Sormunen Leads After Day 3
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Season 9 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour continued on Wednesday with Day 3 of the EPT London Main Event, and after five more levels, Pasi Sormunen leads the remaining 32 players with 1,578,000 chips.
Sormunen crossed the million-chip threshold in Level 17 when he took a large pot off of Manig Loeser. Loeser flopped trip tens, and proceeded to call a check-raise on the turn and a large bet on the river. Sormunen turned over two kings for a flopped full house however, and raked in a massive pot. The Finn continued to bulldoze the competition – even though he was a caught bluffing a time or two – and ended the day with atop the leader board.
Here’s a look at the top-ten stacks:
EPT London Chip Leaders
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasi Sormunen | 1,578,000 |
| 2 | Niall Farrell | 1,510,000 |
| 3 | Nicolas Chouity | 1,143,000 |
| 4 | Christopher Frank | 1,098,000 |
| 5 | Mantas Visockis | 983,000 |
| 6 | Bassel Moussa | 872,000 |
| 7 | Steve O'Dwyer | 800,000 |
| 8 | Theo Jorgensen | 778,000 |
| 9 | Tamer Kamel | 762,000 |
| 10 | Daniel Erlandsson | 707,000 |
Day 3 began with 113 of the initial 647 runners – just 17 eliminations away from the money. Several notable players busted straightaway, including Griffin Benger, Marcel Luske, and legendary English footballer Teddy Sheringham. Sheringham found himelf all in and at risk preflop for roughly 30 big blinds holding two black nines. Finn Sormunen had him at risk with ace-king and turned Broadway, sending Sheringham to the rail just before the money.
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier nearly exited before the money bubble burst, but lady luck was on his side in a key hand against Matthias Tikerpe. Faced with a raise and two calls, Mercier squeezed all in for roughly 40 big blinds from the big blind. Tikerpe, the original raiser, re-shoved, and the rest of the players folded. Tikerpe turned over two queens, which dominated Mercier’s ace-queen, but there was an ace on the river to save Mercier.
Mercier finished the day with 309,000 chips, and a brand-new iPhone 5. Two other EPT winners, Mike McDonald (684,000) and Nicolas Chouity, are still in contention. No player has ever won two EPT Main Events.
The bubble began right before the start of Level 16, and lasted well over an hour. A severely short-stacked Stefan Borman found himself all in and at risk for just four big blinds holding two kings. Flavien Kevin Luc Guenan couldn’t crack the kings with jack-ten, and Borman snuck into the money, pocketing £8,000 for a 91st-place finish.
The actual bubble boy was Englishman Matthew Ashton, who was all in for less than two big blinds preflop. Stephen Lacey, Loeser, and Sormunen all called him, and the three players checked it down until the river, where Lacey fired out a bet. Sormunen called with top two-pair, Lacey showed Broadway, and before exiting, Ashton flashed a lesser two pair.
Per usual, there were dozens of eliminations once the bubble burst. Team PokerStars Pro Leo Margets ran her last 10 big blinds into two kings, former EPT London Main Event winner David Vamplew ran ace-queen into two kings, and Nicolas Levi lost a race with ace-king against Russell Carson’s pocket threes.
Of the many eliminations on Day 3, non were more brutal than Jamie Burland’s. Burland called a five-bet shove for effectively 300,000 preflop holding two red tens, and he was racing against Nicolas Chouity’s ace-king. Burland turned a queen-high straight, leaving Chouity with two outs, and low and behold a ten spiked on the river. In shock, Burland sprung out of his chair, but he quickly collected himself and wished the table, particularly Chouity, good luck.
Mercier and Theo Jorgensen will be representing Team PokerStars Pro on Day 4. Team Pros who snuck into the money but were unable to survive the day include Rino Mathis, David Williams, Marcin Horecki, Sandra Naujoks, and Liv Boeree. Horecki tried to get a three-bet shove through with ten-nine suited, but was called by Carson. The Canadian’s big slick held, sending Horecki out in 71st place.
Full Tilt Poker’s Professional Viktor Blom’s rollercoaster tournament came to a crashing end at the feature table in Level 18. He was all in on a ten-high flop with a pair of eights and an open-ended straight draw, and Mantas Visockis had him at risk with a set of tens. The turn and river both produced deuces, and the Swedish wunderkind was eliminated.
Day 4 of the EPT9 London Main Event will begin on Thursday at 12:00 GMT. Check back for exclusive, up-to-the-minute live updates straight from The Vic right here at PokerNews.com