Day 3 of Event #74: $1,000 Mini Main Event No-Limit Hold'em begins at noon local time. Day 2 started with 428 players returning out of a starting field of 5,257, who created a total prize pool of $4,678,730. By Day 3, only five players remain, each locking up a guaranteed payout of at least $147,129 and looking to claim the first-place prize of $549,555 along with the coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelet awaiting the winner.
French player Jérémy Oleon currently leads the final table with 98,100,000. Oleon jumped to the top of the leaderboard near the end of the Day 2 when he eliminated Marius Iftimia, in a hand where he had Iftimia dominated with pocket eights against ten-eight suited.
Rounding out the final five is Miami Beach resident Oliver Berens (63,300,000), San Diego native Bradley Gafford (18,400,000), WSOP Circuit Ring Winner Josh Reichard (55,900,000), and Georgetown Poker Club Cofounder Jennifer Abad (80,000,000). With the exception of Reichard, all other players have secured their biggest tournament cash thus far.
Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Bradley Gafford | United States | 18,400,000 | 6 |
| 3 | Oliver Berens | United States | 63,300,000 | 21 |
| 4 | Jérémy Oleon | France | 98,100,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Josh Reichard | United States | 55,900,000 | 19 |
| 9 | Jennifer Abad | United States | 80,000,000 | 27 |
Among those who busted earlier in the day was WSOP bracelet winner Stephen Song. Bracelet winner John Reading made a deep run, but was knocked out in 21st place ($21,602) when Jérémy Oleon's ace-queen suited found a flush against Reading's pocket sixes. Two time WSOP bracelet winner Timur Margolin fell in 15th place ($26,767) when Fabrizio Nutzel called his all in from the big blind and found two pair.
Play will resume today at 12 p.m. local time, for the remaining five players. It will be in the Paris Purple section and they will play down to a winner. Day 3 will start at Level 42 with blinds of 1,500,000/3,000,000 with a big blind ante of 3,000,000.
Stay tuned for more coverage of this event and the 2023 World Series of Poker from the PokerNews live reporting team.