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Colin Powell had said, “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” And it is with that determination and hard work that Team India continues to make it mark at the WSOP felts! Following the remarkable 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet win by Nikita Luther and the historical run made by 9stacks qualifier Nishant Sharma at the Main Event World Championship, the country is now looking to its most consistent performer and one of the first bracelet winners Aditya Sushant to bring home a fourth bracelet!
Sushant, who is a prolific poker player had a near miss before this series when he final tabled Event #61: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Championship, finishing ninth for $20,969 (~₹14.36 Lakhs). He continued his trailblazing form in Event #68: The Little One for One Drop – $1,000 +111 No-Limit Hold’em and is currently among the top 10 stacks with 2,385,000 in chips.
9stacks qualifier Sanjay Taneja had started Day 3 with 203,000 in chips but ended his run in 29th place for $15,042 (~₹10.31 Lakhs).
With a minimum payout of $29,490 (~₹20.21 Lakhs) assured to all the survivors of Day 3, the 14 hopefuls will return on Day 4 to play down for the bracelet and the top prize of $559,332.
India’s man of the hour is Aditya Sushant. He had entered the tournament on the final starting flight Day 1C and finished the day with a stack of 145,400. He played phenomenally well on Day 2 and was placed second in counts with a hefty stack of 1,341,000. Day 3 turned out to be rather swingy for the Chennai based pro, but he kept his cool and made it to the end of day.
In an early hand, a raise of 65,000 was received from early position, Erwann Pecheux three-bet to 195,000 and Sushant moved all in from the big blind with enough to cover both opponents. Pecheux called with his 1,182,000 stack and the players turned over their hands. Pecheux held against Sushant’s . The community cards brought and Pecheux doubled up through Sushant who lost 680,000 from his stack, to come down to 1,670,000.
But the roller coaster ride did not stop for Sushant whose stack kept fluctuating as he kept winning and losing pots.
When Jon Hoellein raised from the button, Sushant called from the big blind and both players checked through to see the flop and the turn . On the river , Sushant check-raised all in Hoellein’s bet of 100,000. After tanking for some time, the latter called with . Sushant, holding , flopped pair of nines but lost the pot to Hoellein’s heart flush and was left with only 260,000 behind.
In the very next hand, Sushant moved all in from the small blind with and got called by Guoliang Wei in the big blind with . Sushant was in desperate shape for the double-up and the runout revealed , giving him a pair of tens and the pot.
Sushant built up his stack over the next couple of hands but again lost 520,000 from his pile to Wei, to come down to 1,150,000. Wei moved all in from early position with and Sushant shoved all in from the small blind holding . The showdown ran and Wei took down the pot with the rivered higher two pairs.
In one of the last hands of the day, the penultimate elimination of Josue Aguirre came through the hands of Sushant. Sushant raised from the small blind and Aguirre moved all in for 1,365,000 from the big blind. Sushant snap-called with against Aguirre’s . The flop gave Aguirre the possibility of hitting a back-door straight, though Sushant hit a set of eights. The turn and river didn’t go in Aguirre’s favour and he was busted in 16th place for $23,365. Sushant raked in a pot of 865,000 as his stack grew to 2,765,000.
Sushant ended Day 3 with 2,385,000 in the bag and is placed tenth in chips with 14 players remaining.
9stacks qualifier Sanjay Taneja too had a deep run in the event. He joined the action on Day 1A and began Day 2 with a stack of 30,400 which grew to 203,000 by the end of the day’s play. His incredible journey however ended early on Day 3 after a brutal hand.
Taneja opened in the cutoff for 100,000 and after tanking for a little while Sung Joo Hyun raised it to 255,000 from the button. Taneja called and the flop opened . Taneja checked and received a bet of 190,000 from Hyun prompting Taneja to move all-in for his last 1,100,000. Hyun quickly called and the cards were tabled with Hyun showing two pairs with while Taneja held a pair of kings with . As and completed the board, Taneja lost the pot and was eliminated in 29th place for $15,042 (~₹10.31 Lakhs).
111 eliminations occurred over the course of play for Day 3 including Mike Shin (15th for $29,490), Onur Unsal (17th for $23,365), Christian Pham (19th for $18,669), Dietrich Fast (21st for $18,669), Joseph Sabe (27th for $18,669), Patrick Clarke (30th for $15,042), Edward Mcnamara (37th for $12,224), Ray Qartomy (43rd for $12,224), Benjamin Moon (57th for $8,284), Randall Brooks (67th for $6,909), Jeff Gross (88th for $4,935), Viktor Lavi (93rd for $4,227) and Victor Ramdin (118th for $3,654).
Only 14 runners will continue to play on the final day and leading the way is Christopher Staats (6,715,000), followed closely by Erwann Pecheux (6,495,000) and Richard Cox (5,250,000).
1. Christopher Staats – 6,715,000
2. Erwann Pecheux – 6,495,000
3. Richard Cox – 5,250,000
4. François Tosques – 4,675,000
5. Sung Joo Hyun – 4,400,000
6. Daria Feshchenko – 2,950,000
7. Lester Edoc – 2,880,000
8. Guoliang Wei – 2,810,000
9. Paul Byrne – 2,780,000
10. Aditya Sushant – 2,385,000
11. Justin Liberto – 2,140,000
12. Richard Douglas – 1,690,000
13. Renato Kaneoya – 1,130,000
14. Jon Hoellein – 900,000
Content and image courtesy: WSOP.com.
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