Welcome to Day 3 coverage of Event #36: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed.
There are 18 players remaining from a starting field of 574, each looking to capture a World Series of Poker gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $580,338.
On top of the chip counts entering Day 3 is 2016 November Niner Kenny Hallaert, followed by Chris Hunichen, Nadar Kakhmazov and Faraz Jaka. Others still in the field include current runner-up in the WSOP Player of the Year standings James Obst, Sam Soverel, Garrett Greer, Jonathan Jaffe and Mike Leah.
The plan for the day is to reach the official final table of six players, although that is subject to change. The cards will be in the air 2:00 p.m., so be sure to keep it here at PokerNews for live updates of all of the action.
Chris Staats bet 100,000 from the big blind on a completed board of . There was only about 80,000 in the pot, it appeared. James Obst thought a bit and then announced he was all in. Staats only had about 100,000 more, and he put it in there. Obst showed for a boat on the river, and Staats mucked for flopped trips.
Faraz Jaka raised in the cutoff and Mike Leah eyed him, the pot, and the only player behind him, before announcing he was all in. It looked to be just south of 400,000 and Jaka immediately called when the big blind folded.
Jaka:
Leah:
The flop came , no help to Leah.
"Should have played one more hand over there," he said with a smile and a nod at the other tournament he was playing.
The turn gave him added outs if a deuce fell, but the river was a .
"Good luck over there," someone said as Leah prepared to head back to the $1K.
Tim Cramer raised to 35,000 from the cutoff, Jonathan Jaffe (after doubling up on the previous two hands) three-bet shoved from the button for 228,000, and Cramer called.
Cramer:
Jaffe:
The board ran out , no help to Jaffe, ending his tournament in 16th place.
Kenny Hallaert raised to 35,000 from under the gun, Giuseppe Pantaleo three-bet shoved from the small blind for 139,000, and Hallaert called.
Hallaert:
Pantaleo:
The flop came down , giving Pantaleo for a pair of kings and giving Hallaert flush and straight draws. The turn kept Pantaleo ahead, but the river was the to give Hallaert a winning flush to score the elimination.
Rob Kuhn raised to 55,000 from the small blind, Louis Linard reraised all in from the big blind for about 643,000, and Kuhn tanked for about three minutes before he called with . Linard showed .
The board ran out , giving Kuhn jacks and tens to eliminate Linard in 13th place.
Before the players redrew to two tables, Tim Cramer raised to 40,000 from the button. Faraz Jaka called from the big blind.
The flop came down and Jaka check-called a bet from Cramer to see the turn. Both players checked, the river was the , Jaka checked, and Cramer bet 175,000. Jaka check-raised all in with the bigger stack and Cramer called all in for a little less than 500,000.
Jaka showed for a seven-high straight, besting Cramer's for top two pairs.
Faraz Jaka had 55,000 in front of him under the gun and was facing a three-bet to 140,000 from big blind Dan Abouaf. Jaka thought about a minute and then announced all in. Abouaf grabbed all of his chips, about 575,000, and called.
Abouaf:
Jaka:
The flop and turn came clean for Abouaf: . However, the hit the river to eliminate him in brutal fashion.
On a flop of , Rob Kuhn, who had opened under the gun, got his remaining 400,000 or so in with against the of Sam Soverel, who had flatted him on the button. Kuhn slid his chair back as a hit the turn, and the river made it final.