The €10,350 ($11,360) World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event ended on Day 3 of the tournament with just 47 players still in with a chance of winning over a million dollars and the bracelet. From 185 starters at the beginning of Day 3, the money bubble burst, some huge names both rose high and busted dramatically as players edged towards the final six tables in the event in a bid to win gold.
King’s Resort Hosts Royal Fight for Money Places
The gargantuan cardroom at King’s Casino in Rozvadov is the location for the WSOPE this year as it has been since 2017 as players bid to win the seventh Main Event title to be claimed in the Czech-German border town. As Day 3 began, there were 185 players still in seats and with only 116 of those players winning part of the €7.21m ($7.92m) prizepool, the race was on from the first card.
Big names such as the 2020 WSOP Online Main Event Champion and Bulgarian crusher Stoyan Madanzhiev, the Italian 2019 WSOP Main Event runner-up Dario Sammartino and the Argentinian superstar and major live event winner Maria Lampropulos all departed outside the money places. So too did Alex Foxen, with the former Global Poker Index number one running his set of sevens into a set of aces, the American succumbing before the bubble.
Last year, the WSOPE Main Event saw Michele Tocci finish in third place for $682,211 behind the eventual winner, Austria’s Max Neugebauer. This time, Tocci fell much shorter, busting two from the cash for nothing at all. The bubble took some time to burst, but eventually, Daniel Koloszar managed to make a set of sevens to survive against Said Madani’s pocket nines before Czech player Michal Schuh busted when all-in and up against two opponents, having been forced to go all-in blind on his final hand with less than a big blind to his name.
Pichierri Part of the In Crowd
With just 47 players surviving to Day 4, a lot of household names in the game of poker made the money but fell short of the next day’s play. Out for a min-cash worth $22,950 was the Italian player Alessandro Pichierri, who earlier this week defeated some of the best players in Rozvadov this week to win the High Roller WSOP bracelet for $395,000.
Others to min-cash included Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Niklas Astedt, Roman Hrabec, Ran Koller and Lars Kamphues, with others such as Boris Angelov (70th for $25,360), Jan-Peter Jachtmann (59th for $27,155) and Martin Zamani (56th) all exiting shortly before the close of play. The field was narrowing and with 21 tables of action kicking off Day 3, only six still featured players at the felt.
Another Swedish player, Viktor Blom, departed in 48th place to end the Day 3 action when his 
lost when all-in pre-flop against Felix Seelentag’s 
. A flop of 
looked ominous, and a 
turn as followed by a 
to send the player once known only as ‘Isuldur1’ to the rail for $29,750.
El Yacoubi in Charge
As play wrapped on Day 3, one man was top of the leaderboard, as French player Rachid El Yaacoubi was on course for a top prize of €1,300,000 ($1,427,100). Ending Day 3 with a massive stack of 4,100,000 chips, El Yacoubi is looking to add to over $700,000 in live tournament earnings after becoming something of a favorite at King’s Casino. Four of the Frenchman’s top five cashes have come in Rozvadov and his victory in the 2021 IPS Main Event for $118,793 was the pick of them.
Closest to El Yaacoubi at the close of Day 3 was Andrea Ricci (2.98 million), with Alberti Sanaia (2.92 million) in third place on the leaderboard. Others to bag huge stacks included top professionals Daniel Rezaei (2,915,000), Anson Tsang (2,450,000) and Vladas Tamasauskas (1,150,000), with that trio all hoping they can dominate Day 4 to go into the home straight in the lead.
With 14 hours required to whittle 185 starters down to just 47 survivors on Day 3, just one player in the chasing pack is female. She’s a formidable one, however, as Monika ‘Hey Monia’ Zukowicz (610,000) is an Americas Cardroom Pro and the Polish poker professional has all the skills to put her short stack to good use and aim to make the final couple of days in the WSOP capital of Europe.
| WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event Day 3 Top 10 Chipcounts: | |||
| Position | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1st | Rachid El Yaacoubi | France | 4,100,000 |
| 2nd | Andrea Ricci | Italy | 2,980,000 |
| 3rd | Alberti Sanaia | Georgia | 2,920,000 |
| 4th | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 2,915,000 |
| 5th | Marcello Manganiello | Italy | 2,690,000 |
| 6th | Michael Dick | Germany | 2,600,000 |
| 7th | Jorge Manzur Duarte | Canada | 2,550,000 |
| 8th | Andria Gogelidze | Georgia | 2,540,000 |
| 9th | Patrik Zidek | Czech Republic | 2,530,000 |
| =10th | Luka Bojovic | Serbia | 2,450,000 |
| =10th | Anson Tsang | Hong Kong | 2,450,000 |
Photograph by Tomas Stacha for PokerNews in Rozvadov at the WSOP Europe.
