Day 3 of the 2012 World Poker Tour bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble played out on Monday as the remaining 28 players of a 477-player field returned to play down to the final table of six. The $3,500 buy-in tournament featured a $1,526,400 prize pool, with $402,970 of that reserved for the winner.
It took nearly seven hours, but eventually the final table was set with poker pro Noah Schwartz leading the way with 43 percent of the chips in play. Standing in his way are some tough competitors, including Byron Kaverman, and Lee Markholt, who will be looking for his second WPT title.
Action picked up in Level 19 with the blinds at 4,000/8,000 and a 1,000 ante, and it didn’t take long for the first elimination of the day — Laurent Baldeon — who was sent home in 28th place for $9,158 by Day 1b chip leader Joe Elpayaa. After the eliminations of Brian Walsingham and Jeremy Menard in 27th and 26th place, Elpayaa followed them out the door.
According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, it happened when Ryan Hartmann opened for 22,000 from middle position and James Calderaro called from the cutoff. Elpayaa then three-bet to 67,000 from the button, Hartmann moved all in for 540,000, Calderaro folded, and Elpayaa tank-called for his tournament life.
| Showdown |
Elpayaa:   |
Hartmann:   |
Hartmann barely had Elpayaa covered, so it was essentially a flip for both of their tournament lives. The 
flop kept Elpayaa out in front, but the 
turn hit Hartmann. The 
river improved Hartmann’s hand to a full house, and Elpayaa exited in 25th place.
As the day progressed he was joined on the rail by George Sinishtaj (24th—$10,685), Joey Weissman (23rd—$10,685), Hiren Patel (22nd—$10,685), Blake Bohn (21st—$10,685), Tom Nguyen (20th—$10,685), Todd Terry (19th—$10,685), Ed Blount (18th—$12,211), Ray Weaver (17th—$12,211), and Jon Aguiar (16th—$12,211).
Aguiar’s demise came in Level 22 (8,000/16,000/2,000) when he got his last 238,000 all in preflop holding 
and ran into the 
of Calderaro in the big blind. The board ran out 
and Aguiar made his way to the payout desk while Calderaro chipped up to 700,000.
From there, the eliminations kept mounting as Darryll Fish (15th—$14,501), Ludek Sisak (14th—$14,501), Mark Stephen (13th—$14,501), Calderaro (12th—$18,317) and Mohsin Charania (11th—$18,317) all hit the rail. Then, on Hand No. 38 of ten-handed play, Shon Mekyten opened for 75,000 from middle position and called when 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up John Racener moved all in from the big blind for 630,000.
| Showdown |
| Racener: |
Mekyten:   |
Racener was in great shape to double, but not after the 
flop delivered Mekyten a set. Neither the turn nor 
river would allow Racener to catch up, and he finished in 10th place for $18,317.
The eliminations of Justin Zaki (9th — $24,422) and Edward Gray (8th — $33,581) brought about the TV final table bubble, and that’s when action folded to Brian Senie who raised to 80,000 on the button. Mekyten called from the small blind, Schwartz came along from the big, and three players saw a flop of 
. Mekyten checked, Schwartz bet 100,000, Senie got out of the way, and Mekyten called, leading to the on the turn. Mekyten checked for a second time and then check-raised all in for 935,000 when Schwartz bet 215,000. Schwartz called and the cards were turned up.
| Showdown |
Schwartz:  |
| Mekyten: |
Mekyten had turned top two pair but was behind Schwartz’s flush. The 
river was of no consequence, and Mekyten took his leave in seventh place for $47,318.
Here’s a look at the final table:
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Markholt | 1,720,000 (43 big blinds) |
| 2 | Byron Kaverman | 1,075,000 (26 big blinds) |
| 3 | Ryan Hartmann | 1,400,000 (35 big blinds) |
| 4 | Hans Winzeler | 1,965,000 (49 big blinds) |
| 5 | Brian Senie | 1,865,000 (46 big blinds) |
| 6 | Noah Schwartz | 6,255,000 (156 big blinds) |
The fourth and final day of WPT bestbet Jacksonville will kick off at 2 p.m. EST and play down to a winner. As always, you can find a recap of all the action right here at PokerNews.com.
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Data courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com.
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