Race For the Money is On as 191 Return For Day 3 of the WSOP Europe Main Event
A total of 191 players have one common goal when Day 3 of the €10,350 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event begins at noon local time: make it past the money bubble. Only 123 players will leave King’s Resort in Rozvadov with a payday, and an unlucky 68 will have made it this far through a record-setting field of 817 only to walk away with nothing.
Leading the way is Keneshka Kabir with 1,600,000, followed by Andrea Radicchi (1,502,000) and Alexander Tkatschew (1,277,000). Tkatschew is no stranger to deep runs in this event, finishing in third place back in 2021. Max Neugebauer (1,180,000) and Day 1b chip leader Levan Rcheulishvili (1,170,000) round out the top five.
Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keneshka Kabir | Germany | 1,600,000 | 200 |
| 2 | Andrea Radicchi | Italy | 1,502,000 | 188 |
| 3 | Alexander Tkatschew | Germany | 1,277,000 | 160 |
| 4 | Max Neugebauer | Austria | 1,180,000 | 148 |
| 5 | Levan Rcheulishvili | Georgia | 1,170,000 | 146 |
| 6 | Leon Sturm | Germany | 1,030,000 | 129 |
| 7 | Bruno Desimoni | Brazil | 997,000 | 125 |
| 8 | Vito Vella | Italy | 980,000 | 123 |
| 9 | Alf Martinsson | Sweden | 976,000 | 122 |
| 10 | Kasparas Klezys | Lithuania | 970,000 | 121 |
The rest of the leaderboard is littered with big names, including two players who know what it’s like to don the gold bracelet at the end. In 2013, 19-year-old Adrian Mateos burst onto the poker scene when he captured the title. A decade later, and Mateos is threatening to make another run as he takes 885,000 into Day 3. Then there is defending champion Omar Eljach, who has a chance to pull off a feat last done by Johnny Chan and win consecutive WSOP Main Events when he returns with a stack of 663,000.
Other notables still in the hunt include Leon Sturm (1,030,000), Andras Nemeth (967,000), Yulian Bogdanov (924,000), Maria Lampropulos (888,000), Alex Keating (701,000), and online legend Viktor Blom (700,000). Behind them are the likes of Francisco Benitez (686,000), Dario Sammartino (681,000), 2020 WSOP Online Main Event champion Stoyan Madanzhiev (672,000), and Michael Rocco (666,000).
Several players who made it all the way to the final table a year ago have advanced to Day 3. Jonathan Pastore, who finished runner-up to Eljach, has 600,000, while Armin Rezaei (722,000), Paul Covaciu (614,000), and Vladas Tamasauskas (221,000) are also still alive. Anson Tsang (548,000), Axel Hallay (510,000), Aliaksandr Shylko (492,000), Colossus champion Ermanno Di Nicola (472,000), Vivian Saliba (415,000), Daniel Rezaei (405,000), Nacho Barbero (367,000), Manig Loeser (348,000), and Tobias Peters (342,000) are returning for Day 3. Stephen Chidwick (245,000), Timothy Adams (237,000), and 2021 runner-up Johan Guilbert (146,000), meanwhile, find themselves near the bottom of the leaderboard.
The action on Day 3 resumes on Level 15 with blinds of 4,000-8,000 and an 8,000 big blind ante. A further seven 90-minute levels will be played today, with a 60-minute dinner break following Level 18 just before 7 p.m.
The remaining players are already part of history in the largest WSOP Europe Main Event ever. Only one of them can enter the record books as the champion, and that goal will get a little closer as the day progresses. PokerNews will be along for the journey providing live updates as the race for the money gets underway.