Bogdanov Leads 35 Hopefuls After Day 3; Sammartino Among Big Stacks
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The record-breaking 2023 WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event is one step closer to crowning a champion in Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Resort in Rozvadov. Day 3 saw new hopes arise, dreams getting shattered and a portion of the massive €7,761,500 prize pool distributed after the money bubble had burst. There were 191 contenders to begin with but only a fraction of them remained after an action-filled day.
Once the cash prizes for the top 123 finishers were secured, the eliminations came at a rapid pace and a topsy-turvy day lasted until the early morning hours. Upon completion of seven and a half levels of 90 minutes each, only 35 hopefuls remained out of a field of 817 entries - even fewer than one year ago when 42 players bagged up chips despite attracting a smaller field of 763 total entries.
Leading the way is Bulgaria's Yulian Bogdanov with 6,200,000 with his nearest followers Ruslan Volkov (5,595,000) and Jacob Amsellem (5,550,000) separated by a single big blind only. Fourth in chips is Dario Sammartino with 4,975,000, who once again chases the elusive WSOP gold bracelet after numerous close calls throughout the last few years. Michael Rocco also retained his chances of finishing one spot higher than his runner-up finish in Event #8: €25,000 NLH GGMillion€, as he advanced with 3,395,000 in chips.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 3
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | 6,200,000 | 155 |
| 2 | Ruslan Volkov | Ukraine | 5,595,000 | 140 |
| 3 | Jacob Amsellem | France | 5,550,000 | 139 |
| 4 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 4,975,000 | 124 |
| 5 | Kasparas Klezys | Lithuania | 4,850,000 | 121 |
| 6 | Andrea Radicchi | Italy | 4,280,000 | 107 |
| 7 | Michael Rocco | United States | 3,395,000 | 85 |
| 8 | Alf Martinsson | Sweden | 3,130,000 | 78 |
| 9 | Hyunsup Kim | South Korea | 2,740,000 | 69 |
| 10 | Andrej Cintula | Slovakia | 2,685,000 | 67 |
Defending champion Omar Eljach made a deep run once more and finished in 89th place for €18,000 after numerous tussles with Amsellem. Last year's runner-up Jonathan Pastore (1,600,000) and sixth-place finisher Armin Rezaei (630,000) still have a shot at reaching back-to-back final tables in Rozvadov.
Besides aforementioned Pastore, the only other WSOP champion still in contention is Triple Crown winner Davidi Kitai with 2,575,000 in chips. Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Anson Tsang came agonisingly close to making it through as well only to see his pocket aces getting cracked in the final hand of the night.
Sammartino notched up several pots during the late stages to gain his prime position on the leaderboard. However, the one hand that put him on track was a successful hero-call with ace-king high against start-of-the-day chip leader Keneshka Kabir. From there on, the Italian navigated his big stack without any major troubles until bagging and tagging.
Many other big names of the international poker circuit were in contention for most of the day but saw their fates sealed eventually such as Daniel Dvoress, Manig Loeser, Tobias Peters, Stoyan Madanzhiev, Stephen Chidwick, Alex Keating, and Adrian Mateos.
They all cashed but missed out on a shot at the stunning top prize of €1,500,000, which will be up for grabs on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. The last player to leave empty-handed was China's Weiran Pu, who ran with ace-queen suited into the aces of Keating on the live-stream table.
Vivian Saliba and Maria Lampropulos made valid efforts to become the first woman to win the WSOP Europe Main Event since Annette Obrestad in 2007 before both were sent to the payout desk in the late stages of Day 3.Saliba lost a flip with ace-king against the pocket tens of Eusebiu Jalba to finish in 48th place for €27,100. Lampropulos bowed out just before the final five tables were set when she hero-called at the wrong time against Radicchi to cash for €30,700.
All 35 remaining hopefuls will return to their seats at noon local time on November 14, 2023 when the action picks up with 45 minutes left in level 22. Recommencing blinds will be 20,000-40,000 with a big blind ante of 40,000. The penultimate tournament day day will aim to whittle down the field to the official final table and perhaps even as far as the final six players.
You can follow all of the action right here on PokerNews, the live-stream feature table on the King's Resort Twitch and YouTube channels will also be available with cards-coverage on a 60-minute delay.