April 30 2012, Chad Holloway

The World Series of Poker, in partnership with Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, announced the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC), a series of five bracelet events that will take place from April 4 through 15, 2013.

“Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship,’ we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.”

“This exciting partnership brings together two industry leaders, and two strong brands, to create a premier poker event in this region,” said Crown Melbourne’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Hawkins. “Our agreement firmly aligns with our objective of attracting the very best local and international players, all vying for a coveted WSOP bracelet. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the Aussie Millions and look forward to featuring WSOP Asia Pacific on our poker calendar in April 2013.”

Hawkins went on to say: “This initiative will provide Crown with significant exposure in Asia, Europe and America, and forms an integral part of Crown’s global marketing strategy to attract further international visitors to Australia and Crown Melbourne.”

The multi-year agreement marks just the second time the WSOP has exported overseas, the first coming in 2007 with the introduction of the WSOP Europe. The event will be filmed for television and is expected to air on ESPN.

The WSOP APAC schedule is expected sometime later this year, but the announcement has already drawn support from the international poker community.

“It’s thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming to Australian soil,” said 2005 WSOP champ Joe Hachem. “I know first-hand what a life-changing moment winning the WSOP gold bracelet was and how it served as a catalyst for the growth of poker in Australia and Asia. It will be a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Crown. I can’t wait.”

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April 28 2012, Donnie Peters

The PokerStars.com and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event stormed through Day 3 and only 26 players remain. It was a spectacular day on the felt and one that saw the bubble burst, the “100,000 Super High Roller winner make an extremely impressive deep run and Geert-Jan Potijk claim the chip lead with 1.32 million in chips.

When the day began, 130 players remained and the money line was set at 96. Due to a double elimination with one player falling at two separate tables during hand-for-hand play, Adam Levy was the bubble boy in 98th place. Andrew Badecker and Martin Finger were the two players eliminated during the same hand of hand-for-hand action and chopped up the “15,000 awarded to the first payout spot.

Six Team PokerStars Pros made the money on Day 3, but none of them advanced. Nacho Barbero, Angel Guillen, Sandra Naujoks, Max Martinez, Richard Toth and Matthias De Meulder all finished with a cash, but the dream of becoming EPT Grand Final champion is dead for this year.

De Meulder was all in with pocket queens and held the best of it against Jason Wheeler’s pocket jacks. The Belgian Team Pro was in prime position for a double up, but a jack on the flop ended his run.

Other notables who were eliminated on the day, but in the money, included Bryan Piccioli, Guillaume Darcourt, Erik Seidel, Dominykas Karmazinas and Griffin Benger.

Justin Bonomo, the winner of the “100,000 Super High Roller just a couple of days ago, had a very impressive performance in the Main Event, but his quest ended in 28th place. Geert-Jan Potijk, Andrew Pantling and Bonomo played a big, three-way all-in pot on the feature table with Bonomo holding , Pantling and Potijk . The queens held for Potijk as he doubled through Pantling and busted Bonomo.

End of Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts

The cards will be in the air for Day 4 beginning at 1200 CET (0300 PDT) and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there to bring you all the action as the field grinds it out to the final table.

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