Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008

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Eastgate rebounds on Premier League III Day 3

By Arthur Crowson

Two of the players who were nearly shut out on the previous day bounced back in a big way on Day 3 of PartyPoker.com's Premier League III.

Phil Hellmuth and Peter Eastgate, the two youngest WSOP Main event winners in history, both won their respective heats in the elite poker league. It was a pivotal 10 points for each player, as they are both eyeing a spot at the final table.

It was especially important for Hellmuth, as he was starting to fall out of contention with only three points to his name.

Day 3 started with Heat 5, which saw the aforementioned Eastgate take a seat with Juha Helppi, Vicky Coren, Nenad Medic, Annette Obrestad and J.C. Tran, who has so far dominated this rendition of the Premier League.

Eastgate controlled the majority of the game, busting Obrestad, Helppi and Coren. Eventually Eastgate took a $541,000 chip advantage to Tran's $59,000 in heads-up play.

Incredibly, Tran fought his way all the way back up to even before finally being eliminated by the 2009 WSOP champ.

Eastgate earned 10 points for his victory, which was good enough for second overall in the standings with 16 points. Tran added six points to his lead and now has a very impressive 26 out of a possible 30 points in three heats.

Meanwhile, Heat 6 was one of the noisiest yet, with Tony G, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Andy Black, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Roland De Wolfe and Hellmuth all verbally jousting throughout the day.

Uberaggressive Dwan was the man to beat in the early stages of the heat, as he busted Ulliott, Tony G and Black. The only thing Dwan seems unable to do at the Premier League III is finish: Hellmuth eventually busted him third.

Hellmuth was left to deal with Englishman Roland De Wolfe in heads-up. De Wolfe took a $319,000 to $281,000 chip lead, but it wasn't enough to deal with the "Poker Brat." In the final hand Hellmuth engineered a minor suck-out with K T versus Roland's A-Q.

After three days of play it appears Medic and Ulliott are going nowhere, with six and three points respectively. Tran and Eastgate are by far and away the leadersm although it gets very tight in the race from third place to sixth, where only two points separate six players.

Here's a complete look at the Premier League standings at the end of Day 3:

Place:	Player:	Points:
1.	J.C. Tran	26
2.	Peter Eastgate	16
3.	Juha Helppi	14
4.	Tony G	14
5.	Vicky Coren	14
6.	Phil Hellmuth	13
7.	Tom Dwan	12
8.	Roland De Wolfe	12
9.	Annette Obrestad	10
10.	Andy Black	10
11.	Nenad Medic	6
12.	David "Devilfish" Ulliott	3

Related Articles:

• Tran goes 2-0 at Premier League III
• Tony G, J.C. Tran strike first at Premier League III
• J.C. Tran to rep PKR in Premier League III
• Phil Hellmuth to play in Premier League III

 

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