Danil Bukharin Leads Final 23 in EPT Sochi Main Event
After six levels of play, a late surge from Danil Bukharin was enough for him to secure the overall chip lead after Day 3 of the EPT Sochi Main Event.
Returning from the final break of the day fifth in chips, he navigated the redraw and a tricky stint on the feature table and will now take a stack of 2,340,000 into Day 4.
Close behind is Dmitry Yurasov (1,885,000) who was responsible for the last elimination of the day when his pocket eights cracked the pocket tens of Garri Tevosov to leave just 23 players remaining.
Other big stacks heading into the penultimate day's play here at Casino Sochi include Vyacheslav Mizun (1,800,000), Ivan Ruban (1,570,000) and Vanush Mnatsakanyan (1,440,000). Mnatasakanyan's recovery from one of the shorter stacks with 40 players left to fifth in chips was aided by the elimination of Anatoly Zuev and Murun Ganzorig and a double up through Serafim Kovalevsky.
Early players to bust from Day 3 included Tatyana Barausova, Igor Grytsak, Matous Houzvicek, Yuriy Guliy and defending champion Arseniy Karmatskiy.
The pace of eliminations became increasingly sporadic and more erratic as the day went on as players eyed the shrinking field and increasing pay jumps. For comparison, while 30 players were sent to the rail during the first four levels, just 20 followed in the final three levels of the day as 23 players advanced to Day 4.
Up under the lights of the feature table, start-of-day chip leader Aleksandr Denisov was having a hard time of it against Viktor Ustimov, with Denisov falling as low as 200,000 chips midway through the day. He soon recovered but will have to make do with a stack of 305,000 heading into tomorrow, almost 200,000 less than the figure he bagged after Day 1a!
As Denisov faltered and Ustimov flourished, other players started spying the seven-figure stack mark. These include Dmitry Yurasov, Serafim Kovalevsky and Mikhail Aleksandrov, all of whom have made it through to Day 4.
With 23 left, it appears that a long day is in store tomorrow as the tournament plays down to a final six players. You can catch all the action right here on PokerNews.com