Hand #33: Taylor opened for 65,000 from the cutoff, and Carlton three-bet to 155,000 from the small blind, forcing Taylor off his hand.
Hand #34: Polychronopoulos opened for 70,000 from the cutoff, Carlton called on the button, and Baker shipped his last 490,000. Polychronopoulos got out of the way, but Carlton insta-called with his . Baker was in very bad shape with his , and although he found a four on the flop, the turn () and river () both missed him, sending him to the payout desk in 8th place. With his third final table appearance in three WSOP tournaments this summer, Baker's amazing run here has come to an end, but he is sure to be a force at final tables to come for the foreseeable future.
Hand #5: Athanasios Polychronopoulos raised to 45,000 from early position, Nicotera shoved all-in for 389,000, and Polychronopoulos quickly called him down with . Nicotera was in bad shape with his , but the flop of gave him a few additional outs. The turn () and river () blanked off, however, and Nicotera was eliminated on the fifth hand of final table play.
After Manuel Mutke raised to 50,000 from the small blind, Paul Francoi Tedeschi defended his big blind with a three-bet to 135,000. Undeterred, Mutke pumped it up to 240,000 with a four-bet, and the young French pro responded with a five-bet all-in move for 800,000 or so chips.
Holding , Mutke decided to look Tedeschi up, likely hoping for a coin flip situation against what had to be a big ace after all of the preflop action.
Tedeschi revealed the , however, and his attempt to make a power play had been sniffed out.
When the flop fell , Mutke was visibly distressed that Tedeschi's bluff had found a slew of outs, but the on the turn wiped them all away, as Mutke's full house trumped any flush Tedeschi could find. The on the river ended the hand, and Tedeschi's tournament life.
With his stack drifting well below the average, Barry Greenstein made his stand from the small blind, moving all-in for approximately 230,000 holding the .
David "Bakes" Baker saw a chance to secure his seat at an astounding third final table in his first three WSOP events of the summer, and he made the call with to put a poker legend at risk.
Flop:
Just like that, Baker found the paint he needed, and he took the lead with a pair of queens. The turn () and river () were blanks for Greenstein, and he was eliminated one spot short of the unofficial final table.
After a player in the hijack opened for 40,000, Paul Francoi Tedeschi three-bet to 100,000, and watched as Yi Wang shipped his last 195,000.
The original raiser got out of the way, and the young French pro made the call with his . When Wang rolled over the , the two were flipping coins with premium hands, and unfortunately for Wang, the flop left him calling tails when it came up heads.
Two bricks on the turn and river sealed the win for Tedeschi, and Wang headed for the payout desk for a five-figure score.
Barry Greenstein (Seen Here Playing Day 2) Just Got Baked
After losing a sizable portion of his stack to Joe Cada earlier in Day 3 play, David "Bakes" Baker managed to snag some chips back from a PokerStars Team Pro, only this time, he tangled with Barry Greenstein.
The acclaimed author of Ace on the River opened for 40,000 from middle position, and Baker jammed his last 331,000 over the top. Holding , Greenstein elected to call the young online wunderkind, and he was in great shape over Baker's .
The flop fell , and Greenstein's kicker had him in the lead at this point, but the on the turn changed things entirely, giving Bakes the lead with one card to come.
River:
Greenstein couldn't find a queen and he was forced to ship about half of his stack to the next seat over.
Brian Ray got his last 640,000 or so into the middle from the cutoff, after a previous raise by another player was called by Athanasios Polychronopoulos. With the action back on Polychronopoulos, he thought things through for a moment before electing to call with . Ray revealed the and the two were off to the races.
Flop:
The flop brought a little something for both players, as Ray's eights had held through three board cards, but Polychronopoulos found the nut flush draw.
Turn:
The turn was moved Polychronopoulos into the lead, and Ray was left looking for a six to complete a gutshot straight, or an eight to make a winning set.
