Blair leads NAPT Venetian Day 3
Another veteran of the online poker world has taken the chip lead after Day 3 of the North American Poker Tour Venetian Main Event. Eric “EricB09″ Blair leads the field of twenty-four remaining players with over 3.7 million in chips. Sam Stein sits just behind him on the leader board with 3.2 million. The final eight players will meet on Day 5 to compete for the US$827,646 top prize, which will be shown on ESPN2 this spring.
The eliminations came fast and furious before the “money bubble” burst less than two hours into the day’s play. Daniel Schreiber was the unlucky “bubble boy” of the tournament, finishing just one spot shy of cashing in for US$7,232 in the US$5,000 buy-in event. Many of the top pros saw their tournaments end on Day 3 as well, including two former World Series of Poker Main Event Champions, Tom McEvoy (1983) and Greg Raymer (2004).
Another notable name to hit the rail on Day 3 was PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso. She was the last player eliminated on Day 3 after a long and frustrating roller coaster of a tournament. Earlier in the day, she doubled up when her pocket tens turned into a set on the flop and quads on the river. After a day of bad beats and cold cards, she went all-in with King-six against Tom Marchese’s pair of sevens. Her hand did not improve and she cashed out for just under US$20,000.
The chip leader on Day 2, Andrew Lichtenberger, went from the top of the charts to the bottom of the barrel, barely surviving into Day 4 with only 539,000 chips and sitting in seventeenth place. When Day 3 concluded after more than twelve hours of play, the blind levels were 8,000 and 16,000 with a 2,000 ante. With every lap of the button costing 40,000 chips, Lichtenberger and other short stacks will have to “push and pray” to make the final table.