The Big Event Main Event Day 3: Ramdin Leads and Hachem Still Alive with 22 Left
Day 3 of the $5,000 Main Event of The Big Event started with the remaining 68 players of a 417-player field, all looking to crack the top 56 and secure a guaranteed payday. Not only did the money bubble broken, but also the field played down to the final 22 players. Amiable pro Victor Ramdin began the day as the monster chip stack with about 8 percent of the total chips in play and didn’t let up from there. In fact, he bagged up the most chips at the end of Day 3 with 1.6 million.
Others who survived the day included Taylor von Kriegenbergh, Alex Kamberis, David Paredes, David “ODB” Baker, Chris DeMaci, Govert Metaal, and Joe Hachem.
Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky. Vladimir Shchemelev (54th - $7,500), Anh Van Nguyen (47th - $8,000), Pat Pezzin (42nd - $8,000), Dusty Schmidt (40th - $9,000), Daniel Negreanu (37th - $9,000), Ali Eslami (35h - $9,000), Jeff Williams (33rd - $9,000), and Greg Debora (25th - $10,000) all hit the rail on Day 3.
Negreanu’s demise came after he raised preflop to 13,500 and was called by Paul Chauderson in the big blind. Things heated up on the 3♥4♥5♥ flop with a series of raises and reraises, which ultimately ended with Negreanu moving all in and Chauderson making the call.
Negreanu: A♥Q♠
Chauderson: 9♥7♥
Chauderson had flopped a flush while Negreanu was looking for a non-six heart. The 10♣ turn was no help and it was down to the river for Negreanu's tournament life. Spectators surrounded the table as the dealer burned and put out the Q♣. Just like that, Negreanu was eliminated from The Big Event.
While one poker star fizzled, another shined. 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Joe Hachem played a short stack masterfully to put himself back in contention for the title. After doubling to 396,000 after picking up pocket aces, Hachem managed another double that put him right back into the thick of things. It began when Hachem min-raised to 16,000 from the button and Joshua Field reraised from the small blind to 42,000, which Hachem called. When the flop came down J♦5♣4♦, Field bet 48,000, Hachem raised 200,000, and Field, the bigger stack, moved all in. Hachem called and tabled the Q♠Q♣, far ahead of Field’s K♣J♥. The 9♦ turn and 6♦ river changed nothing and Hachem doubled to 775,000 in chips. He ended the night with 610,000.
Here is a look at the final three tables.
Table 7
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeremy Ausmus | 144,000 |
| 2 | Mike Kucinski | 71,000 |
| 3 | Victor Ramdin | 1,600,000 |
| 4 | James Dowdy | 1,132,000 |
| 5 | Santiago Nadal | 347,000 |
| 6 | Bryan Barrile | 367,000 |
| 7 | Wade Townsend | 1,108,000 |
| 8 | --empty-- | --empty-- |
Table 8
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Leskowitz | 269,000 |
| 2 | David Peters | 370,000 |
| 3 | Govert Metaal | 157,000 |
| 4 | Joe Hachem | 610,000 |
| 5 | Alex Kamberis | 814,000 |
| 6 | David Paredes | 745,000 |
| 7 | Jaime Kaplan | 603,000 |
| 8 | Fab Gonzalez | 907,000 |
Table 9
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris DeMaci | 340,000 |
| 2 | Jose De Noronha | 334,000 |
| 3 | --empty-- | --empty-- |
| 4 | Taylor von Kriegenbergh | 1,213,000 |
| 5 | Romik Vartzar | 569,000 |
| 6 | Joe Gaultieri | 100,000 |
| 7 | David Baker | 286,000 |
| 8 | Joshua Field | 277,000 |
On Wednesday, the final 22 players will return to play down to the final table of eight. Who will thrive and who will fail to survive on the way to a $500,000 first-place payday? Rest assured that the PokerNews Live Reporting Team is ready to help answer that question by providing you with all the live coverage straight from the tournament floor.
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