2011 World Poker Tour Venice Day 3: Marvin Rettenmaier Leads Final 15
Day 3 of the 2011 World Poker Tour Venice took place on Friday with 40 players returning to action. Wanny Piazza began the day atop the pack, but at the end of the day, Marvin Rettenmaier was standing tall atop the final 15 players with 817,000 in chips.
Rettenmaier began the day second in chips and it didn't take long for him to jump into the number one spot. According to the WPT Live Update Team, during Level 14 with the blinds 1,200/2,400/400, Rettenmaier got involved with a pot against Antonio Massi.
Action folded to Massi in the small blind and he raised to 6,200. Rettenmaier called from the big blind to take a flop of K♣9♦4♥. After both players checked, the turn brought the 8♥. Massi led for 7,500 and Rettenmaier made the call to see the K♥ pair the board on the river. Massi fired 16,200 before Rettenmaier raised to 51,200. Massi declared that he was all-in and Rettenmaier made the call.
Rettenmaier tabled A♥J♥ to beat Massi's K♠3♠ after having backed into a heart flush. Massi was eliminated, while Rettenmaier climbed to nearly 500,000 and the chip lead.
From there, players began to steadily drop from the field as the money bubble approached. With 27 players paying, Nicola Ricciardelli met the worst fate of all players as he finished in 28th place and became the tournament's official bubble boy.
During Level 16 with the blinds at 2,000/4,000/500, Ricciardelli, raised all-in for 11,500. Former WPT champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh put in a reraise to 20,000 and everyone else folded. Von Kriegenbergh held Q♥5♣ and Ricciardelli showed K♦7♣. The board ran out 7♠6♠5♠2♦7♦ and Ricciardelli doubled up.
On the very next hand, Ricciardelli was right back in the mix. He raised all-in preflop for 39,000 and Alexander Dovzhenko called. Ricciardelli held A♠K♠ and was flipping with Dovzhenko's 10♠10♦. The flop, turn and river ran out 7♥6♣4♣J♠7♠ and Ricciardelli was eliminated.
With all remaining players in the money, the payout line grew as players hit the rail. Finishing in 27th place was Dario Alioto while Riccardo Marchini fell in 25th. After a few more eliminations, von Kriegenbergh's tournament came to an end at the hands of Arnaud Mattern.
With the blinds up to 2,500/5,000/500 in Level 17, von Kriegenbergh was all-in preflop with A♠Q♦. Unfortunately for him, Mattern's Q♣Q♠ had him very well dominated. The J♥10♥2♦7♥5♦ board proved no help for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock champion and he was eliminated in 20th place. Mattern would go on to finish fourth in chips with 519,000.
Things went a little bit better for von Kriegenbergh's travel buddy Ronnie Bardah. He was able to find a couple of key double ups during the day to stay alive, including the following one during Level 18 with the blinds at 3,000/6,000/1,000.
Bardah had just finished telling the WPT Live Update Team about how he hadn't picked up aces or kings once before he sat back down and peaked at his hand. Bardah raised all-in for 109,000 and start-of-the-day chip leader Piazza made the call. Bardah held A♦Q♦ and Piazza J♥J♠.
A flop of K♦10♣5♠ gave Bardah a backdoor flush draw and a gutshot straight draw for some help. The turn was the 7♦ and then the river landed with the J♦. Bardah had smacked his flush and doubled up. From there, he went on to finish the day with 257,000 in chips.
Other notables still in the field include former WPT Bratislava champion Roberto Romanello, and Steve O'Dwyer; however, both are pretty short moving into Day 4.
The final 15 players will return to play on Saturday at 1600 CET (0900 PST) and play down until the official WPT final table of six players is reached. Be sure to check right back here on PokerNews for the daily recap.
*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
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