River:
The blank of the river knocked Ray to the rail, and Polychronopoulos has once again moved his stack to the upper reaches of our leaderboard.
Anthanasios Polychronopoulos (Seen Here on Day 2) Has Moved Into the Chip Lead Here on Day 3
After calling a previous raise of 32,000, Athanasios Polychronopoulos saw Brian Ray slide a stack of 100,000 forward for a three-bet out of the small blind.
The original raiser folded after about a minute of thought, and Polychronopoulos elected to call the bet, seeing a flop of arrive on board.
Ray continued with his aggressive line, firing a bet of 110,000 at the dangerous pro, but Polychronopoulos made the call once again, bringing the to the table.
The presence of a pair on board, and perhaps the death stare administered by Polychronopoulos, convinced Ray to slow down, and he tapped the table. This opening was all Polychronopoulos needed to take the large pot, and his 150,000 value bet forced Ray to fold.
Chad Chavez' short-stack has met its demise, and with that, the PokerNews curse is alive and well. Just moments after watching Chavez double through Barry Greenstein, and penning an optimistic post regarding his chances to secure a pay jump, Chavez was just victimized by a suckout and sent to the rail.
Chavez held the and moved his last 99,000 forward out of the big blind. Having already limped in for 16,000 on the button, and holding over a million chips already, Samuel Taylor had an easy call with a marginal holding in .
The flop was a bad one for Chavez, coming , as Taylor paired up to take the lead in the hand. When the arrived on the turn, Joe Cada offered a hopeful "that's a nice card for you there," to Chavez, but the on the river only improved Taylor's hand.
Chavez still made a few additonal thousand by grinding the short stack last night, and he will no doubt be ecstatic when that extra cash is in hand.
After sitting on his extremely short stack for much of Day 2's latter stages, climbing the payout ladder slowly but steadily while his fellow players went broke, Chad Chavez returned on Day 3 with only 90,000 chips, good for just 7.5 big blinds.
With another pay jump of over $6,000 looming if he can fade two more eliminations, Chavez just increased his odds with a double through Barry Greenstein.
First to act under the gun, Chavez shipped his last 68,000 with , and the grizzled tournament veteran called him down with . Although he was in the lead, Chavez would need to dodge paint cards to avoid an early exit.
Flop:
The first three cards hit Chavez square in the face, and with trip eights he was poised to double through one of poker's all-time greats. The on the turn sealed the deal, and the on the river seemed to fall only as an ode to Greenstein's famous tome of poker knowledge.
We will let you know if Chavez makes it to the 12th Place pay jump, as he continues to ride his short stack to taller stacks of cash.
. Baker was in very bad shape with his 
, and although he found a four on the 
flop, the turn (
) and river (
) both missed him, sending him to the payout desk in 8th place. With his third final table appearance in three WSOP tournaments this summer, Baker's amazing run here has come to an end, but he is sure to be a force at final tables to come for the foreseeable future.
. Nicotera was in bad shape with his 
, but the flop of 
gave him a few additional outs. The turn (
) and river (
) blanked off, however, and Nicotera was eliminated on the fifth hand of final table play.
, Mutke decided to look Tedeschi up, likely hoping for a coin flip situation against what had to be a big ace after all of the preflop action.
, however, and his attempt to make a power play had been sniffed out.
, Mutke was visibly distressed that Tedeschi's bluff had found a slew of outs, but the 
on the turn wiped them all away, as Mutke's full house trumped any flush Tedeschi could find. The 
.
to put a poker legend at risk.
) were blanks for Greenstein, and he was eliminated one spot short of the unofficial final table.
, Greenstein elected to call the young online wunderkind, and he was in great shape over Baker's 
.
on the turn changed things entirely, giving Bakes the lead with one card to come.
and the two were off to the races.
arrive on board.
arrived on the turn, Joe Cada offered a hopeful "that's a nice card for you there," to Chavez, but the 
