Mermelstein Soars to the Top on Day 3 as the Money Bubble Bursts
The money bubble has burst on Day 3 of the 2022 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event, and 1,299 contenders remain in the second-largest field in WSOP history. Out of 8,663 entrants, three hopefuls chopped the min-cash of $15,000 and ensured that a tiny fraction of the $80,782,475 prize money has already been awarded in the flagship event of the 2022 WSOP in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.
After the frantic bubble tension had subsided and all players bagged their chips for the night, Aaron Mermelstein emerged atop the leaderboard with a stack of 2,059,000. He appears to be the only one above two million, while Nick Howard (1,850,000) and Gabi Livshitz (1,835,000) follow not far behind.
"It's dope. [to be chipleader] I have been going out and partying and having fun. I am fortunate to be in this position and I am sticking with what I know best and not changing anything," Mermelstein mentioned at the night's end. He claimed a large portion of his tower of chips in the final stages when his king-nine flopped trips in a three-bet pot, and he ousted an opponent with pocket kings.
2022 WSOP Main Event Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Mermelstein | United States | 2,059,000 |
| 2 | Michael Rocco | United States | 1,866,000 |
| 3 | Gabi Livshitz | Israel | 1,835,000 |
| 4 | Brandon Lulo | United States | 1,679,000 |
| 5 | Leo Zamarripa | United States | 1,643,000 |
| 6 | Jake Abdalla | United States | 1,615,000 |
| 7 | Thi Xoa Nguyen | France | 1,600,000 |
| 8 | Jordyn Miller | United States | 1,580,000 |
| 9 | Mathieu His | France | 1,565,000 |
| 10 | Ian Armstrong | United Kingdom | 1,563,000 |
Another WSOP bracelet winner can be found among the big stacks at the completion of Day 3, and that happens to be Martin Zamani (1,483,000). Several other winners of live poker's most coveted hardware will bring healthy stacks into Day 4, such as Michael Moncek (1,244,000), and Ryan Torgersen (1,134,000).
Mitchell Halverson (1,044,000) also has a bracelet and will aim to finish even better than his 15th place finish in the 2021 WSOP Main Event. Back then, he tangled with Koray Aldemir and the defending champion is among several former WSOP Main Event winners to take a shot at another title in this prestigious tournament. He was right there in the Bally's Event Center when the bubble unfolded and cited "the excitement, especially for the players playing for the first time. A lot of people's goal is just to cash the Main Event."
While some things may have changed since his victory in Sin City, the German poker pro hasn't changed his game much besides taking part in more high-stakes mixed-game bracelet events during the ongoing series.
"Honestly, a lot of people ask me if I feel pressure. I feel less pressure. I'm relaxed. Yeah, I would have been sad if I bubbled, but I'm relaxed and just playing my game."
Among the former champs still in contention in addition to defending champion Koray Aldemir (537,000) are Damian Salas (405,000), John Cynn (343,000), Ryan Riess (243,000) and Greg Merson (168,000).
Many other notables were less fortunate and had to leave empty-handed. With the money bubble looming toward the end of Level 15, the hand-for-hand procedure kicked off four spots away from the money. Two rapid eliminations, including the one of Seyed Nabavi, brought the field down to the last 1,302 hopefuls. What unfolded after that was a round with five simultaneous called all-ins on different tables.
Three of those hoping to stay alive came up short of the goal as Robert Lipkin, Ognjen Sekularac and Tom McCormick all ran out of chips entirely. They chopped the $15,000 min-cash for $5,000 each and Lipkin was fortunate enough to win the blind flip for the WSOP $10,000 Main Event entry for next year. Kevin Campbell was the bubble boy in the 2021 WSOP Main Event and was among the Day 3 survivors with an above-average stack.
Many other big names were not as fortunate. Day 3 commenced with a field of 2,993 players and by the end of play, that number was cut down by more than half. Last year's runner-up George Holmes, for example, went on a roller coaster ride throughout the day and eventually bowed out with ace-eight suited versus ace-king, not far away from locking up a min-cash. The always entertaining Jimmy D'Ambrosio suffered the same fate in the same level as well, while Jesse Sylvia and Samantha Abernathy were coolered early on.
Despite the plethora of notables gone, the field of contenders for Day 4 still contains plenty of big names. They will all be back in action at noon local time in pursuit of the $10 million top prize in the most prestigious live poker event of the year during the 2022 WSOP at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.
The blinds will be 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 big blind ante and five two-hour levels scheduled. As usual, the PokerNews live reporting team will be scouring the floor to provide as many key hands as possible for this grand spectacle.