Just before their first orbit came to an end on table 675, Paul Volpe scooped a three-way pot against Freddy Deeb and Brian Rast who mucked their boards instantly.
Volpe still had his A♣6♣7♥5♦ exposed and revealed the 4♥3♦2♠ in a hole for a seven-high straight and wheel to earn it all.
Phil Hellmuth: 9♥8♥5♥/5♣5♠10♠6♠
Daniel Alaei: 7♥5♥2♥/4♥3♥7♦9♦
Phil Hellmuth completed and Daniel Alaei raised behind, with Hellmuth calling.
Hellmuth check-called a bet from Alaei on the next two streets, then led on sixth, with Alaei responding with a raise, which Hellmuth called.
Hellmuth then check-called a final bet on seventh street and tabled 9♥8♥5♥ for trip fives for high and Alaei showed down 7♥5♥2♥ for a pair and a seventy-five low.
Cary Katz: 6♠2♠ / 5♣Q♦K♥5♦ / 6♣
Matthew Ashton: 10♣4♣ / 8♣4♦3♥A♠ / 7♠
Benny Glaser: XxXx / 2♦7♥2♥9♦folded on sixth street
Cary Katz completed and was called by Matthew Ashton and Benny Glaser. It was Glaser who bet fourth street when checked to and Katz check-called all-in for 3,000, Ashton also stuck around. Ashton then bet fifth street to get called by Glaser and bet sixth street again to force out Glaser.
Katz deemed himself in trouble but was actually ahead with the superior pair. He improved to two pair but Ashton caught the low.
"Matt ... Matt," Glaser sighed with a dry smile on the face.
Stephen Chidwick chopped with Freddy Deeb when his made low and an inferior pair could only chop.
One table over, John Monnette was scooped by Kristopher Tong and recovered some of the losses after.
Talal Shakerchi: XxXx / J♣Q♣4♥5♣ / Xx
Cary Katz: XxXx / 7♦2♦3♣Q♥ / Xx
Talal Shakerchi then took on Cary Katz and bet all the way. Katz called down but mucked when he was shown the A♣9♣6♦ for the ace-high flush by Shakerchi. That left Katz with 10,000 and he chopped his way to 28,000.
After six more grueling 100-minute levels of mixed gameplay, the final 32 players of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, lead by James Obst, return to the event center gold section at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas at 1 p.m. to chase the money bubble and better position themselves into taking down the $1,324,747 first place prize, the coveted gold bracelet, the legendary Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, and poker immortality.
James Obst
Obst bagged the chip lead heading into Day 3, ending the day with 2,972,000, but not far behind is veteran mix game pro Daniel Alaei, who bagged 2,064,000 and ten-time bracelet winner and poker legend Phil Ivey, who finished with 1,655,000, to round out the top three.
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
James Obst
Australia
2,972,000
2
Daniel Alaei
United States
2,064,000
3
Phil Ivey
United States
1,655,000
4
Talal Shakerchi
United Kingdom
1,598,000
5
Johannes Becker
Germany
1,387,000
6
Josh Arieh
United States
1,365,000
7
Brian Rast
United States
1,306,000
8
Lyle Berman
United States
1,268,000
9
Dzmitry Urbanovich
Poland
1,196,000
10
Nacho Barbero
Argentina
1,158,000
However, they will have their work cut out for them, as the rest of the top ten reads like a who's who of mix game players. Including the likes of recent bracelet winner Josh Arieh, fresh off a $10k Limit Hold’Em win last week, former two-time winner of this event Brian Rast, and last year’s fifth-place finisher, Germany’s Johannes Becker.
Scott Siever
Rounding out the bottom ten, but never to be counted out, are the likes of five-time bracelet winner and mix game specialist Scott Seiver, recent $10k 2-7 Tripple Draw winner Benny Glaser, and this year’s $10k No-Limit Hold’Em Secret Bounty winner Chris Klodnicki.
A total of 99 players entered this event, creating a prize pool of $4,727,250, with 15 getting paid at least $85,255. The remaining 32 players will play six more 100-minute levels today, with a 15-minute break after each level and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 15 (approx. 6:30 p.m.).
As always, keep it tuned right here to PokerNews for up-to-the-minute live coverage of this championship event.
