day chip counts and an extensive recap of today's action.
It was a short Day 3 for the players in Event #5: 50th Annual High Roller - $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em as the field of 12 was quickly whittled down to just six. Once again, Ben Heath will be leading the field when the players return to their seats with a stack of 7,630,000.
It's the second day in a row that Heath bagged the largest stack in the tournament and it didn't require much work for him to do so. The British poker pro stayed fairly quiet for much of the four hours of poker other than the first and last hand of the day. Heath is the only player among the final six that is without a WSOP gold bracelet but he has the opportunity to change that on the final day tomorrow.
He will be joined by Sam Soverel who made a late push by doubling through Elio Fox in one of the largest pots of the tournament thus far. Soverel isn't far behind the chipleader with 7,540,000 chips entering the final day. Andrew Lichtenberger also ran up a healthy stack to sit in third place with 5,615,000. Chance Kornuth (5,000,000), Nick Petrangelo (4,100,000), and Dmitry Yurasov (3,660,000) round out the remaining players.
Final Day Seat Draw
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Andrew Lichtenberger
United States
5,615,000
47
2
Nick Petrangelo
United States
4,100,000
34
3
Ben Heath
United Kingdom
7,630,000
64
4
Chance Kornuth
United States
5,000,000
42
5
Sam Soverel
United States
7,540,000
63
6
Dmitry Yurasov
Russia
3,660,000
31
The day got started shortly after 2 p.m. with 12 players returning to the felt. Matthew Gonzales was short-lived as he entered the day with just three big blinds. He found a suited hand to go with in the early going but was dominated when Heath called him. Despite flopping a pair on the flop, Heath turned a pair and Gonzales was turned to the rail.
Sam Grafton didn't last much longer as he ripped his 24 big blind stack into the middle from the small blind but ran into the pocket aces of Petrangelo in the big blind. Grafton made a pair of queens on the turn but that wasn't enough to keep him alive as he bowed out in 11th place. The German high roller, Manig Loeser also came into the day as a short stack and after he lost a flip to Kornuth, the final table of nine players was set.
The final nine lasted for over an hour but it seemed as though everyone was waiting on one person, David Einhorn. He was the only player with under 20 big blinds and was waiting patiently to pick up a hand. He eventually moved all in for 12 big blinds on the button and was called by Heath called from the big blind. The two players were flipping with Einhorn needing to connect with his jack-ten. The board ran out six-high and Einhorn was forced to settle for ninth place.
Cary Katz entered the day in the middle of the pack but was unable to get anything going his way. The PokerGO owner finally got his chips in the middle with the best hand, holding pocket tens against the pocket sevens of Yurasov. Unfortunately, a seven on the turn would spell the end to Katz's run in eighth place.
Fox appeared to be in cruise control for the better part of the day but was on the wrong side of a cooler in the largest pot of the tournament. Fox flopped a set of fives but Soverel flopped a straight and all of the chips got in the middle on the turn. The river didn't pair the board and Fox became the new short stack. Just moments later, Fox three-bet shoved with pocket eights but Heath looked down at pocket kings in the big blind. There was no eight on the board for Fox to improve and that brought an end to Day 3.
Final Table Payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1st
-
-
$1,484,085
2nd
-
-
$917,232
3rd
-
-
$640,924
4th
-
-
$458,138
5th
-
-
$335,181
6th
-
-
$251,128
7th
Elio Fox
United States
$192,794
8th
Cary Katz
United States
$151,755
9th
David Einhorn
United States
$122,551
The final six players will return tomorrow for the final day of competition that will begin at 12 p.m. They will be seated at the feature table and the PokerGO broadcast will begin at 1 p.m. until a winner is crowned. There will be 55:30 remaining in level 19 with the blinds at 50,000/100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you coverage of each hand throughout the day.