#TheCupAwaits: Chris Hinchcliffe Leads Remaining 64 Players in WPT Rolling Thunder

Day 3 of the Season XVI WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event is here, with 64 players remaining from a field of 440 entries. Today is a big day, as the players will be battling to reach the money, with the top 55 spots reaching a cash.

The action kicks off at 12 p.m. PT, and it’s Chris Hinchcliffe (pictured) out in front with 723,000. Hinchcliffe is more than 150,000 in chips ahead of anyone else on the leaderboard, with Rayo Kniep’s stack of 567,000 the closest.

WPT Champions Club members Sam Panzica (460,000), Pat Lyons (281,500), Olivier Busquet (176,000), Anthony Zinno (148,500), Aaron Mermelstein (118,000), and Dylan Wilkerson (94,000) also remain. Zinno is coming off an eighth-place finish in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic Championship and is looking to become the first poker player to win four World Poker Tour titles. Panzica and Mermelstein both have two titles under their belts and will be looking to join the ranks of Zinno, Carlos Mortensen, Gus Hansen, Chino Rheem, and Darren Elias with three WPT titles. Lyons, Busquet, and Wilkerson will all be looking to win their second WPT titles.

Speaking of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, the event’s third-place finish, Derek Wolters, has advanced to Day 3 here at Thunder Valley Casino Resort with 167,500 in chips. A cash would give Wolters his third WPT in-the-money finish of Season XVI and further close the gap between him and Art Papazyan in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. In addition to placing third at Commerce Casino, Wolters finished third in WPT Montreal at Playground Poker Club. He has 1,800 points in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race and is 600 behind Papazyan.

WPT.com caught up with Wolters on Day 2.

Jeff Fielder, winner of the season-ending WPTDeepStacks Championship that took place at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in December for $220,616, also advanced to Day 3 in this tournament, but he’s on the shorter side with 60,000 in chips. There are only five players behind Fielder on the leaderboard.

The top 55 spots will reach the money, with a min-cash worth just under $6,000. From the prize pool of $1.408 million, the lion’s share of $295,128 will go to the winner. Included in the top prize is a coveted $15,000 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions at ARIA Resort & Casino in May.

Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for continued coverage from the Season XVI WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event, with Day 3 starting at 12 p.m. local time from Thunder Valley Casino Resort.

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