From under the gun, Tony Gregg opened to 9,000, and the action folded around to the big blind, who called. The flop was 
, and the big blind checked over to Gregg, who tossed in 7,500. The big blind mucked his 
face-up, and Gregg scooped in the pot and moved to 455,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
455,000
161,800
|
161,800 |
Joining the axction on the 
turn, Garry Gates moved all in for 76,500 out of the big blind and Alex Goulder was still to act from the cutoff. The Brit verified the all in amount and eventually called to find himself behind for a decent portion of his stack.
Garry Gates: 
Alex Goulder: 
The 
on the river even gave Gates a winning flush and that cut Goulder's remaining stack almost into half.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
250,000
-12,000
|
-12,000 |
|
115,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
With around 40,000 in the pot and the board reading 
, the big blind checked to Cate Hall in the cutoff. Hall bet 33,000, and her opponent check-raised all in, having Hall covered. Hall thought for a few seconds then put a stack of chips into the pot, calling for her remaining 114,500.
Hall tabled , and her opponent was drawing dead after showing 
. The insignificant 
completed the board, and Hall scored the double-up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
272,000
77,000
|
77,000 |
Michael Krasienko and Cosmin Joldis have both climbed over 1,000,000 chips recently and have done so in different ways. Krasienko has had a lot of chips for most of the day and has slowly worked his way up. Meanwhile, according to his table, Joldis has gone on a heater and won 11 of the last 12 pots.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,300,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
1,200,000
1,200,000
|
1,200,000 |
The action folded around to Richard Dubini on the button, and he opened with a raise to 9,000. The small blind called before Steven van Zadelhoff announced a three-bet amounting to 37,000. Dubini released his hand, the small blind mucked, and van Zadelhoff collected the pot to move to 480,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
480,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
185,000
37,000
|
37,000 |
|
||
"Hold up one time!" came a shout from Table 700.
Zhuoyang Min was all in with on a 
flop. Pratyush Buddiga had 
for a combo draw and needed to see an eight or a diamond. The turn and river bricked off for him, though, and he busted right after he doubled up.
"I can't believe that held up," Min said with visible relief.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
425,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
Busted |
Ben Jacobs, or "Honolulu Ben" as his friends know him, is visiting the desert from Kaui, Hawaii. He started Day 3 sitting with a stack of about 200,000 chips and now boasts a top-five stack of 850,000. Jacobs is trying to savor every moment of his very first Main Event, knowing this is a special time.
There are no casinos in Hawaii, so Jacobs plays in home games a few times a week. He's played smaller events at the WSOP in past years and decided to freeroll himself into the tournament after running well in blackjack to the tune of $30,000 earlier this year.
PokerNews met up with Jacobs to get the details on how he accumulated his chips and to find out what he's going to do with them now that he's got them.
Jacobs: I had the third-largest stack at the table, and there were a couple of aggressive Europeans, a Russian, and an Israeli. I could have had a better table.
On the second hand, the Russian raised, and I smooth-called with 
. The flop came 
, and the Russian led out, and I smooth-called him.
The turn was a blank. He checked, and I bet. He raised me to 85,000, and I tanked for a bit. It's about half my stack, so I wasn't entirely thrilled, but I decided to call.
The river was another deuce. It's a pretty hidden hand — the good old ten-deuce. He shoved all in, and I insta-called. That's the hand that doubled me to about 400,000.
The next big hand involved the Israeli, who was second in chips at the table. I had 
in late position, and I just called his preflop raise. The flop came 
. I bet, and he shoved all in for about 350k. He bombed it for no reason. It's the most ridiculous thing, but I can't get out of that.
I snap-called, and he had 
for the nut flush draw. But my hand held up, and that gets me to about 680,000. Since then, I've just been chipping up.
PokerNews: How tough are the home games you play in? Have they prepared you for the WSOP?
Jacobs: The players in Hawaii are really tough. People are always surprised by how I play, but I play against some really good players. It's definitely a challenge to play at home, so I think I can hold my own here.
PokerNews: How are you using your chip stack to your advantage?
Jacobs: It's a pretty standard table. As the big stack, the other players have to fit into their roles. There's not a lot they can do about it. I'm just trying to play my position and play smart.
I'm going to keep playing my game. I'm getting cards, and the deck is hitting me hard which helps. My plan is to keep riding this lucky wave.
Allan Le raised to 9,000, and Raj Vohra made it 27,000. Action folded back to Le, who moved all in, having Vohra well covered. Vohra called all in for 113,000 to put himself at risk.
Le: 
Vohra:
The board ran out 
, and Vohra doubled through Le.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
320,000
-120,000
|
-120,000 |
|
||
|
236,000
236,000
|
236,000 |
|
|
||
With more than 40,000 chips in the middle and the board reading 
, Nick Schulman checked from the big blind, and Matan Krakow bet 24,000. Schulman called, and the river was the 
. Schulman checked again, Krakow bet 35,000, and Schulman called.
Krakow tabled for a flush, and Schulman sent his cards into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
295,000
295,000
|
295,000 |
|
110,000
-110,000
|
-110,000 |
|
||
