Heads-up on a board of 10♦7♦3♠4♠ and around 100,000 in the pot, Jun Beum Chun bet 15,000 from the big blind before Timothy Adams raised to 68,000 on the button.
Chun called and the 4♥ fell on the river. He checked to Adams, who bet enough to put Chun all in for around 120,000 more. Chun tanked for a minute before calling.
He showed J♦10♣ for two pair, but Adams turned over A♣10♠ and won the pot with his ace-kicker to send Chun to an early Day 3 exit.
Christoph Kapitza open-raised from the cutoff before Gab Yong Kim three-bet jammed his 92,000 chips in the middle from the small blind. Kapitza made the call and a showdown was ordered.
Gab Yong Kim: K♦Q♦
Christoph Kapitza: A♠A♥
The table gasped in awe as Kim hit two pair on the Q♥7♣K♠ flop. The 5♥Q♣ runout upgraded him to a full house, and he received a lucky double-up.
"I like this table," concluded Kim after the hand.
Adrian Mateos opened to 16,000 in early position before Michael Sklenicka moved all in from the small blind for his last 94,000. Mateos made the quick call and the cards were turned up.
Michael Sklenicka: K♦Q♣
Adrian Mateos: Q♥Q♦
The dealer fanned out a board of 9♠9♠A♥5♠7♣, leaving Mateos in the clear and sending Sklenicka to the rail early on Day 3.
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.
Omar Eljach
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.
