WPT World Championship Day 3: Kohlberg Leaps To The Top
Late registration finally ended in day 3 of the World Poker Tour championship event, with Curt Kohlberg crushing the field to take the lead. Also Tobias Block grabs a few words with Brian Hastings.
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| Chip leader Curt Kohlberg |
In something of a surprise, Phil Ivey did not buy in to the WPT World Championship on the final day of late registration, but he is expected for the high roller event tomorrow. That leaves the 45 survivors from day 3 to breathe a sigh of a relief as they bagged up their chips for the night.
What happened on Day 3?
The leaders: Several high profile players held on to their big stacks in day 3, including Guillaume Darcourt and Rinat Bogdanov. Fan favourite Antonio Esfandiari found his way into the top five, as did pro Nick Schulman who battled his way to 2nd place. PokerStrategy.com coach 
JonathanLittle managed to maintain his solid stack just outside of the top ten for another day.
But the man to beat right now was Boston based pro Curt Kohlberg, who went on a busting frenzy yesterday to finish the day with the biggest stack of all.
152 players in total: After the marathon late entry policy which saw players buy in as late as day 3, the final numbers are in. 152 players in total registered, creating a prize pool of $3,660,500. 18 players will get paid with a first prize of $1,196,858. This is surprisingly low for a WPT Championship, which in 2006 saw as much as $3,970,415 awarded to winner Carlos Mortensen.
POY race goes down to the wire: It may be the last event of the season, but the WPT Player of the Year Race is still in contention. Current leader Will Failla was eliminated on day 3, but there are still several players who could win it. Most notably a 15th place finish for Joe Serock, or a 12th place finish from Dan Buzgon, would be enough to snatch it from him.
WPT World ChampionshipEnd of Day 3 Chip Counts |
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| Place | Name | Chips | ||
| 1st | Curt Kohlberg | 918,300 | ||
| 2nd | Nick Schulman | 768,000 | ||
| 3rd | Guillaume Darcourt | 641,000 | ||
| 4th | Antonio Esfandiari | 632,100 | ||
| 5th | Rinat Bogdanov | 624,100 | ||
| 6th | David Steicke | 589,700 | ||
| 7th | Tony Ruberto | 581,400 | ||
| 8th | Viacheslav Igin | 567,000 | ||
| 9th | Farzad Bonyadi | 519,900 | ||
| 10th | Nicolas Fraioli | 501,600 | ||
| 11th | JonathanLittle |
495,700 | ||
| ... | Marvin Rettenmaier |
474,400 | ||
| - | Joe Serock | 400,800 | ||
| - | Barry Shulman | 376,000 | ||
| - | Steve O'Dwyer | 358,600 | ||
| - | David Chiu | 236,700 | ||
| - | Michael Mizrachi | 171,700 | ||
| - | Noah Schwartz | 169,000 | ||
| - | Hoyt Corkins | 148,100 | ||
| - | Sam Trickett | 97,000 | ||
| - | David Sands | 87,100 | ||
| Blinds: 2,500-5,000/500 | Players: 45 (152) | Prize pool: $3,660,500 |
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Our on-site reporter Tobias Block grabbed a few words with Brian Hastings on day 3, and stay tuned to PokerStrategy.com later today for his interview with Phil Hellmuth:
Qualify for WPT National Series Madrid
This may be the end of season 10 of the World Poker Tour but you can already qualify for season 11, as PartyPoker are hosting satellites for the WPT National Series in Madrid. The Casino Gran Madrid is hosting the $2,250 main event between 28 June and 2 July.
You can win a $4,000 package that includes main event buy-in, $750 spending money, and hotel accommodation for five nights. Qualifiers start at freeroll level, all the way up to weekly $215 direct qualifiers on Sundays at 13:55 ET, where one package is guaranteed.
