There were 67 players returning to start Day 3 of Event #31: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, and starting the day in the lead was Dan Heimiller. For a while, it looked as if Heimiller might steamroll his was through the tournament. At the start of the day, Heimiller couldn’t seem to lose a pot. He won multiple coin flips and always seemed to have his opponents all in and at risk while dominated.
Unfortunately for Heimiller, he ran into a massive cooler right at the end of the night, and he lost most of the lead he had amassed when his pocket kings ran into the pocket aces of Frank Maggio. Heimiller managed to make a slight rebound at the end of the night to finish in the middle of the pack, looking to lock up his second Seniors’ Championship. He'll return tomorrow with 2,970,000, which puts him fourth in chips.
Finishing on the top was Mark Lillge. Lillge eliminated Bill Klein in 12th Place ($41,97) when Klein shoved all in with pocket twos and Lillge woke up with pocket jacks in the big blind. Lillge also picked up a big double through Paul Spitzberg, who finished the night eighth in chips (1,320,000) when his ace-king out-raced Spitzbergs pocket queens.
With many short stacks, players fell relatively quickly at the start of the day. Bracelet Winner Larry Wright dropped early (64th for $7,693), as did bracelet winner Blair Rodman (60th for $9,239). Eluterio Rodriguez, who finished Day 2 second in chips, fell at the very end of the night, becoming the final table bubble boy when Lewis LeClair’s ace-king made a flush against his own. He took home $41,972 for his 10th-place finish, while the final nine bagged up to get some rest for Day 4 and the final table.
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Gina Bacon
United States
960,000
16
2
Mark Lillge
United States
5,300,000
88
3
Paul Spitzberg
United States
1,320,000
22
4
Anthony Licastro
United States
2,800,000
47
5
Lewis LeClair
United States
2,530,000
42
6
William Murray
United States
4,000,000
67
7
Dan Heimiller
United States
2,970,000
50
8
Frank Maggio
United States
4,910,000
82
9
Dieter Dechant
United States
2,375,000
40
There are 50:52 minutes left in Level 29 with blinds of 40,000/80,000 and a running ante of 10,000. The final table will commence at 12 p.m. PDT on Monday and will play down to a winner over on the live-streamed feature table. PokerNews will be here with all the action, so be sure to stay tuned.
From the button, Anthony Licastro raised to 240,000. Lewis LeClair then moved all in from the small blind for 1,140,000. From the big blind, Eluterio Rodriguez moved all in for 1,050,000. Licastro folded, and the hands were turned up.
Rodriguez:
LeClair:
It looked as if it would end in a chop, but the flop came , giving LeClair a flush draw and Rodriguez a backdoor flush draw, as well. The on the turn sealed Rodriguez's fate, though, as it made LeClair the winning flush. The river was the , and Rodriguez was eliminated in 10th place, bringing the final nine players down to the official final table.
William Murray raised to 120,000 from the cutoff. Lewis LeClair called from the small blind before Peter Smaha moved all in for 365,000 from the big blind. Murray called, and that led to a fold from LeClair.
Murray:
Smaha:
The board came , and that offered no help to Smaha at any point. He hit the rail in 11th place, taking home $41,972 for his finish and bringing the final ten players down to the unofficial final table.
The latest setback took a toll on Bill Klein's stack, and he dropped to around 30 big blinds. With the fast-paced action on both tables, it was just a matter of time before he would make a move and ended up all in, only to face Mark Lillge with the far superior pocket pair in the blinds.
Bill Klein:
Mark Lillge:
The flop didn't change much, and Klein was drawing dead on the turn. He tapped the table in defeat as the meaningless appeared on the river.
Mark Lillge raised to 150,000 on the button, and Federico Castaing moved all in from one seat over in the small blind. Lillge asked for a count, and the shove was for 440,000 in total, which Lillge called after brief consideration.
Federico Castaing:
Mark Lillge:
Lillge's kicker was narrowly ahead, but Castaing took the lead on the flop. The turn gave Lillge a gutshot, and the on the river completed the straight to send Castaing to the rail in 13th place for $32,995.
Eluterio Rodriguez raised to 130,000, and Mansour Alipourfard moved all in from one seat over. Once the action was back on Rodriguez, he asked to pull in his raise to determine how much more he had to call. The shove of Alipourfard was for another 610,000 on top, and Rodriguez carefully cut out the chips for that and called a mere 10 seconds later.
Mansour Alipourfard:
Eluterio Rodriguez:
"Eight on the flop," Rodriguez said before the flop fell .
"Eight on the turn," Rodriguez demanded. It was the instead.
"Eight on the river," Rodriguez added. The third time was not the charm either, but the blank river was no threat.
"Good run," the rail and players at the table said while Alipourfard headed to the payout desk. He collected $32,995 for his efforts, and the field was reduced to the last 13 hopefuls.
David Michaud moved all in from the small blind, and he was quickly called by Anthony Licastro.
Michaud:
Licastro:
The flop gave Michaud a straight draw when it came , but he bricked out on the turn and river, and that secured his elimination from the tournament. For his 15th-place finish, Michaud collected $32,995.
David Michaud doubled through Richard Mombourquette to leave the latter very short before Paul Spitzberg scored a big double through Anthony Licastro. Spitzberg got his stack in with , and Licastro had . The board ran out , and Spitzberg doubled.
One last hand was still to be played before the dinner break, and Mombourquette was all in and at risk for very few big blinds with . Spitzberg had yet another big pocket pair and looked him up with . After a board of , Mombourquette headed to the rail to collect $26,148.
Right after being left very short from the previous hand, Mansour Alipourfard was in the big blind and moved all in for 370,000. Harvey Lewis called, while a third player in the hand folded.
Mansour Alipourfard:
Harvey Lewis:
The board ran out , and Alipourfard more than doubled.
One hand later, Dieter Dechant raised to 110,000, and Gina Bacon three-bet to 300,000. Lewis moved all in from the big blind, and Dechant folded. Bacon quickly called.
Harvey Lewis:
Gina Bacon:
The flop gave Bacon trip kings, and the turn and river were of no help for Lewis to see him depart in 17th place for $26,148.
While the other two tables racked up their chips already to prepare for the upcoming two-table redraw, there was one hand still going on, and the dealer announced, "Seat open."
Kelley Brown walked away from the table, while Bill Klein sent the second opponent in a row to the rail. Brown pushed from under the gun for 400,000 with , and Klein called in the big blind with . Klein hit trip aces, and Brown failed to get there with a diamond flush draw, becoming the first player to receive $26,148 for his efforts.
![[user217945]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, giving LeClair a flush draw and Rodriguez a backdoor flush draw, as well. The 
on the turn sealed Rodriguez's fate, though, as it made LeClair the winning flush. The river was the 
, and Rodriguez was eliminated in 10th place, bringing the final nine players down to the official final table.
, and that offered no help to Smaha at any point. He hit the rail in 11th place, taking home $41,972 for his finish and bringing the final ten players down to the unofficial final table.
flop didn't change much, and Klein was drawing dead on the 
turn. He tapped the table in defeat as the meaningless 
appeared on the river.
flop. The 
turn gave Lillge a gutshot, and the 
on the river completed the straight to send Castaing to the rail in 13th place for $32,995.
river was no threat.
. The board ran out 
. Spitzberg had yet another big pocket pair and looked him up with 
