Elky Takes a Big Chip Lead after Main Event Day 3

Poker News - July 11, 2009 - Written by Bruce

When Friday's World Series Of Poker Main Event Day 3 concluded reigning WPT Player of the Year Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier had taken a big chip lead. He ended the day with a monster stack of 1,380,500 chip which is almost 500,000 chips more than anybody else has. Day 3 got under way with 2,044 players left in the Main Event field and after the day was finished there were 789 players remaining. When Saturday's Day 4 gets under way the players will all be nearing the money payouts which pay the top 648 players. The play will be no doubt be tension filled as the payouts grow closer. Elky is one of the hottest players in the world right now as he has been tearing of the tournament circuit for the last two years. With so many chips to work with and his ultra aggressive style, he will be a very tough for his opponents to deal with as the Main Event moves forward.

There are some other big names who finished Day 3 with large chip stacks. Dangerous pros Jordan Morgan and Kenny Tran are both around the top twenty in chips with 705,000 and 666,500 chips respectively. Also going into Day 4 in good chip position all around the 500,000 chip mark are Blair Hinkle, Blair Rodman, Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul, Justin Bonomo, Dennis Phillips, and the "Poker Brat" Phil Helmuth. The always dangerous Phil Ivey is still alive in the tournament as well sitting with 371,000 chips. Some other less fortunate players saw their 2009 WSOP Main Event come to and end when they were not able to survive Day 3 play. Well known poker pros Greg Raymer, Josh Arieh, Bryan Micon, and Dutch Boyd all busted yesterday. Joining them was the hilarious Seinfeld star Jason Alexander who's Main Event run came to an end.

With so many notable players in good shape heading into Saturday's Day 4 it will likely be a very exciting day of poker action. Can anybody slow down the monster chip leader Elky who pretty much stream rolled his table with so many chips to work with last night. He will definitely be a player to keep an eye on as we get further into this year's Main Event. It is always entertaining to watch Phil Helmuth get deep in this tournament and he is in great position to do just that. Can one of the remaining poker professionals navigate their way to this year's final table? Will Elky be able to hold onto the chip lead when Saturday's Day 4 is complete? It definitely is getting very exciting as the remaining players are nearing the money bubble. Day 4 should be filled with plenty of action and drama for poker fans to enjoy.