Home / Poker News July 2009 / WSOP Main Event – Day 3: Grospellier takes lead
WSOP Main Event – Day 3: Grospellier takes lead
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2009-07-12 12:08
Day 3 of the 2009 WSOP marked the first time the entire field played on the same day this year. 2,044 Day 2A and Day 2B survivors convened, filling up every bit of available space at the Rio, as the field remained as colorful as ever, featuring poker pros, professional athletes and movie stars duking it out to prolong that WSOP experience just a little longer.
By the end of the day, only 789 players would remain in contention, slowly but surely approaching the money bubble, with Frenchman Bertrand Grospellier having amassed a sizeable chip advantage over his pursuers.
Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Peter Eastgate, Phil Hellmuth, Carlos Mortensen, John Juanda, Bobby Baldwin, Chris Ferguson and Dan Harington all played on Day 3, joined by Phil Ivey, Ville Wahlbeck, Brian Lemke, Erick Seidel and 2009 WSOP gold-bracelet magnet Jeffrey Lisandro.
The “civilians” (non poker celebrities) were represented by LA Laker Jordan Farmar, Lou Diamond Phillips, guitarist Scott Ian, Jason Alexander and Shane Warne. Out of this illustrious group only Alexander and cricket player Shane Warne saw their Main Events come to an end on Day 3, the rest of them survived and moved on to Day 4 without any problems.
Day 3 saw no shortage of action. In the early hours, two players would bust out every minute. Erick Seidel, Roland de Wolfe and Jennifer Harman were among those eliminated in the wee hours of Day 3 action. Harman had flopped a middle pair and a 4-card flush on a board of Ad,8d,10h, and that prompted her to shove it all in, holding Qd, 10d. She got called by an opponent who had A,8 though for two pair. The Qs on the turn did give Harman a weaker two pair too, but the 5c on the river meant her flush draw failed to fill up and she was eliminated.
Carlos Mortensen, Liz Lieu and Humberto Brenes would soon follow her to the rail too.
Greg Raymer, who is usually a good long-haul player and who looked set to finish deep in this event too, fell when his 10,10,- with all his chips behind it -ran into an opponent’s pocket rockets. The board missed both players and Raymer was eliminated well before the money bubble.
John Juanda and Nam Le followed him as did Jerry Wong who chipped Grospellier up to give him the provisional lead on his way out.
Wong shoved all-in on the river of a board made up of: 2c,9h,7s,Kc,Ah and got called by the Frenchman who had him but slightly covered. ElkY then tabled pocket 9s for a set, and Wong’s K,Q was no match for that.
Christian Heich ejected Jason Alexander by completing a gutshot straight on the river against the latter’s pocket Js.
Jeffrey Lisandro, the guy who’d just pocketed the WSOP Player of The Year award for his numerous 2009 bracelets, survived Ville Wahlbeck who had also been considered for the title, but his Main Event run came to an end before the conclusion of Day 3 too. John Myung knocked him out, after having flopped a flush.
789 players remained after the day was called, Peter Eastgate, Phil Hellmuth, Joe Sebok, Joe Hachem and Chris Ferguson among them.
