October 30 2011, Chad Holloway

The World Poker Tour World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, the first $10,000 buy-in of Season X, saw 189 players take their shots at poker glory and a piece of the $1,778,300 prize pool. With nearly $450,000 reserved for first place, the competition was fierce. By the end of Day 3, only 27 players remained, each guaranteed a payday of $19,916.

Leading the way is reigning WPT Player of the Year, Andy Frankenberger, who bagged up 658,500 chips. He is followed by Jack Schanbacher, with 483,500. Other notables sill in the field include Jonathan Little (355,000), Hoyt Corkins (235,000), Matt Glantz (226,500), Bernard Lee (84,000), Allen Kessler (43,500) and Cornel Cimpan (25,000).

Frankenberger began Day 3 as the chip leader and used it to his advantage. In one hand, Frankenberger eliminated Alan Sternber, a fellow WPT Champ. According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, there was a bout 60,000 in the pot with a board reading when Sternberg checked under the gun, Frankenberger bet 40,000, and Sternberg moved all-in. Frankenberger made the call and the cards were turned up:

Showdown
Sternberg:
Frankenberger:

Sternberg was in need of an ace on the river, but it was not meant to be as the gave Frankenbeger quad jacks, increasing his stack to 327,500.

Day 3 was characterized by fast action and numerous eliminations. A laundry list of professionals hit the rail throughout the day including Dwyte Pilgrim, Erik Seidel, Chris Tryba, David “Doc” Sands, Justin Zaki, Dana Kellstrom, Jason Mercier, and last year’s champion, Jeff Forrest.

Jason Mercier’s demise came when he raised to 4,000 from early position and received calls from both blinds. When the flop came down , Lee Markholt bet 6,000 from the small blind, Andy Rossi raised to 16,000 from the big, and Mercier three-bet to 30,200. Markholt got out of the way, but Rossi made the call, leading to the turn.

Rossi went ahead and led out for 23,000, Mercier moved all-in for 87,700, and Rossi hit the tank. Eventually he emerged with a call, discovering his was ahead of Mercier’s . The river was no help to Mercier and he was eliminated in 39th place; meanwhile, Rossi chipped up to 300,000.

The unfortunate bubble boy, who busted in 28th place right at the end of the day, was Alistair Melville. After being crippled by Matt Stout, Melville was all-in from the big blind, and Dan Colman limped from middle position. Christian Harder called from the button, and Hoyt Corkins came along from the small blind. In order to survive, Melville needed to defeat three opponents. All three active players checked the flop, as well as the turn, but Harder fired out 10,000 on the river. Corkins quickly folded, and Colman followed suit, tossing .

Harder rolled over for the nut straight, which beat Melville’s . With that, action came to a halt.

The remaining 27 players will return at 1200 EDT (1600 GMT) on Sunday for Day 4 action. Here’s a look at the top 10 stacks entering Day 4:

Top 10 End of Day 3 Chip Counts

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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October 29 2011, Brett Collson

Day 1 of the World Poker Tour World Poker Finals at Foxwoods saw 185 players pony up $10,000 to compete in one of the most celebrated stops on the World Poker Tour. Only 144 players managed to survive the opening day, but four more players took advantage of the late registration on Day 2 to generate a total field of 189, and a prize pool of $1,778,300. A top prize of just under $450,000 will go to the winner, and 27 players will earn a minimum payday of $19,916.

The leaders heading into Day 3 include Dan Colpoys and reigning WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger, who is second among the 66 players who survived Day 2. Others taking healthy stacks into Day 3 are Peter Politano, Chris Klodnicki, Steven Brackesy, Christian Harder and Thomas Schreiber, all of whom will take more than 100 big blinds into Saturday.

Colpoys finished Day 2 as the leader with 246,000 chips, but it wasn’t an easy path to the top. In one of the largest pots of the day, Colpoys got just under 80,000 chips in the middle holding on a board of . His opponent, Jack Kashishian, called with for two pair, but the fell on the river to give Colpoys a set of aces and a double-up.

Frankenberger began the day fourth in chips and continued his climb by picking off a pair of bluffs with just ace-high. According to the World Poker Tour Live Updates Team, Frankenberger called a double-barrel bluff on a board with just and then checked the on the river to win a pot worth more than 26,000. Then, Frankenberger had the same two cards and called a river bluff on a ten-high paired board to scoop a pot of more than 62,000, putting him among the overall leaders.

Christian Harder had a roller coaster day but still managed to finish sixth overall when play ended Friday night. After tripling his starting stack early in the day, Harder lost a 200,000-chip pot to Darren Elias to send him back where he started at just under 50,000. Harder cold-four-bet with pocket aces preflop and Elias and Kyle Loman called to see a flop of . Loman checked, and Harder moved all-in, having both players covered. Elias called instantly and, after Loman got out of the way, tabled for middle set. Harder had two outs for the win but came up empty, giving Elias a massive double-up. Elias, however, lost nearly half his stack before the end of the day.

Others still alive entering Day 3 include Kathy Liebert, David Sands, Allen Kessler, Jason Mercier, Bernard Lee, Dwight Pilgrim, Matt Glantz, Erik Seidel, and former WPT Finals champions Hoyt Corkins, Cornel Cimpan, Jonathan Little and Jeff Forrest. Among the notables exiting on Day 2 were Dan Shak, David Williams, Cliff Josephy, Todd Terry, Steve Brecher, Tony Dunst, and current WPT Player of the Year leader Will Failla.

On Saturday, play will resume at 1200 EDT (1600 GMT) and conclude after five levels of action. Here’s a look at the top 10 stacks entering Day 3:

Top 10 End of Day 1 Chip Counts

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Follow Brett Collson on Twitter – @brettcollson

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