A long and eventful day 3 in Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship saw some major talking points last night, not least of which was the exit of a number of huge names.
Busted!
Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, defending champ Jonathan Tamayo, Doug Polk, Brain Rast and Johnny Chan all exited.
Meanwhile, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the casino, English motormouth William “Nine high like a boss” Kassouf appeared to replace fellow horror-show Martin Kabrhel.
Rast was the first of the big names to bust, the seven-time bracelet winner all-in and at-risk pre-flop…
Brian Rast: A♠ Q♥
Narongsak Dhanjaichon: A♥ A♦
Flop: 10♥ 6♣ 2♠
Turn: 9♣
River: 4♦
The 2,133 players who appeared for day 3 were due to be whittled down to 1461 paid spots, but they ended the day 15 short of that figure with complaints about tanking high on the player whinge list.
Irish pro David Lappin wasn’t playing but even from the comfort of home he could spot one of the problems a mile away…
BLACK MIRROR IDEA: pic.twitter.com/SIdKsIivDl
— 🃏 David Lappin 🃏 (@dklappin) October 25, 2016
Jason Mercier, going strong with a big stack for day 4, managed to find a positive:
“The stalling is excruciating, but what doesn’t kill you… makes you stronger”
Both Negreanu and Hellmuth were on feature tables but neither could make it to the end of the day, death on the river being a common theme…
Negreanu Hits the Rail
Having nursed a middling stack for a long time, DNegs eventually found himself all-in and at risk…
Negreanu: 9♥ 9♦
Levy: A♥ Q♠
Flop: 4♣ 8♠ K♥
Turn: 10♥
River: Q♣
Hellmuth Busts Without a Fuss
Michael Zulker: Q♠ Q♦
Leon Sturm: 8♠ 8♣
Phil Hellmuth: A♠ K♦
Zulker opened, Sturm called and Hellmuth shoved from the big blind, only Zulker coming along for the ride…
Flop: 3♠ 4♣ J♦
Turn: K♣
Hellmuth was one card away from a double and change, but the poker gods had other ideas…
River: Q♥
No tantrum from the Poker Brat this time but no 18th WSOP bracelet either.
No back-to-back for Tamayo
Last year’s headline act was Jonathan Tamayo, who bagged the $10million top prize after a controversial finale.
In case anyone was wondering, the defending champ still has to pony up the $10k to play, but Tamayo sattied his way in for $160. He exited when his 8♥ 8♠ against Alen Tenorio’s A♣ K♣ ran into an ace on the flop…
We caught up with last year’s Main Event champ, Jonathan Tamayo (@driverseati), after his Day 3 bust-out as he reflects on this year’s run!
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 9, 2025
Plus, he’s already back in the mix in Event 87: $5K Super Turbo Bounty. #WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/WyQGNqWvlh
Another former champ, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer had one of those bustouts you never imagine happening until they happen…
Greg Raymer: K♣ K♦
Weston Wells: K♥ K♠
Flop: 10♠ 8♠ 6♠
Turn: 2♠
River: A♦
Doug Polk was another to fall, his A♠ A♦ looking good against Luke Chung’s K♠ K♦ until the K♠ appeared on the flop. However, Polk did clear one thing up for the fans who had never seen him and Vanessa Selbst in the same place at the same time.
Sometimes after losing a tournament you have to take a good long look in the mirror @VanessaSelbst pic.twitter.com/Bx8PHCFBpB
— Doug Polk (Code Doug) (@DougPolkVids) July 9, 2025
Bagged!
There are still a large number of well-known players in the mix, including Viktor Blom, Brian Hastings, Mike Matusow, and Liv Boeree as well as the two remaining former champs, Greg Merson (2012) and Damian Salas (2020).
Leading the chip counts is Japanese player Shotaro Kobayashi, followed closely by 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event winner Max Neugebauer.
Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
1 | Shotaro Kobayashi | Japan | 1,971,000 |
2 | Max Neugebauer | Austria | 1,928,000 |
3 | Sam Jakubowicz | France | 1,800,000 |
4 | Juliet Hegedus | USA | 1,745,000 |
5 | Tomas Szwarcberg | Mexico | 1,709,000 |
6 | David Alvarez | Spain | 1,629,000 |
7 | Thomas Eychenne | France | 1,618,000 |
8 | Brandon Harris | UK | 1,616,000 |
9 | Luke Chung | USA | 1,606,000 |
10 | Chad Power | USA | 1,546,000 |
