Aleksey Istomin opened to 32,000 and was called by Serafim Kovalevsky. Timur Khamidullin then raised all in for 320,000. Istomin used a time extension before calling all in for just under 300,000. Kovalevsky folded.
Aleksey Istomin:
Timur Khamidullin:
There was no help for Khamidullin on the board and he was left with just over one big blind.
It folded to Garri Tevosov who moved all in for 280,000 from the cutoff. Dmitry Yurasov called on the button and the blinds folded.
Garri Tevosov:
Dmitry Yurasov:
There was an eight on the flop giving Yurasov the lead. The turn was the and the river the sending Tevosov to the rail and securing the remaining 23 players a pay jump.
After six levels of play, a late surge from Danil Bukharin was enough for him to secure the overall chip lead after Day 3 of the EPT Sochi Main Event.
Returning from the final break of the day fifth in chips, he navigated the redraw and a tricky stint on the feature table and will now take a stack of 2,340,000 into Day 4.
Close behind is Dmitry Yurasov (1,885,000) who was responsible for the last elimination of the day when his pocket eights cracked the pocket tens of Garri Tevosov to leave just 23 players remaining.
Other big stacks heading into the penultimate day's play here at Casino Sochi include Vyacheslav Mizun (1,800,000), Ivan Ruban (1,570,000) and Vanush Mnatsakanyan (1,440,000). Mnatasakanyan's recovery from one of the shorter stacks with 40 players left to fifth in chips was aided by the elimination of Anatoly Zuev and Murun Ganzorig and a double up through Serafim Kovalevsky.
Early players to bust from Day 3 included Tatyana Barausova, Igor Grytsak, Matous Houzvicek, Yuriy Guliy and defending champion Arseniy Karmatskiy.
The pace of eliminations became increasingly sporadic and more erratic as the day went on as players eyed the shrinking field and increasing pay jumps. For comparison, while 30 players were sent to the rail during the first four levels, just 20 followed in the final three levels of the day as 23 players advanced to Day 4.
Up under the lights of the feature table, start-of-day chip leader Aleksandr Denisov was having a hard time of it against Viktor Ustimov, with Denisov falling as low as 200,000 chips midway through the day. He soon recovered but will have to make do with a stack of 305,000 heading into tomorrow, almost 200,000 less than the figure he bagged after Day 1a!
As Denisov faltered and Ustimov flourished, other players started spying the seven-figure stack mark. These include Dmitry Yurasov, Serafim Kovalevsky and Mikhail Aleksandrov, all of whom have made it through to Day 4.
With 23 left, it appears that a long day is in store tomorrow as the tournament plays down to a final six players. You can catch all the action right here on PokerNews.com