Ryan Young Eliminated in 41st Place ($12,895)

Level 16: 3,000-6,000, 500 ante

Ryan Young is the first casualty of the day.  He got it all-in holding a straight to Erik Cajelais' flush and hit the rail in 41st place.

Erik Cajelais - 365,000 (61 big blinds)
Ryan Young - eliminated in 41st place ($12,895)

Day 4 Begins

Level 16: 3,000-6,000, 500 ante

Cards are in the air for Day 4.  The remaining 41 players are on Level 16 of play and blinds are at 3,000-6,000 ante 500.

The plan is to play five levels or until the field reaches the six-handed final table.

Jess Welman and BJ Nemeth Day 3 Recap

Level 16: 3,000-6,000, 500 ante

Photo Recap: Day 3 of WPT Festa al Lago

Level 16: 3,000-6,000, 500 ante

By BJ Nemeth

The bubble burst on Day 3 when the field reached 50 players, and play continued for another level or so to finish the day with 41. Here's a look at the top 5 chip counts:

1. Steve O'Dwyer - 844,500 (140 bb)
2. Jeff Madsen - 814,000 (135 bb)
3. Randal Flowers - 795,500 (132 bb)
4. Andreas Hoivold - 632,500 (105 bb)
5. Jason Koon - 586,000 (97 bb)

And now, a photographic look back at Day 3 of the WPT Festa al Lago at Bellagio:



When the field reached 51 players, play shifted to hand-for-hand play on the money bubble, as the top 50 players would be guaranteed at least $12,896. Owen Crowe (center) was all in preflop against Gavin Smith (right), but they weren't allowed to reveal their cards until action was completed at the other five tables. It took about five minutes before they were allowed to show their holecards, so let's look at some other photos before returning to find out what they had.



David Williams (top right) ponders his decision when Chris Bjorin (far left) reraised all in preflop. Williams eventually folded, claiming A-Q, and Bjorin flashed his cards to Williams to prove he made a good lay down.



Maria Ho lost an all-in situation in the last hand of the first level, and left the tournament. But when the chip stacks were counted down, Maria still had 300 in chips -- the size of a single ante. A few friends called her, but she didn't get the message until the end of the break, and made it back to the room just in time to play the first hand -- and win. That took her from 300 to 2,700 (a 9x increase), and she moved all in again on the next time -- and quadrupled up to 11,000 (4.5 bb). Could she mount a comeback?



Around the same time that Maria Ho was crippled, Vanessa Selbst (standing, in dark blue) was eliminated by Jared Jaffee (standing, right). With the board showing 10104K, Jaffee four-bet all in, and Selbst called with J10 for trip tens. But Jaffee turned over 44 for a flopped full house, and it held up to win the pot. Jaffee continued his hot streak during the next level to take the chip lead for a while, and eventually finished the day with an above-average stack of 426,500 (71 bb).



Nearly an hour later, and Maria Ho was still surviving with her short stack. In this hand, Maria moved all in under the gun for 9,600, and was about to double up through recent WPT Legends of Poker winner Andy Frankenberger (not pictured) -- Maria's K4 made a flush against his K2. That took Maria up over the 20,000-chip mark, and over the next hour she built it up to more than 40,000. Unfortunately, she eventually ran her A-Q into Gavin Smith's K-K to double him up. (Gavin was on a shortstack comeback of his own.) Maria busted a few minutes later, ten spots away from the money.



Jeff Madsen was the tournament chipleader when hand-for-hand play began on the money bubble. Madsen carried the momentum through the end of the day, finishing second on the leaderboard with 814,000 (135 bb).



It's probably not a surprise that Allen Kessler was one of the short stacks on the money bubble, though perhaps it should have been. Kessler began Day 3 with 18,700 (9 bb), and was in 97th place with 99 players remaining. Kessler not only reached the money, but he survived the day with 259,000 (43 bb).



As the money bubble continued, Thomas Marchese (right) played a pot against Daniel Alaei (foreground) as Mark Newhouse looked on. All three players survived the day in good shape -- Alaei with 355,000 (59 bb), Marchese with 215,000 (35 bb), and Newhouse with 213,500 (35 bb).



The money bubble hasn't fazed Lauren Kling, who is all smiles as she is about to clinch the second WPT cash of her young career. Jimmy Tran (right) is a veteran, about to pick up his 10th WPT cash dating back to the first season. Kling finished the day with 141,000 (23 bb), slightly ahead of Tran's 123,500 (20 bb). With 41 players remaining, Kling is one of three women left (7.3% of the field).



Owen Crowe (pictured) was crippled on the money bubble after his AK ran into Brandon Steven's AA. Crowe was knocked down to 15,000 in chips (3 bb), and all eyes turned to him as the most likely to burst the bubble.



