Photo Recap: Day 3 of WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

By BJ Nemeth

Day 3 started with 138 players, but only 100 of them would finish in the money. The money bubble burst in the middle of the day, and play continued until there were 54 players remaining. Here’s a look at the top five on the leaderboard:

1. Antonio Esfandiari – 1,082,500 (216 bb)
2. Doug Lee – 702,500 (140 bb)
3. Vanessa Rousso – 694,000 (138 bb)
4. Freddy Deeb – 654,000 (130 bb)
5. Nick Phillips – 559,000 (111 bb)

And now, a photographic look back at Day 3 of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic:

Doyle Brunson (left) and Phil Ivey share some laughs before play begins on Day 3.

Maria Ho and Jonathan Little are seated side-by-side at the start of Day 3. Unfortunately, Maria was eliminated before the money, while Little continues on to Day 4, ranked 12th in chips with 54 players remaining.

With the board showing [Ac7s4s2c] on the turn, Joe Elpayaa (left) asks Winfred Yu (center) "Why so much?" Elpayaa had bet 7,800, and Yu moved all in for 113,400 when the two players had nearly even stacks. As it turns out, Yu had turned a five-high straight with [5c3h], and Elpayaa eventually called with [Ah3c] (top pair and a gutshot straight draw). Elpayaa missed his outs on the river, and when the chip stacks were counted down, he was eliminated. Yu survived to Day 4 with an average chip stack. Yu is the host of the Poker King Club in Macau, and participated in the recent huge cash games there with players like Phil Ivey and Tom "Durrrr" Dwan.

Royal Flush Girl Melanie Iglesias scans the field early on Day 3.

Vanessa Rousso (left) continued her strong run on Day 3, pulling in another big pot while short-stacked Eric Mizrachi can only look on in envy. Mizrachi was treading water at the bottom of the chip counts all day, and it looked unlikely that he’d reach the money.

Kia Mohajeri (left) pulls in a big pot after eliminating Matt Berkey (who was in that center seat a moment ago) on a bad beat. There was heavy three-way action before the flop, and Berkey five-bet all in. Ted Lawson (right) folded Q-Q, but Mohajeri called with A-Q. Berkey showed K-K, but Mohajeri paired his ace on the flop to dish out the bad beat. Mohajeri would go on to survive the day with an above-average stack, while Lawson made it to Day 4 with an average stack.

The Royal Flush Girls (from left to right: Melanie Iglesias, Sunisa Kim, Melyssa Grace, and Jennifer Haley) hold a web chat with fans on Day 3.

When the field reached 101 players, hand-for-hand play began on the money bubble. While most players swarmed around any table with an all-in situation, Phil Ivey was on the phone dealing with more important matters than a min-cash.

Johnny Chan (seated, far left) moves all in on the money bubble, and everyone waits to see whether his opponent will call. Meanwhile, Antonio Esfandiari is on cruise control as one of the chipleaders. Chan survived into the money, finishing in 65th place.

The money bubble dragged on for a little while until there were three all-in situations at three different tables. Two of the short stacks survived (including Jason Mercier, who sucked out with 6-6 against 7-7), but Ali Eslami (left) lost a race situation to be eliminated in 101st place. The top 100 players earned at least $12,669.

When the money bubble burst, Eric Mizrachi (center) was down to a single big blind — and he had the big blind on the very next hand. All in blind, he was a big favorite with A-Q against A-7, but two pair on the board forced a chopped pot. Mizrachi joked that he was so short, chopping the pot still counted as a double up.

Chris DeMaci (far left) studies Andrew Robl after a river bet late on Day 3. Both players would go on to survive to Day 4, with DeMaci finishing with an average stack, and Robl making it through a little below average.

Late on Day 3, Doyle Brunson (right) was moved to a new table, and found himself seated right next to Phil Ivey. Unfortunately, Ivey had fallen down toward the bottom of the leaderboard by that point, and this interesting table pairing didn’t last very long. Ivey was eliminated, while Brunson advanced to Day 4 ranked 13th in chips with 54 players remaining.

WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener continues his momentum with a deep run here on the World Poker Tour. Racener is short stacked but still alive heading into Day 4.

It takes some time to count down the nearly identical stacks after Nick Phillips (far right) doubles through Abbey Daniels. They got it all in on the turn with the board showing [As10h7sJh], with Daniels’ [Ad4s] outkicked by Phillips’ [AcQc]. The best hand held up, crippling Daniels down to less than a big blind and catapulting Phillips up the leaderboard. Daniels was eliminated on the next hand, while Phillips finished the day ranked fifth in chips.

Current WPT Player of the Year points leader Andy Frankenberger (right) studies Kia Mohajeri during a hand late on Day 3. Frankenberger added some POY points by cashing in this event, with the potential for much more if he continues his WPT hot streak by making his third final table of the season. Frankenberger finished the day with a below-average stack, while Mohajeri, who also made a WPT final table this season, is ranked 10th on the leaderboard.

Chipleader Antonio Esfandiari (far left) checks his phone while waiting for another player to join his short-handed table near the end of Day 3. Other notables at the table: Thor Hansen (second from left) and Vanessa Rousso (far right). Esfandiari carries the chip lead into Day 4, while Rousso is third in chips. Hansen survived further back in the pack, though still with an above-average chip stack.

David Baker (in white) plays a hand late on Day 3, while Doug Lee (center) looks on. Baker survived the day with a below-average stack, while Lee enters Day 4 ranked second behind chipleader Antonio Esfandiari.

The legendary Doyle Brunson continues his deep run in the event named in his honor — the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Brunson finished the day ranked 13th in chips with 54 players remaining.

Day 4 begins tomorrow (Monday) at 12:00 noon. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for continuing live coverage, including hand updates, frequent chip counts, video interviews with Kimberly Lansing, and the best web-based poker show not nominated for best web-based poker show, starring Jessica Welman and BJ Nemeth.