Day 3 of the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown came to a close Friday with Bill Brown leading the pack.
The field was whittled down from 102 players to 32 in five, 90-minute levels, meaning the money bubble was not hit. On Saturday, the first five eliminations will walk away empty handed, while the remaining 27 players will be guaranteed at least $25,056.
Action was fast and furious on Day 3 as pros hit the rail one by one. Lauren Kling was one of the first eliminated when she shoved her pocket eights into her opponent’s pocket kings. Other notable pros to be eliminated on Day 3 were Chad Brown, Doc Sands, Alex Outhred, Matthew Waxman, Ryan Fair, Jonathan Little, Tristan Wade, William Reynolds, and Andrew Lichtenberger.
John Dolan, who was near the top of the pack on Day 2, and ClubWPT Player of the Day on Day 1, got off to a quick start by eliminating fellow pro Matt Giannetti. According to the World Poker Tour Live Updates Team, a player in Seat 7 raised to 3,000, then Matt Giannetti moved all in for 31,300. Dolan made the call and their hands were turned over.
Dolan was ahead with 
but Giannetti was still alive with 
. The board ran out 
giving Giannetti no help and pushing Dolan to 255,000 in chips.
It wasn’t all fun and games for Dolan however, as early in the day, just after he won a huge pot, he also received a costly penalty. Jim Carroll raised to 2,600, Dolan reraised to 6,600, and then Hoyt Corkins four-bet to 30,600, leaving only 18,000 in his stack.
Carroll then five-bet shoved for 93,000, and Dolan moved all in over the top of that for over 200,000. Before Corkins could make a decision though, Dolan turned over his cards, 
, so tournament director Matt Savage was called over.
Corkins could still fold, keeping his last 18,000, but no matter what happened, Dolan would receive a one-round penalty. Corkins folded and explained that he had 
and that he would have called with a pair or live cards.
After the whole debacle, Carroll showed 
and the board ran out 
, and Dolan’s aces held, eliminating Jim Carroll and pushing Dolan up to 407,000 in chips.
Dolan was still able to scoop up the chip lead later when his pair of aces out kicked Allie Prescott’s pair of aces on aboard reading 
board. Pushing him to 620,000 thousand.
Also still in the hunt for the title are Tommy Vedes (140,500), Daryl Jace (325,000), Ashton Griffin (34,500), and Fred Goldberg (607,000).
End of Day 3 Top 5 Chip Counts
| Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Bill Brown | 772,500 |
| Joe Serock | 702,000 |
| John Dolan | 685,500 |
| Ravi Raghavan | 667,500 |
| Fred Goldberg | 607,000 |
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*Photo courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com
