The Season XVII WPT Gardens Poker Festival Main Event is down to 46 players after the completion of Day 3 on Tuesday. Leading the pack is Saya Ono (pictured) with a towering stack of 2.114 million in chips. Ono is a local California player with nearly $200,000 in live tournament earnings. She’s making her third cash in a WPT Main Tour event and looking to reach her first WPT final table.
Ono’s stack is nearly double Anuj Agarwal’s 1.25 million, and the day truly belonged to her. She knocked out Matt Salsberg in 74th place to send the final 73 players into the money, she scored a big knockout when she busted experienced pro Ari Engel in 55th place, and then she busted Brandon Zuidema in a big clash right at the end of the night that pushed Ono to more than 2 million in chips.
On the hand she eliminated Zuidema, the two got the money in on the 
flop. Zuidema had top and bottom pair with the 
, and Ono had the 
for top pair and a flush draw. The turn was the 
to keep Zuidema in the lead, but the river 
gave Ono the flush she needed to win the pot and bust Zuidema.
Behind Ono and Agarwal as the only other player with more than 1 million in chips is Craig Varnell. Varnell busted Randall Emmett near the end of the night to soar to seven figures. The former WPT500 Las Vegas champion finished the day with 1.06 million.
Elsewhere on the leaderboard are WPT Champions Club members Ryan Tosoc with 940,000, Mike Del Vecchio with 623,000, and Marvin Rettenmaier with 575,000. These three players are the only three WPT Champions Club members remaining in the field.
Kitty Kuo, who placed second in the Season XVI WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic, bagged 590,000, and then the Massey brothers, Aaron and Ralph, ended Day 3 with 192,000 and 535,000, respectively.
The shortest stack advancing to Day 4 was Corey Hochman with 76,000.
With 46 players left, they’re all guaranteed $12,800. Up top is a payday of $565,055, plus a Mercedes-Benz SLC Roadster, courtesy of the Gardens Casino. The plan for Day 4 will be to kick off the action at 12 p.m. local time and play until the final table of six is reached. Making the final table of six will earn players $115,885 in prize money.
As always, stay tuned right here to WPT.com for continued coverage of the World Poker Tour.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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