Manel Montalban Leads Final 26 After Day 3 of PokerStars Open Campione Main Event
Day 3 of the PokerStars Open Campione (PSO) €1,100 Main Event is in the books. The day started with 189 players returning to Casino di Campione out of the 2,423 total entries, and after 13 hours of play, only 26 contenders for the €363,000 top prize remained.
Leading them is Spanish player Manel Montalban, who ended Day 3 with a stack of 5,875,000. Montalban is shrouded in mystery as his only recorded cash stems from 2013, a 73rd place at the Estrellas Main Event during EPT Barcelona, but, with much of the €2,326,080 prize pool still to be divided, he is looking to make a splash with his return to the live poker scene at PSO Campione.
The similarly unknown Salvatore Russo spent most of the day at the top of the leaderboard after hitting a flush draw in an all-in and ended second in chips with 5,620,000. Andreas Putz completes the podium with 5,110,000, while Friedrich Raez bluffed his way to 5,070,000 for fourth place.
End of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 4 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manel Montalban | Spain | 5,875,000 | 98 |
| 2 | Salvatore Russo | Italy | 5,620,000 | 94 |
| 3 | Andreas Putz | Austria | 5,110,000 | 85 |
| 4 | Friedrich Raez | Switzerland | 5,070,000 | 85 |
| 5 | Jakub Sterba | Czechia | 4,925,000 | 82 |
| 6 | Giorgio Soceanu | Italy | 4,645,000 | 77 |
| 7 | Mykhailo Demydenko | Ukraine | 4,410,000 | 74 |
| 8 | Andrii Nikitin | Ukraine | 3,875,000 | 65 |
| 9 | Christian Andronico | France | 3,615,000 | 60 |
| 10 | Gaspare Sposato | Italy | 3,390,000 | 57 |
Day 1 chipleader Darius Neagoe is still in contention with a stack of 1,705,000 after doubling late. Other notable names in the bottom half of the field are Romanian regular Adrian State (2,135,000) and UK grinders Christopher Day (1,650,000) and Stephen Barnes (1,550,000). Petre Ionescu also made it to Day 2 with 2,720,000, having held the chiplead before losing it to Montalban after a flush-over-flush situation.
Day 3 Action
The eliminations flowed steadily throughout the early levels of the day. Italian grinder Alessandro Pichierri started the day as one of the short stacks and fell in 166th for €2,720. Antoine Labat (150th) and Gabi Livshitz (148th) received the same amount, while Ivan Banic made the pay jump to €3,130 with his 143th place.
Benjamin Bruneteaux was the last PokerStars Ambassador in the field. After an uneventful day, he jammed his final 11 big blinds on the feature table, losing a flip to be eliminated in 123rd. As a small consolation, the €3,130 he received marked his new best live score.
Yossi Maymon started the day as the overwhelming chipleader but lost pot after pot. Eventually, he got his remaining 20 big blinds in preflop and lost a flip to bust in 55th for €5,490. Last American standing Terrance Reid bowed out in 36th for €6,330, while Harel Azulay (28th - €7,280) and Besnik Lalinovci (27th - €8,600) were the final eliminations of the night.
The remaining 26 players have locked up the same €8,600 as Lalinovci, but with the final table in sight, all eyes will be on the six-figure prizes reserved for the top four spots.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €363,000 | 10-11 | €25,650 | |
| 2 | €225,200 | 12-13 | €21,380 | |
| 3 | €160,880 | 16-17 | €14,860 | |
| 4 | €123,760 | 18-20 | €12,370 | |
| 5 | €95,190 | 21-23 | €10,320 | |
| 6 | €73,210 | 24-26 | €8,600 | |
| 7 | €56,330 | |||
| 8 | €43,340 | |||
| 9 | €33,320 |
Day 4 will reccomence tomorrow, March 16, at 12:30 p.m. local time. The blinds will be at 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante. The levels will remain 75 minutes long until the final seven are reached, at which point they will last 10 minutes per player still in the tournament. If a deal is agreed at any point, the clock will be set to 30 minutes per level, regardless of how many players are left.
Day 4 is the final day of the PSO Campione Main Event, so play will not stop until a winner has been declared. Check back in with PokerNews tomorrow, as you do not want to miss the thrilling finale of the first-ever PokerStars Open.