2013 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Day 3: Nguyen Leads Final 59; Money Bubble Looms

3 min read
Don Nguyen

The 2013 World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event continued on Sunday with another five levels of play. When things wrapped up, it was Don Nguyen leading the way with 774,500 in chips.

2013 WPT Five Diamond Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerChips
1Don Nguyen774,500
2John Holsonback594,000
3Mohsin Charania573,000
4Dan O'Brien504,500
5Dan Martin496,000
6Barry Hutter489,000
7Brian Rast459,500
8David Paredes458,500
9Antonio Lafosse454,500
10Joe Serock430,000

At the start of Day 3, 140 players remained. With 45 places set to finish in the money, everyone was eyeing a cash, and more importantly the $1,161,135 first-place prize up for grabs. The money bubble did not burst on Day 3, though, and 59 survivors will return for Monday's Day 4.

Nguyen seized the chip lead during Level 14 with the blinds at 1,200/2,400/400, according to the WPT live updates team, and it was a massive clash with the chip leader at the time, Brian Rast.

It was reported that there was nearly 200,000 in chips already in the pot on a flop of A?K?10? between Nguyen, Rast, and a third player, Kevin Eyster. Nguyen was all in for 259,100, and Rast raised all in over the top. Eyster then folded, leaving the battle to Nguyen and Rast. Rast held the A?A? for top set of aces, but he was behind the Q?J? for Nguyen as he had flopped a Broadway straight. Following the 6? turn card and 4? river card, Nguyen had secured the double up to over 700,000 in chips. Rast was knocked back to about 155,000. From here, Nguyen would continue building until the end of the night to finish as the chip leader.

Another player who thrived on Day 3 was recent WPT Grand Prix de Paris winner Mohsin Charania. Charania finished on 573,000 in chips and received a nice boost to his stack in the final level of the day.

With the blinds at 1,500/3,000/500, a board of J?5?3?Q?10? was in the middle of the felt. With approximately 120,000 in the middle, Charania fired a bet of 77,000 into his opponent, recent partypoker Premier League VII winner Sorel Mizzi. Mizzi made the call, but could only muck after Charania tabled the A?4? for the nut flush.

Despite losing those big pots, both Rast and Mizzi did advance to Day 4.

Also still remaining is Antonio Esfandiari, who bagged up 110,000 in chips after Day 3. Esfandiari has cashed in this event every single year since 2008 and made the final table in 2010, 2011, and 2012. In 2010, he won the event and took home $870,124.

Those who did not advance include Tony Dunst, Joseph Cheong, Nam Le, John Dolan, and Justin Bonomo.

The remaining competitors will return on Monday at 12 p.m. local time in Las Vegas for Day 4 of this prestigious event. The money bubble will surely burst then and you won't want to miss out who becomes the unlucky bubble boy, so stay tuned for a recap following the completion of play right here on PokerNews.

Data courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com

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