Slightly less than 2,000 players remain in the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event entering Day 3. The field will combine on Thursday for the first time as Day 3 kicks off from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. With a top prize of $8.5 million on the line, all eyes will be focused on chip leader Gaelle Baumann (pictured), who is seeking to become just the second woman ever to make the final table of the Main Event. The top 666 players will finish in the money.HogWild Poker makes PocketFives' WSOP coverage possible. On top of big game entries, HogWild rewards consistently skilled players with laptops, HDTVs, Xboxes, iPods, and training, plus hundreds of cash prizes every month. No subscriptions are required. Sign up for HogWild Poker for free today by clicking here. U.S. players are welcome.
Baumann has a stack of 505,800 entering Day 3 and is just slightly ahead of Canada's Mark Demirdjian, who owns 499,900 in chips. The former will head to Brasilia Table 45, Seat 7 on Thursday, while Demirdjian can be found across the hall in the Pavilion at Table 105, Seat 1.
Day 2C of the WSOP Main Event took place on Wednesday and ended with Michael Hack holding the top spot with 457,000. Hack and Day 2C's second biggest stack, Marco Bognanni, who has 452,100, still are well behind Baumann. The French player competed in her Day 2 on Tuesday.
One of the final eliminations of Day 2C went to Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler (pictured), who posted on Twitter, "Sick way to bust Main. Chronic raiser opens cutoff 89hh, I ship 66 button. He asks for a count, eventually calls. Flop 774h, turn h, river h."In a battle of the titans, World Poker Tour Season IX Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger pushed out a bet on a board of 10-3-3. Back-to-back Main Event champ Johnny Chan raised and Frankenberger moved all-in. Chan called, putting Frankenberger at risk, and when the cards were turned over, Frankenberger showed pocket kings and was well ahead of Chan's nines.
Needless to say, the status quo didn't last long, as a jack on the turn kept Frankenberger ahead, but a nine on the river ended matters. Frankenberger relayed the news on Twitter to his 13,000 followers: "Just got it in w KK on T33 v chan's 99. 9 on river. I'm out."
In the final 30 minutes of Day 2C, PokerStars pro Viktor Isildur1 Blom (pictured) hit the showers after moving all-in on a flop of 6-5-J. Blom showed pocket fours for a pair, while his opponent tabled cowboys for an overpair to the board. Blom whiffed on the turn and river and was eliminated from the 2012 WSOP Main Event. The Swedish native's big claim to fame at the 2012 WSOP was finishing 14th in the $50,000 Poker Player's Championship for $105,000.Blom called an opponent's 5bet all-in several hands earlier with pocket queens against A-K and came up short after an ace hit on the flop. That hand knocked his stack down significantly.
Also busting on Wednesday was Matt mcmatto Affleck, who 5bet all-in on his final hand with A-Q offsuit and ran into the pocket tens of Nino Ryschawy. The board ran out J-6-8-4-K and Affleck exited stage left. Affleck finished 15th in the Main Event two years ago after eventual champion Jonathan Duhamel spiked a gutshot against him on the river. He cashed for $500,000, while Duhamel banked nearly $9 million.
Here are the top 20 chip stacks in the 2012 WSOP Main Event entering Day 3 according to WSOP.com:
1. Gaelle Baumann - 505,800
2. Mark Demirdjian - 499,900
3. Shaun shaundeeb Deeb - 460,900
4. Michael Hack - 457,000
5. Marco Bognanni - 452,100
6. Gerardo Lubas - 449,500
7. Jonathan Fountain - 435,400
8. Randy Randers Haddox - 407,300
9. John Leathart - 404,900
10. Erik Hellman - 397,900
11. Kevin Davis - 394,800
12. Jan Kasten - 391,800
13. Taylor taypaur Paur - 391,600
14. David Kluchman - 383,000
15. Jim Burns - 381,600
16. Matthew Woodward - 381,000
17. Luke Brereton - 372,000
18. Jacob JakeSchindler Schindler - 371,600
19. Thanh dat Tran - 369,300
20. Jeremy Allen - 364,200
Day 3 begins at Noon PT on Thursday. When the action resumes, the blinds will be at 800-1,600 with an ante of 200. The tournament is scheduled to play down to its final nine on Monday. Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest WSOP coverage of online poker players.
