Jason Mercier defended his big blind and check-called a bet of 12,000 from Brian England, who was under the gun on an flop. Mercier checked the turn and England bet 16,000. Mercier shoved all in to put England at risk for about 35,000 more, and England wasted no time folding.
Action folded around to Erik Lemarquand in the cutoff and he moved all in for his remaining 41,000.
Tony Tran was on the button and called. Luc Greenwood was in the small blind and thought for a moment before asking Tran how much he started the hand with. After about a minute of deliberation, Greenwood moved all in for about 155,000. Tran quickly released his hand.
Greenwood:
Lemarquand:
Lemarquand needed some help but was unable to connect when the flop of came down.
The turn was the and Lemarquand was drawing dead to the on the river.
Vincent Moscati has doubled up twice since beginning play here on Day 3, although he was almost out of the door the second time he was at risk.
Moscati moved all-in for around 40,000 with and was up against Marius Cazacu from Romania, who held a lot of chips but the dominated hand of . The flop of kept Moscati ahead, but the turn got him out of his seat, favorite to be eliminated and in need of help. He got that help on the river, which gave him Broadway and meant he'll be here at least a little longer. Cazacu drops a third of his stack down to around 100,000.
Pedro Baptista Martinho Cabeca opened for 8,500 from the cutoff and Francisco Benitez called from the button. Francois Billard, who was short stacked in the big blind, opted to call, and then he moved all in for his last 10,000 when the flop came down .
Cabeca folded, but Benitez called to put Billard at risk.
Benitez:
Billard:
Billard was ahead with bottom pair, and it held after the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.
"Start of a great story," Billard said with a smile.
Davidi Kitai raised to 8,500 from early position and Bernard Lee in the cutoff shoved for 31,500. Over on the button, Tom Janssens called before both blinds folded. Kitait hen shoved all-in over the top for 60,500 and Janssens called to put both players at risk.
Davidi Kitai:
Bernard Lee:
Tom Janssens:
The board ran out giving Kitai quads and Lee his $7,260 payout.
Michael Gentili has eliminated Martin Raus after getting into another all-in preflop situation.
Raus moved all-in with and was racing for his tournament life, but was unable to catch Gentili's across the board. Gentili vaults to 185,000 while Raus leaves the tournament room.
Elsewhere, Vincent Moscati doubled-up when his move for 25,000 with was called by Adrian Mateos with . The ace on the flop helped and the rest of the board did nothing to give Mateos any hope an an early elimination.
In one of the first hands of the day, Esther Taylor-Brady opened for 22,500 from the hijack, which left her just 12,000 behind. Action folded to Norway's Stein Vegar Rødseth in the big blind, and he thought for a bit before three-betting all in. Taylor-Brady called off and it was a flip.
Rødseth:
Taylor-Brady:
Taylor-Brady was looking to hold to score the double, and that's just what she did after the board ran out a clean .
In an hour time, Day 3 of the PokerStars Championship Bahamas kicks off. 125 players of the field of 738 remain, all of them in the money and guaranteed $7,260 at this time. The first jump in payouts is at 103, rewarding $9,120.
But while that's all nice, all of the remaining players are gunning for the final table and that first place payout of $480,012. It may be smaller than last year because of the new payout distribution, but it's still a massive sum of money for anyone.
Play will resume at noon with blinds at 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante. Leading the field is no other than Nick Maimone who won the $25,000 event here last year. Daniel Colman, who already made over a million here at The Bahamas with a 3rd place finish in the $50,000 Single-Day High Roller for $341,240 and a 4th place finish in the $100,000 Super High Roller for $759,660, sits in second place.
PokerNews will be on the ground from start to finish with live updates, photos, and the live stream of the feature table embedded.
flop. Mercier checked the 
turn and England bet 16,000. Mercier shoved all in to put England at risk for about 35,000 more, and England wasted no time folding.
and Lemarquand was drawing dead to the 
on the river.
and was up against Marius Cazacu from Romania, who held a lot of chips but the dominated hand of 
. The flop of 
kept Moscati ahead, but the 
blanked on the turn followed by the 
on the river.
and was racing for his tournament life, but was unable to catch Gentili's 
across the 
board. Gentili vaults to 185,000 while Raus leaves the tournament room. 
board did nothing to give Mateos any hope an an early elimination.
