It is Day 3 of Event #55: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em and 17 players are coming back to battle for a bracelet and a top prize of $582,321.
On Day 2 we saw the money bubble burst early in the day's first level and the pace of eliminations continued at a feverish clip until the event was left with just 17 participants. The overnight chip leader was David Jackson who bagged 1,487,000.
Michael Ferrer is right on Jackson's heels with 1,146,000. Aaron Massey, chip leader for most of Day 2, will come in to Day 3 stacked third at 949,000. Also coming back for Day 3 is last year's Main Event sixth-place finisher, Marc-Etienne McLaughlin (795,000).
Day 3 will begin at 1:00 p.m. PT and PokerNews' Live Reporting Team will be on hand to bring you all of the action, including hand-for-hand coverage once the official final table of nine is reached.
David Jackson raised to 35,000 from early position and Bernardo Da Silveira Dias moved all in for 132,000. Action folded around to James Dorrance who moved all in for 941,000 from the big blind. Jackson open-folded pocket eights.
Dias:
Dorrance:
Dias celebrated as he saw a queen in the window when the flop came , then Jackson winced as the fell on the turn. The river completed the flush, though, for Dorrance, and Dias was sent to the rail.
Wow, what a hand! A double elimination and a near four million-chip pot! Here's how it went down.
James Dorrance raised to 40,000 from middle position and David Jackson called from the next seat along. The action folded to Nicholas Nowak in the big blind and he raised all in for what turned out to be 315,000. Dorrance flat-called the raise and Jackson put in the extra chips to see a flop.
The dealer spread the flop and Dorrance moved all in only to see Jackson snap-call then leap from his seat.
Jackson had every reason to be happy as he had flopped a boat with his . Meanwhile Dorrance was devastated because his was now an expensive second-best hand, and Nowak's meant he was drawing to running queens.
The turn brought the into play and the river the . Once the stacks were counted, Jackson had Dorrance covered by less than 50,000 chips and was sent to the rail in 14th place. Meanwhile, Jackson now has over a third of the chips in play!
David Quang has been sent to the rail after his attempts to rebuild his stack failed. In the hand previous to his exit hand, Quang open-shoved for 170,000 and Marc-Etienne McLaughlin looked like he almost called, but didn't.
When Quang moved all-in for a second time, McLaughlin did call with and found he was against Quang' . Neither player improved on the board and Quang headed for the exits.
We didn't catch the full action but Aaron Massey filled us in on the details. In a blind-versus-blind siuation, Aaron Massey raised to 45,000 and Jonathan Andero made the call. The flop was and Massey checked.
Andero moved all in and Massey called.
Massey:
Andero:
The turn was an and the river was a and Andero was eliminated.
Marc-Etienne McLaughlin opened to 40,000 from middle position and Georgios Kapalas three-bet to 92,000 from the button. David Jackson reraised to 215,000 from the small blind. McLaughlin folded, Kapalas five-bet all in and Jackson made the call.
Kapalas:
Jackson:
The flop brought a pair for Kapalas, but gave Jackson a flush draw. The turn sealed it and the meaningless fell on the river. Kapalas hit the rail just short of the final table in 10th place.
Hand #43: Aaron Massey raised to 70,000 from early position and Brian Kennedy moved all in for 700,000 approximate from the cutoff. Action folded back to Massey who snap-called and tabled . Kennedy turned over and needed to improve.
The board ran out and Kennedy hit the rail in 9th place.
Hand #44: The action passed to Timothy West on the button and he moved all-in for 369,000 in total. Marc-Etienne McLaughlin looked at the stacks around him before folding what he later said was and David Jackson called West's all-in bet.
West:
Jackson:
The flop was terminal for West and he had already began saying his goodbyes by the time the landed on the turn. The completed the board and West was eliminated.
, then Jackson winced as the 
fell on the turn. The river 
completed the flush, though, for Dorrance, and Dias was sent to the rail.
flop, putting the action onto Robert Allen on the button.
for trip nines.
. Allen paired his jack on the turn, but the 
river was no help to him and he became the 16th-place finisher.
. Meanwhile Dorrance was devastated because his 
meant he was drawing to running queens.
into play and the river the 
. Once the stacks were counted, Jackson had Dorrance covered by less than 50,000 chips and was sent to the rail in 14th place. Meanwhile, Jackson now has over a third of the chips in play!
. Neither player improved on the 
board and Quang headed for the exits.
and Massey checked.
and the river was a 
flop brought a pair for Kapalas, but gave Jackson a flush draw. The 
turn sealed it and the meaningless 
and David Jackson called West's all-in bet.
