It was an exciting day 3 at the WSOP Main Event. UB Qualifiers who played today included Tracy "Fatcats" Scala, Jamie "its_a_sicknes" Avery, Troy "nvu2death" Nisbet, Michael "DblupM0j" Johnson, Tom "Vaniljvodka" Pyl, Jesse "flopp_deuces" Kremer, Rick "rplrpl" Lowe, and Jeremy "symi" Symington.
The money bubble burst this evening and some of the qualifiers were fortunate (or skilled) enough to cash in this monumental event. Michael "DblupM0j" Johnson’s day was filled with ups and downs. He started the day with 144k but at one point was as low as 85k. He then slowly but surely climbed up to about 160k and was happy about it until he called another player's all-in for around 50k. Johnson held the KdKc was up against the other players AsAd. The flop made the other player’s hand even stronger when it came down AhTd5h leaving Johnson drawing to runner-runner outs. One of those possible cards came in the form of the Kh on the turn, but the 8d on the river wasn’t the second card he needed and his stack dropped back to 110k. Johnson was eventually eliminated in 545th place for a payday of $23,160.
Other players who were eliminated after the bubble burst were Jesse “flopp_deuces” Kremer (546th place, $23,160) and Jeremy “symi” Symington (584th place, $23, 160).
A player who survived the day is Rick "rplrpl" Lowe, although he didn't have an easy time doing it. Lowe started the day with a little more than 70k in chips and found some super-aggressive players at his table making it a little harder to chip up. In one hand Lowe and another player saw a flop of Jd9d8s. The other player checked over to Lowe who bet 7.5k but then the other player instantly shoved all in for around 90k. Lowe was forced to give up his hand and wait for another spot. Short stacked or not, Lowe made the money and is happy to be receiving a payday. About 20 minutes before play ended he had around 90k in chips.
Also surviving to make day four is Tracy "Fatcats" Scala whose son gave him an army of four rubber duckies for good luck today. He was spotted with a green devil duck sitting on top of his chips early in the day. Scala's stack rose as high as 300k at one point and when the money bubble was looming he sat with 230k, about 30k more than the average stack at that time. He seemed unhappy with his stack size until he was told he was still above average and he commented "Well I guess if I just stay above the average stack for the rest of the tournament I'll be ok!" That lucky devil duck helped Scala get past the infamous money bubble and into the 666 paying places. Coincidence? Scala had around 320k when play was wrapping up for the evening.
Also seated at Scala’s table was a player you might have heard of… the almighty Phil Hellmuth. Phil started the day with 196k. Apparently Phil thinks everyone is out to get him. At one point during the day Hellmuth walked over to his wife and said "Honey. Honey, they dealt me ace-king and they dealt him aces. I mean, c'mon..." He started to head back to his table then looked over his shoulder and added, "I got away immediately, but it cost me twenty thousand." Apparently Hellmuth and Scala don’t only battle at the poker table, but on the golf course as well. Scala told us that he and Hellmuth recently played a round together and when Scala won Hellmuth said “You played excellent today but I am done with you for life.” It seems that statement was short lived though as the two have been friendly with each other all day.
With the pressure of the money bubble off the players seem a little more willing to gamble and day four is sure to be an exciting one as the payouts grow larger and larger! 474 players will return tomorrow and all are guaranteed at least $27,020.
