Posted by Andrew Feldman
6 a.m. ET: It's the middle of the night (well, for me … good morning, East Coasters), and our greatly diminished field has left the Amazon Room. Two-thousand forty-four players began Day 3, and only 788 survived to approach the money bubble on Day 4. After five levels today, some big names emerged, but nobody came close to Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier. The current leader in the Bluff/ESPN Poker Power Rankings, Grospellier gathered more than $1.1 million during today's play. His aggressive nature allowed him to surge to the top and stay there by becoming the table bully. He speaks fluent English, but his favorite word is most definitely "raise." With a big stack, Grospellier dominates. His friendly disposition is accompanied by relentless aggression, and he will be one to watch entering Day 4.
Neil Stoddart
Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier is the chip leader heading into Day 4 of the main event.
Grospellier, along with the other big stacks, will start the day understanding that there are many players who are just trying to make the money. We'll see a flurry of eliminations in the first hour, then a massive slowdown as the bubble approaches. The tournament directors then will enact hand-for-hand play. With 648 players getting paid, I expect hand-for-hand play to begin at 660. Play will slow dramatically at that point, and the bubble, which I'm guessing will burst at 6:30 p.m. ET, will mean players make money. After the players know they are walking away with paydays, look to see stacks moving in time after time. We're going to lose a lot of players very quickly on Day 4, especially because the "double up or go home" mentality is a popular one once players are guaranteed some cash. The pay structure is very flat, and 505th place versus 648th place really means only $2,000. The big money is at the top, and taking risks to build a chip stack is common during post-bubble play.
Unfortunately, it is not the "Summer of George." Jason Alexander was eliminated during the last level of play on Day 3 by current third-place player Christian Heich. Alexander got all his money in ahead with J-J on a 6-3-4 flop, but another six fell on the river, and Alexander's run was over. Jordan Farmar also was eliminated early in the day, leaving the celebrity hopes with Lou Diamond Phillips, who at one point was at more than $400,000. Phillips has become a staple here at the WSOP, and he can play; it's no act.
Other notables eliminated on Day 3 include Jeffrey Lisandro, Sammy Farha, Greg Raymer, Nick Binger, Josh Arieh, Nam Le, Liz Lieu, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jennifer Harman, Roland De Wolfe and Erik Seidel
The field is still pro-influenced, with Grospellier and Jordan Morgan leading the mix. Morgan has had his share of success at the WSOP, but even though he's made eight top-25 appearances, he still is bracelet-less. He has a WSOP Circuit title to his name as well as a second-place finish at the United States Poker Championships. Peter Eastgate still is grinding to defend his title, and he's extremely focused on doing just that. He joked with me today that there's only 800 players left he has to beat. Phil Hellmuth, Kenny Tran, Justin Bonomo and Mike Sexton also find themselves in the top 50 in chips, while Phil Ivey, Dennis Phillips, Joe Sebok, David Benyamine, Chris Ferguson, Joseph Hachem, Kevin Saul, Antonio Esfandiari and Paul Wasicka will most likely make moves on Day 4.
There's a rumor that there might be only four levels played on Day 4, but I'm assuming it'll be dependant on the number of players left. I'm amazed the field dropped this quickly and, as discussed on the Poker Edge podcast, we don't expect it to change anytime soon.
Small blinds: Joe Sebok's post-dinner run was very impressive. He was down to $30,000 at one point and finished play with more than $300,000. … Tony Cousineau still is hanging in. I think. His chip count is listed at $28,000, which is just seven big blinds. … Day 4 is the day when the staff here at the Rio starts to break down the tables. I think the red section is completely done, and I'm going to need to find a new seat, since the orange section is next. … Did you know that they put all the bags of chips into one garbage bag at the end of the night and that's how they are stored? Seems strange that a garbage bag is the best way to do this. … Why did the Mets trade Ryan Church? … I'm expecting Elky to be at the feature table tomorrow. At the secondary, I guess Hellmuth will be back, unless there is a really loaded table. … Poker Edge guests tonight include Eastgate, Morgan, Grospellier, Kenny Tran and Nicole Peppy-Jergens, who is the female chip leader at the moment.
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