OJ Ojiri (right) leads the way on Day 3, while Jonathan Tamayo is on a short stack.
The final 23 players remaining in Event #56: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em will recommence play at 1 p.m. here at the Rio, and by the end of the day, we will hopefully have crowned a champion who will take home a World Series of Poker gold bracelet and the hefty sum of $730,756.
Leading the charge for the top prize is the mysterious OJ Ojiri, who doesn't have a single recorded live cash that we can find. He bagged up 1,510,000 in chips last night. He skyrocketed to the top of the counts despite a very tough table for much of last night that included Jonathan Tamayo, Jesse Sylvia and Matt Marafioti. Contenders trailing Ojiri include Rahul Raju Byrraju (1,190,000), Vincent Maglio (884,000), Eric "The Donkey" Kurtzman (832,000) and Mark Golub (805,000). Other notables remaining: Nicolas Levi (762,000), Josh Arieh (517,000) and Tamayo, the shortest stack with 100,000.
We're scheduled to play 10 levels today or determine a champion, whichever comes first. An additional level may be played if necessary. Don't look away from PokerNews, as we'll be bringing you all of the pertinent updates throughout the stretch run of this tournament.
Action folded around to Jonathan Tamayo on the button who moved all in for his final 117,000. Sergey Lebedev called from the small blind.
Tamayo:
Lebedev:
Tamayo was looking for help to stay alive but didn't find anything when the board ran out and as result Tamayo left the tournament as our 23rd-place finisher.
We caught up with OJ Ojiri and Sebastien Comel in a blind battle on the river. With a big pot in front of them and a board of , Ojiri fired out 275,000. Comel thought for about a minute before making the call. Ojiri turned over for king-high, and Comel tossed into the middle for top pair.
Ojiri has lost roughly half of his stack in the early going.
Action folded to Nicolas Faure on the button and he raised to 32,000. John Scaife was in the small blind and he jammed all in for the rest of his chips. The big blind folded, but Faure didn't, he called quickly and the hands were put on their backs.
Faure:
Scaife:
The flop came down putting a stranglehold on the hand for Faure as he had paired his live card and Scaife didn't have a club. The turn was the leaving Scaife drawing dead. The river was dealt the giving Scaife a pair, but it didn't matter as Faure had a better pair.
Sacife didn't leave empty handed though, he still collected $21,326 for his finish.
Rahul Byrraju got all in preflop against Sebastien Comel.
Byrraju:
Comel:
Byrraju was miles behind but found some hope on the flop. He surged into the lead when the turned, but a on the river turned his fortunes right back around by giving Comel a better two pair.
OJ Ojiri shipped it on the button after action had folded to him. Sebastien Comel called from the small blind, but Owen Crowe reraised to 241,000 from the big blind. Comel folded.
Crowe:
Ojiri:
The board ran out , and Ojiri, who entered the day as the chipleader, is done in 19th.
After missing the preflop action, we caught up with Nicolas Faure and Nikolaus Teichert involved in a huge pot on a flop of . After a series of bets, Teichert had a reraise of 310,000 total in front of him. Faure had jammed all in for 736,000 total and very quickly Teichert called.
Teichert:
Faure:
Teichert's aces had lost a huge amount of value after Faure had flopped two pair. The turn and river were no help to Teichert and Faure was able to grab a massive double right when it mattered, going down to the final two tables.
Fabian Deimann fired a bet after three small hearts flopped. Vincent Maglio raised, and Deimann shoved all in. Maglio called instantly, showing for the nut flush. Deimann turned over for two overs and a weaker flush draw, leaving him drawing dead.
At the other table, Eric Kurtzman and Nicolas Levi got it all in preflop. Kurtzman held , while Levi had . The board ran out , and Levi took nearly all of Kurtzman's chips.
and as result Tamayo left the tournament as our 23rd-place finisher.
, Ojiri fired out 275,000. Comel thought for about a minute before making the call. Ojiri turned over 
into the middle for top pair.
putting a stranglehold on the hand for Faure as he had paired his live card and Scaife didn't have a club. The turn was the 
leaving Scaife drawing dead. The river was dealt the 
giving Scaife a pair, but it didn't matter as Faure had a better pair.
, and Ojiri, who entered the day as the chipleader, is done in 19th.
. After a series of bets, Teichert had a reraise of 310,000 total in front of him. Faure had jammed all in for 736,000 total and very quickly Teichert called.
and river 
were no help to Teichert and Faure was able to grab a massive double right when it mattered, going down to the final two tables.
