Balakrishna Patur Leads 39 Players on Day 3 of WPT L.A. Poker Classic

By Tim Duckworth

Day 3 of the Season XVIII WPT L.A. Poker Classic saw a total of 104 players return from the 490-player field to The Commerce Casino & Hotel in California. Following five levels of play, the field would progress into the money and see just 39 players survive into Day 4 as Balakrishna Patur holds the chip lead with 2,289,000 in chips.

The Parsippany, New Jersey native has amassed over $219,000 in lifetime tournament earnings with the majority of his results coming on the East Coast and in Las Vegas. On the World Poker Tour, Patur has two previous cashes with one coming at the Season XVIII WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open where he finished in 116th place.

Patur sits with a near 68-big blind lead over his nearest rival as Shi Chen finished with 1,610,000 in chips. WPT Champions Club member Kevin Eyster (1,131,000), Day 2 chip leader Isaac Baron (1,079,000), and WPTDeepStacks champion Upeshka De Silva (1,002,000) are the only players that sit in the seven-figure club.

Also still in contention are WPT Champions Club members Matt Giannetti (820,000), Daniel Strelitz (805,000), Dylan Linde (607,000), J.C. Tran (549,000), James Carroll (294,000), John Hennigan (206,000), Demo Kiriopoulos (190,000), Matas Cimbolas (130,000), and Donald Maloney (41,000).

Day 4 Seating Draw and Chip Counts.

The 39 remaining players are each guaranteed $24,375 in prize money, and Day 4 action will see levels increased to 120-minutes in duration with four levels of play on the schedule.

Day 4 of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic begins at 12 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday with continuous live updates being provided by the World Poker Tour. Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for the exclusive live coverage of the tournament from start to finish to see who becomes the WPT L.A. Poker Classic champion, and wins his or her way to the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

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