William Fernandes Bags the Chip Lead on Day 3 of the BSOP Millions Championship; Joao Vieira Needs a Miracle to Survive
The final table is in sight for the 24 players who managed to survive Day 3 of the R$25,000 BSOP Millions Championship.
William Fernandes ended up as chip leader with 4,460,000 after winning two big pots near the end of the night. He first picked off a bluff from Rodrigo Seiji with a rivered pair of aces, then bet out Marcos Kenne on the river to climb up past 4,000,000.
Diego Ventura, no stranger to making deep runs in PokerStars events, brought the night to a close by eliminating Eduardo Pires with a flush. The Peruvian WSOP bracelet winner is chasing his second major final table after finishing second at the PCA nearly a decade ago.
Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Fernandes | Brazil | 4,460,000 | 112 |
| 2 | Diego Ventura | Peru | 3,650,000 | 91 |
| 3 | Paulo Goncalves | Brazil | 3,300,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Luan Coelho | Brazil | 2,865,000 | 72 |
| 5 | Rafael Mota | Brazil | 2,735,000 | 68 |
| 6 | Marcos Kenne | Brazil | 2,560,000 | 64 |
| 7 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 2,415,000 | 60 |
| 8 | Breno Drumond | Brazil | 2,380,000 | 60 |
| 9 | Murilo Milhomem | Brazil | 2,350,000 | 59 |
| 10 | Robert Burlacu | Romania | 2,320,000 | 58 |
The remaining field is highlighted by Portuguese online legend Joao Vieira, who needed some good fortune to survive the day. Vieira doubled up with ace-king against Breno Drumond��s queens on one of the first hands of the day, then was all in with ace-king again but up against Luan Coelho��s aces. The board brought a miracle flush as Vieira stayed alive yet again on his way to finishing with 2,415,000.
Other players still in the hunt for the trophy include Paulo Goncalves (3,300,000), Rafael Mota (2,735,000), start-of-day chip leader Drumond (2,380,000), Murilo Milhomem (2,350,000), Robert Burlacu (2,320,000), Joao Valli (2,130,000), Alexandre Mantovani (1,505,000), Carlos Serrano (1,140,000), and Santiago Plante (850,000).
Day 3 began with 58 players remaining out of a starting field of 503. Among the players who busted throughout the day were Thiago Crema (58th), Bruno Porto (57th), Luiz Duarte (52nd), Andres Korn (39th), Lucas Rocha (28th), and Seiji (27th). Claudio Pitta took out three players at once, winning a massive four-way all in with the flopped nut flush to bust WSOP November Niner Bruno Politano (48th), Jerwin Pasco (47th), and Danilo Gomes (46th) in one fell swoop.
The remaining players return tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time to play down to a final table of eight. The action picks up with around 45 minutes remaining in Level 19 with blinds of 20,000-40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante. The average stack is worth around 50 big blinds at the start of the day, so it should be a long and arduous journey to get there.
Everyone left has already locked up R$73,130, with a spot at the final table worth R$244,850. The eventual champion will earn R$2,140,000 (US $370,000). The action will be streamed on the BSOP official YouTube and Twitch channels, with live updates provided on a 30-minute delay to match the stream.
Stay tuned as PokerNews returns tomorrow to follow the action all the way down to the final table.