Three hands after being crippled, Owen Crowe (center, standing) moved all in from late position, and Gavin Smith (right) moved all in over the top from the cutoff. Both players had to wait about five minutes before revealing their cards, so their hand wouldn't affect action at the other five tables on the money bubble. When they could finally show their cards, Crowe turned over Q10 to Gavin's AK. Gavin Smith's hand held up, and Owen Crowe became the unfortunate "bubble boy," finishing in 51st place.



Andreas Hoivold had a strong day to finish fourth on the leaderboard with 632,500 (105 bb).



As Day 3 came to an end, Steve O'Dwyer (left) and Randal Flowers were at the top of the leaderboard in first and third place, respectively. O'Dwyer was the only player to cross the million-chip mark on Day 3, but dropped a bit to finish the day with 844,500 (140 bb). Flowers finished with 795,500 (132 bb).


Day 4 begins tomorrow (Monday) at 12:00 noon PT, when the 41 survivors will battle it out to get closer to Wednesday's televised WPT final table. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for continuing live coverage, including hand updates, frequent chip counts, and video interviews with Kimberly Lansing.

Official Chip Counts

Level 16: 3,000-6,000, 500 ante

Day 3 Concludes With 41 Players

Level 16: 3,000-6,000, 500 ante

Since there will be no end of day redraw, there isn't a set number of hands to end the day -- the button will remain in the same place overnight, so delaying won't protect anyone from the blinds.

Day 3 comes to an end shortly before 9:00 pm PT with 41 players. The official chip counts should be released by the casino fairly soon, but here is an unofficial look at the top of the leaderboard:

1.  Steve O'Dwyer  -  844,500  (140 bb)
2.  Jeff Madsen  -  814,000  (135 bb)
3.  Randal Flowers  -  795,500  (132 bb)
4.  Andreas Hoivold  -  632,500  (105 bb)

John Monnette Deals Double Knockout

Level 16: 3,000-6,000, 500 ante

John Monnette raises to 11,500 from middle position and a short stacked player moves all-in for 12,000 from the cutoff.  Joe Elpayaa is in the small blind and slides all but 5,000 of his chips in the middle.

The dealer tries to clarify that one player is all-in, but Elpayaa still has chips behind.  The table chatter at the table confuses Monnette and he takes a minute before realizing the player in the cutoff is all-in.  

Monnette apologizes, then quickly calls and flips over AA.  However, Elpayaa is not all-in, so a floor man is called to rule on the situation.  Monnette is told to call Elpayaa's bet and the player will see a flop, at which point Elpayaa will be able to decide what he wants to do.

The flop comes down Q84 and Elpayaa glances at his hand before moving all-in for his last 5,000.  Monnette calls and Elpayaa shows A9.  The short stack player shows 56.

The turn brings the 4 and the river the 3 and Monnette wins both the main and side pots to eliminate both players.

As soon as the hand ends, everyone at the table feels compelled to express their opinion on the hand.

"That was such a slow roll," Bobby Suer says with a laugh.

"I'm sorry," Monnette tells Elpayaa and the table.  "I really didn't know he didn't have chips behind."

Elpayaa accepts the apology and leaves the tournament area as the 41 Day 3 survivors start bagging and tagging their chips.

John Monnette - 313,500 (63 big blinds)
Joe Elpayaa - eliminated in 42nd place ($12,896)

David Peters Doubles Through Jared Jaffee

Level 15: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante

Jared Jaffee raises to 13,000 from early position and David Peters moves all-in for 41,000 from middle position.  Jaffee calls with KJ and Peters has him in bad shape with AJ. 

The board runs out Q9892 and Peters doubles up.

David Peters - 93,500 (19 big blinds)
Jared Jaffee - 426,500 (85 big blinds)

Mark Newhouse Doubles Thru John Monnette

Level 15: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante

John Monnette enters the pot from the small blind, Mark Newhouse moves all in from the big blind for an additional 91,000, and Monnette asks for an exact count, thinks for a while, and calls with A4.

Newhouse shows A3, and while he's outkicked, there's a good chance of a chop here.

But the board comes 87310A, and Newhouse wins the pot with two pair, aces and threes to double up in chips.

Mark Newhouse  -  213,500  (42 bb)
John Monnette  -  155,000  (31 bb)

Joe Elpayaa Goes Runner-Runner to Double Up

Level 15: 2,500-5,000, 500 ante

Joe Elpayaa moves all in from under the gun for 68,000 and the player in seat 6 calls from the small blind; Elpayaa is barely covered.

Elpayaa: AQ
Seat 6: 88

Board: 83254

Seat 6 flops top set, but Elpayaa goes runner-runner to make a five-high straight.

Elpayaa - 140,000