Negreanu, Jorstad In Contention on Day 3 of Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em
From a record-setting field of 1,735 entries, Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em has been whittled down to just 109 players returning for Day 3 of the competition. The 2023 World Series of Poker has attracted a record number of entries across many events this summer and it's been producing large prize pools including this one with more than $4.6 million up for grabs.
As one of the few no-limit hold'em bracelet events taking place this week at the WSOP, it attracted many of the best poker players in the world and many familiar names across the board. Two of which have made it through to Day 3 including 2022 WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad and six-time bracelet winner and fan favorite Daniel Negreanu. Jorstad will enter Day 3 with a chip stack of 505,000 chips while Negreanu will be coming back to a stack of 375,000. Both have plenty of time to spin it up and become one of the leaders.
Speaking of the leaders, that currently belongs to Yang Zhang who topped the field after Day 2 with a stack of 1,880,000. Zhang is a regular at the WSOP in the summer but has only made one final table in his career, finishing eighth in a field of over 6,700 entries. Zhang will be looking to grab his first piece of hardware along with a six-figure payday when all is said and done. Nipping at his heels is two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao with 1,830,000 chips.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yang Zhang | China | 1,880,000 | 94 |
| 2 | Joao Simao | Brazil | 1,830,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Aleks Dimitrov | Bulgaria | 1,655,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Eliot Hudon | Canada | 1,340,000 | 67 |
| 5 | Kartik Ved | India | 1,335,000 | 67 |
| 6 | [Removed:435] | Greece | 1,270,000 | 64 |
| 7 | John Marino | United States | 1,255,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Frederic Normand | Canada | 1,225,000 | 61 |
| 9 | Andrei Stoenescu | Romania | 1,225,000 | 61 |
| 10 | Christian Roberts | Venezuela | 1,205,000 | 60 |
The cards are scheduled to go in the air at 11 a.m. PDT today with the blinds resuming at 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. The levels will continue to be 60 minutes in length with a 15-minute break after every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 26. There will be another ten levels scheduled for today unless the field can reach the final five players before that time expires.
Each player has locked up at least $6,939 for their run thus far, but the majority of the prize pool is still up for grabs. The winner will be taking home $717,879 and the WSOP gold bracelet when the tournament is completed Thursday.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to keep you updated on all of the action along with any major highlights en route to the final table later this evening.