PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Venetian Day 3: Blair Breaks Through to Chip Lead
Day 3 of the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Venetian got under way Monday with 149 players. Out of those 149, 128 players would earn some cash for their efforts, and by day's end, only 24 would still be in the running for the first-ever NAPT title. Leading the final table charge is Eric Blair who bagged 3.7 million. He is followed closely by Sam Stein with 3.4 million.
While Blair's surge came earlier in the day, Stein made his run to the 3-million mark late into the night at the Venetian in a hand against Sunday night's chip leader, Andrew "LuckyChewy" Lichtenberger. It was a raised preflop pot, and both players saw a 8♠J♦7♣ flop. Lichtenberger bet out 80,000 and was called by Stein. The turn was the 10♠, and once again, Lichtenberger bet out, this time 150,000. Once again, Stein came along. The river was the K♦, and not slowing down for a second, Lichtenberger fired 335,000 into the middle. Stein, with 1.47 million, slid all his chips forward declaring he was all-in. Lichtenberger, after asking for a count, made the call only to shake his head, and muck his cards when he saw Stein's A♥Q♥.
Also still in the mix for the $827,648 first prize are Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis,Christina Lindley, PokerStars.net players Jason Dewitt, Daniele Nestola, Daniel Cossette, Steve Stolzman, Andrew Chen and Jonathan Aguiar.
A few of the notable pros who busted before the end of the day were Michael Binger, who was down to his last 150,000 when he moved all-in with A♥3♥ and ran into Cossette's pocket eights, which held. "This may be my first mistake of the whole tournament," Binger said. "I should have waited."
Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso bubbled Day 4 after getting eliminated in 25th place. Rousso, who peaked with over 1 million in chips, ran her pocket queens into the A♠9♠ of Tom Sinistaj. Sinistaj got lucky spiking both an ace and a nine on the flop to leave Rousso steaming, and short-stacked. Her day would come to a close almost two-hours later when she open-shoved with K♠6♣ from the button and was called by Marchese with pocket sevens. Unlike Sinistaj, she could not get lucky with the board rolling out 10♠3♥J♦A♣J♣.
Play resumes today at 12:00 p.m. PST when 24 remaining players will fight to a final table. Be sure to keep your browsers locked in to PokerNews for all the updates. We're also excited to announce that we'll be streaming the NAPT Live broadcast right here at PokerNews starting at 11:00 a.m. PST.
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