Flack Back on Top at the End of Day 3

Fifteen levels of poker have been played across three days here at the 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic. Fifteen levels were required to reduce the field from the 181 who started down to the 21 who remain.

Who are those 21 players? They are some of the cream of the international poker circuit. Tommy Vedes. Antony Lellouche. Kelly Kim. Huck Seed. Jonathan Little. Nenad Medic. Rep Porter.

And then there's the player who bills himself as "the most interesting man in the world", Layne Flack. Flack started this tournament with a bang, tripling his stack before Level 1 ended several days ago. He was back at it again today, quadrupling his stack over the course of five levels to finish with 915,000 of the 7.2 million chips in play. With 21 players still remaining, that's quite a feat.

Of course it wasn't a good day for everyone. Players eliminated from the 55 that started today and who will NOT be returning tomorrow include Andy Bloch, Bruno Fitoussi, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Praz Bansi, Sorel Mizzi, Dan Harrington, and Roy Winston.

Flack will be in the pole position when the players return at noon tomorrow to continue the chase, but this is far from a done deal. Rep Porter's 812,000 chips are giving Flack a good chase. Three of the remaining 21 players will go home empty-handed tomorrow, while the other 18 will be guaranteed at least $17,000.

Official chip counts have been compiled and entered into the chip counts page. Hopefully that will hold you over before the action resumes at noon local time tomorrow.

Until then, you can find us at the bar.

Tags: Layne Flack