The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a glass spade raised overhead, an epic session on the Bowflex and all of your afternoon poker news wishes come true.
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Today in the 3-Bet we find a glorious night for the nation of Kazakhstan, Justin Bonomo takes control of the SHRB and Kitty Kuo wonders about wishes.
1) Ni Leads, Vovtroy Lurks
It was a big night for the nation of Kazakhstan in Sochi tonight as little known Lavrentiy Ni has soared into the chip lead at PSC Sochi.
Big day for Lavrentiy Ni (Photo: Neil Stoddart, PokerStars)
With just six players left Ni has 2.9 million in chips and is in a virtual dead heat with Russian Pavel Shirshokov as they head to the final table tomorrow.
Shirshikov has led the field for most of the past two days and may well be accustomed to a big poker end game; Ni might not be so confident.
With $48,703 in live earnings he's 24th on Kazakhstan's all-time money list. Needless to say, a big win tomorrow would definitely make benefit Ni's lifetime earnings - and bring some poker glory to his home nation.
If he has anything working in his favor, though, it's that all 8 of his career cashes look like they're final tables.
One thing working against him? Russian legend and all-around crusher Vladimir Troyanovskiy is also at the final table. And with 1.8m in chips has some material to work with.
The final table could have included both Chris Moneymaker and Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier but both busted just shy of the final table yesterday.
Live stream action picks up at 1 pm local time tomorrow and of course can be watched cards-up in its entirety here. Watch the replay of today's action below:
2) Justin and the 'Amateurs' Run Wild at SHRB
Just how important is seat draw in a $300,000 buy-in poker tournament?
When it's the Aria Super High Roller Bowl and the field is a mix of elite, best-of-the-best pros and (some might say) 'softer' businessmen/celebrity amateurs ... it's hard to say.
Justin Bonomo seemed to like his seating assignment on Day 1:
Seat draw is up for the $300k pic.twitter.com/EGBERFGBz5— Justin Bonomo (@JustinBonomo) May 28, 2017
And took good advantage by racking a Top 6 stack. But with a decidedly tougher draw yesterday - ie Daniel Negreanu, Pratyush Buddiga, Stefan Schillhabel and Tom Marchese at his table - he grew his stack even more.
By the end of Day 2 Bonomo bagged up 2.6m for the chip lead overnight with 19 players left. Negreanu, on the other hand, didn't have quite as soft a table on Day 1 and that trend has continued on to Day 3 today:
Is this even possible?! Third straight day playing an all-pro table. Ok then, I'll just have to BRING IT https://t.co/3FXpfJLuie— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 30, 2017
Tsoukernik: Unfazed.
As it turns out, though, the 'ams' might not be the soft spots as 5 of them are in the Top 10. Chip counts:
1. Justin Bonomo 2,628,000
2. Byron Kaverman 2,063,000
3. Dan Shak 1,482,000
4. Bill Klein 1,466,000
5. Christoph Vogelsang 1,391,000
6. Leon Tsoukernik 1,335,000
7. Pratyush Buddiga 716,000
8. Cary Katz 701,000
9. Jason Koon 696,000
10. David Einhorn 685,000
We definitely know Leon Tsoukernik doesn't feel he's at a disadvantage; we'll see how the rest of the Ams (all pretty 'battle tested' themselves, though) stand up to the heat as things get even tighter today. As always, watch it play out live on the PokerGO app available for just $10/month.
3) We Also Have No Abs, No EPT Titles
What is the deal with poker wishes, anyway? Doesn't seem like an unreasonable thing to ask for at all, Kitty.
I made wish few years ago, 1)win ept title 2)have super strong abs
Few years later,my wish still not coming true, how hard to implement?— kuo hui chen (@kittykuopoker) May 30, 2017
