What Went Down on Day 3 of the World Poker Tour's Bellagio Cup IV
To paraphrase the farm boy turned Dred Pirate Roberts Wesley from The Princess Bride , the 125 remaining players in the WPT's Bellagio Cup IV were ready to 'fight to the pain' on Day 3. Why? Only 100 of these players would receive any bank for their efforts. Unfortunately for one player, professional Bob Stupak, he was already in a heap of hurt. Stupak was in the hospital undergoing surgery, leaving tournament officials to wonder whether his 55k would be enough to keep him around long enough to make some moolah or not.
As the bloodletting began, the “Vampir” himself, Vladimir Poleschuk, a finalist from Season 6's Spanish Championship, hit the rail. Ted "Spooky" Forrest then continued his rise up the ranks, taking a pot off Brooklyn resident Alex Bolotin. “Gentleman” John Kale KO'd a player from his scooter. The resilient Brit checked himself out of the hospital to play in the event. Seems he has several collapsed disks in his back.
Ouch!
Stupak, who as we previously mentioned was undergoing surgery on Day 3, has the dubious distinction of being the tournament bubble boy. His 101st place finish was the last to earn no money. Phil Laak and his ladylove Jennifer Tilly are among those celebrating the bubble bursting. This is the second time they've cashed in the same event. The last time the duo did that was at the 2007 WSOP $5,000 NLHE Event.
After a short break, Bolotin went all-in with pocket sevens and lost to Glen Chorny's A,Q after an ace hits the flop. Bolotin collects the $19,000 plus for his efforts. Phil Laak and Scotty Nguyen bust soon afterwards. Other big-name eliminations en route to the top 32 include: David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Joe Sebok, David Chiu, Marco Johnson, Lee Markholt, Jennifer Tilly, Amir Vahedi, Gavin Smith, Todd Brunson and Isaac Haxton.
The chip leader at the end of the day was Mike “Sir Watts” Watson with 2,272,000. Nipping at his heels is David “The Dragon” Pham with 1,622,000. Javed Abrahams, Hevad Khan, Glen Chorny, John Gale, David Benyamine, Ted Forrest, John Phan and Barry Greenstein are all still in the hunt.
Poker players love their iPods. It can help soothe the pain of defeat ... even a bad beat. Now you can earn one of your very own at InterPoker. Get the details of Inter Poker's iPod promotion here!