WPT Rolling Thunder Day 3: Pham With Half the Chips; J.C. Tran Eyes Second Title
With nearly half of the chips in play, Quoc Pham leads the final table of the World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder. He and Preston Harwell, who recently finished fourth in the World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Main Event for $127,685, account for more than 70% of the chips in play.
Joining Pham and Harwell among the final six is WPT Champions Club member and 2013 November Niner J.C. Tran. Tran, a Sacramento native, will start the fourth and final day with 23 big blinds, but Pham and Harwell are seated to his direct left.
Benjamin Zamani finished Day 3 third in chips, and can capture the California Swing prize with a second-place finish or better. Michael Rocco surpassed Mukul Pahuja to take the lead on Day 2, ultimately busting in 21st place on Day 3.
WPT Rolling Thunder Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston Harwell | 4,425,000 | 147 |
| 2 | Mimi Luu | 735,000 | 24 |
| 3 | Benjamin Zamani | 1,990,000 | 66 |
| 4 | Ken Jorgensen | 510,000 | 17 |
| 5 | J.C. Tran | 710,000 | 23 |
| 6 | Quoc Pham | 5,580,000 | 186 |
Day 3 began with 24 players, and the chip leader was 2013 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Bryan Campanello. Campanello took a hit in Level 21 when he lost a four-bet pot to Pham. According to the WPT Live Updates, Pham three-bet out of the big blind and then called a re-raise from Campanello, the original raiser. Both players checked down to the river on a board of Q♠5♠3♣3♠J♥, and Pham bet 125,000 (less than half of the pot). Campanello called, then mucked when Pham showed AxJx – the WPT team believes it may have been A♠J♠ for a flush.
The next level, Campanello was eliminated in 15th place. Faced with a re-raise from Harwell, the bracelet winner moved all in with A♦Q♥, and Harwell called with K♥K♦. The kings held up on a board of 10♥9♥7♠9♠8♥, and the Texas native was off to the cage to collect his $16,470 in winnings. Harwell assumed the chip lead.
The first two levels were also unkind to Michael Crabtree, Brian Park, Thomas Lutz, Lori Bare, and the aforementioned Michael Rocco. Rocco bowed out in 21st place when he moved all in for roughly 20 big blinds over a raise from Ryan D’Angelo and a call from Harwell. Harwell called the all in with A♠9♦, which dominated Rocco’s K♥9♥, and Harwell ran out a full house on A♦A♥8♠Q♦Q♣.
Keven Stammen exited in 14th place, losing a race with 7♥7♠ against Harwell’s A♣Q♣, and he was followed out the door by Randy Gil, Dylan Hortin, Ardavan Yazdi, and James Calderaro.
Just over a month ago, Calderaro etched his name on the WPT Champions Cub with a win at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, but he ran Q♦Q♥ into Tran’s A♥A♠, and then K♦Q♦ into Zamani’s K♣K♠.
David Forster busted in ninth with A♠J♥ against D’Angelo’s K♥K♠, and D’Angelo knocked out Chad Eveslage in eight place. Eveslage committed his remaining 35 big blinds with J♣J♠, and D’Angelo snapped him off with A♠A♣, holding.
Seven-handed play lasted nearly 100 hands and roughly four hours. D’Angelo was second in chips at the start of the official final table, having knocked out both Forster and Eveslage, but got off to a rough start, losing a two million-chip pot to Harwell. On the 46th hand, D’Angelo doubled through Tran with A♣A♦ on a flop of Q♣8♠3♦. Tran called with 8♥6♣, and was unable catch up on the turn (10♦) or the river (2♥).
D’Angelo’s stack began to dwindle again as the 100th hand approached, and on Hand #97 he check-raised all in with 9♣8♥ on a board of J♥9♦5♥4♠. Zamani called with A♣J♦, and held when the Q♥ completed the board.
D’Angelo earned $41,410 for his deep run, and was kind enough to join the PokerNews Podcast before play started on Tuesday:
The final table is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. PST. The WPT Live Stream presented by DraftKings kicks off a half hour after the cards in the air, and will feature Tony Dunst along with Jonathan Aguiar. We’ll bring you a full recap of the day’s action here on PokerNews upon completion of play.
Data courtesy of the WPT Live Blog.
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