2014 Master Classics of Poker Main Event Day 3: Defending Champ Boeken Alive in Final 12
The penultimate day of the 2014 Master Classics of Poker €4,250 Main Event saw 36 players return to the tables in Amsterdam's Holland Casino with Clyde Tjauw Foe in the lead, slightly ahead of [Removed:17]. When the dust had settled after a furious day of action, Tjauw Foe was still the holder of the top position on the leaderboard with 12 players left.
Day 3 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clyde Tjauw Foe | 1,693,000 |
| 2 | Andrew Chen | 1,677,000 |
| 3 | David Boyaciyan | 1,564,000 |
| 4 | Jussi Nevanlinna | 1,048,000 |
| 5 | Ole Schemion | 716,000 |
| 6 | Steven van Zadelhoff | 475,000 |
| 7 | Ruben Visser | 396,000 |
| 8 | Stuart Rutter | 363,000 |
| 9 | Hrazem Aanquich | 320,000 |
| 10 | Noah Boeken | 260,000 |
| 11 | Robbie Hendriks | 231,000 |
| 12 | [Removed:17], | 186,000 |
Marvin Rettenmaier was among the short stacks to return, and the German was sent to the rail in 32nd place when his K♠K♣ were cracked by the 6♠4♠ of Amir Mozaffarian via runner-runner straight.
On the other hand, Ruben Visser started off hot. First, he won two big pots against Hossein Ensan after rivering the nut straight against the jack-high straight of the German and then cracking the kings of Ensan with the 6♣3♣. He then busted Italian Andrea Dato in 26th place when Dato made the second nut flush on the river with the K♦2♦, but Visser held the A♦9♦ for the nut flush.
Then, after Jack Salter had to settle for 25th place, Visser knocked out Michiel Brosky and Richard Milne in substantial pots to reduce the field to the last two tables. Visser's run wasn't all positive, though, as in the very beginning of Level 19, things would turn around completely. Andrew Chen doubled up in a massive 1.8-million pot with the A♥A♠ against the K♠K♥ of Visser, and the Dutchman never recovered from that setback. All told, Visser finished with a stack of 396,000 in chips at day's end.
Former November Niner Michiel Brummelhuis busted in 18th place after he fell short, while fellow Dutchmen Marcel Verheul, Wim Emo, and Albert Hoekendijk followed him out of the door next. Mozaffarian lost his last nine big blinds with the J♠J♣ against the K♠Q♥ of Hrazem Aanquich, and then Aanquich found a miracle double up just before the end of the day with the K♠Q♠ against the pocket kings of Jussi Nevanlinna. Niels van Alphen was the last player to join the rail on Day 3.
Tjauw Foe had slipped out of the top spot, but he regained the lead at the very end by winning a massive pot with the A♥10♣ against Chen on a board of 4♣5♦3♣A♠7♥. Furthermore, Yan bluffed away his stack with jack-high against Nevanlinna, and he will return at the bottom of the chip counts with 186,000.
Tjauw Foe (1,693,000), Chen (1,677,000), and 2011 champion David Boyaciyan (1,564,000) are the trio at the top, while the two other remaining former champions of this event also made it through; 2012 winner Ole Schemion (716,000) and 2013 winner Noah Boeken (260,000). Boeken is in 10th place out of the final 12 players, but as defending champion, his title-defense run is quite impressive and we'll see what he has in store for the finale on Day 4.
Since the final table was not reached before the chips were bagged and tagged, the last day will resume at 14:00 CET. There will be 45 minutes left of the blinds at 8,000/16,000/2,000, and all of the survivors are guaranteed at least €15,341. All eyes are set on the first-place prize of €306,821, and those eyes are bright and wide.
Be sure to tun back in with our PokerNews Live Reporting team for continued live coverage until a champion is crowned.
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