Five-time bracelet winner John Juanda best ever Main Event finish was 31st place in 2005. Juanda started today with an above average stack, but Level 11 hasn't been too good to him, meaning he has a steep hill to climb to equal or exceed his previous best in the ME.
Just now we caught a hand involving Juanda that had reached the turn with the board showing and Juanda firing a bet of 14,500. His opponent called, then the river brought the . Juanda bet 28,800 this time, and his opponent raised all in for 168,000 — well over what Juanda had left.
Juanda tanked for four whole minutes before finally letting hand go and preserving his now shortened stack.
We saw that Barry Greenstein was missing from his table and it appeared he had been eliminated. We checked with Joseph Cheong, and he informed us that Greenstein shoved on the button and he had called with . A king-high flop sealed the deal and Cheong dispatched Greenstein here in the first level of Day 3.
A quick check of Greenstein's twitter verifies the series of events.
barrygreenstein Barry GreensteinShoved with 98o on the button for 9BB. Called by Joseph Cheong with Kc3c in big blind. Board K944A. I'm out. #wsop61July 12 2012
Three players saw a flop of , including John Leathart and Jason Mercier. Mercier fired 2,900, a player raised to 7,600, and Leathart quickly called. Mercier proceeded to re-rase, tossing out 19,800, and both players folded.
Mercier checked his cards on last time, then tossed them into the muck
Jeff Shulman open-raised all in for just under 18,000 from early position, and it folded back around to Dane Lomas in the big blind. Lomas considered for about a half-minute, then called the raise, turning over . Shulman showed .
The flop came , and suddenly Shulman was way behind. The turn was the and river the , and Shulman was eliminated.
Action began with the under-the-gun player open limping. The player directly behind him also limped and it was folded around to the small blind, who completed. Phil Galfond checked his option from the big for a four-handed pot.
The flop came and Galfond took the initiative by leading out for 4,200. The original limper folded, however, the second limper called. The player in the small also folded, which meant it was heads-up going to the turn.
The turn brought the and Galfond deliberated a bit before pushing out a bet of 10,300 into the middle. His last remaining opponent quickly folded and Galfond scooped the pot.
Another big stack has emerged in the Brasilia room, and he goes by the name Hans Joachim Hein.
The German player cashed in the World Series of Poker Main Event both in 2009 and 2010, and that shows he has plenty of experience in the biggest tournament of the year.
On a board Hein put his 164.300 remaining chips at risk, and his opponent showed . Hein had his opponent drawing dead with , but nevertheless he celebrated when the hit.
The player who lost this pot was eliminated shortly after this hand, and Hein is now among the tournament chip leaders with 400.000 chips.
Over on Maria Ho's table there was already a flop out on the felt and over 10,000 in the pot. Ho was going up against one opponent and they checked to Ho, who bet 8,000. After a few moments, the player splashed out a call and a turn would be dealt. The action was again checked to Ho and she bet 12,000. This time her opponent would tank, but eventually call.
The was the final card to hit the felt and another check would see Ho continue her betting, this time flicking out 18,000. Her opponent called rather quickly and mucked even quicker when ho tabled .
Over at the featured table, we picked up with the action on a flop of . Matt Woodward, [Removed:253], and Patrick Gray all checked to Daniel Negreanu. Negreau tossed out a bet of 8,200 and was called by Woodward and Jenner. Gray folded and three players were off to the turn.
The dealer produced a on fourth street and Matt Woodward checked. Jenner opted to take the lead here with a bet of 15,000, only to find Negreanu make it 88,000 to go. Woodward got out of the way and Jenner went into the tank before finally releasing his hand, allowing Negreanu to pick up the pot.