WSOPE Event 3: Young guns dominate the final three tables.

WSOPE Event 3: Young guns dominate the final three tables.

Thursday, 25 September 2008

This evening at the Empire feels more like a youth centre with chips and cards. Only a few of the old guard remain (including Neil Channing), so it's down to the young guns to battle it out in the Omaha event.

Dotted around the room, there are some British poker stalwarts. Neil Channing has been reading the latest copy of Bluff, silkily handed to him by the editor only hours after it rolled off the press. Padraig Parkinson is on about his nineth pint of the afternoon, and Donnechea O'Dea is playing poker with his usual air of serenity personified. This isn't the dominating theme here in the Empire though, as the room is still filled with young American exports.

Shaun Deeb and Jason Mercier have been dominating their table, both with quips and chips. Meanwhile, Mike 'Timex' McDonald is sat on the same table in seat one, his normal shy but calculated self. Cut across to table one and you have 2006 WSOP main event final tablist Erik Friberg jostling for chips with Sorel Mizzi. Chris Ferguson and Chris Bjornin are sat there watching down on the two youngsters at the end of the table, just waiting for their chance to pick some of their chips of them.

It's about manoeuvering right now. No one will win the tournament from here, but plenty will lose it trying to make something happen a little too soon. In the typical Bluff Europe style, we will stick our neck out on the line and say Jason Mercier is a good bet to make another final table, while Mr. Channing is his usual self-deprecating self, trying to give off the impression of the village idiot who stumbled upon 150,000 chips. Yeah, right Neil.

Top ten chip counts at the dinner break on Day Three
Jason Mercier 432300
Shaun Deeb 258800
Theo Jorgensen 241600
Eric Dalby 231600
Erik Friberg 216800
Chris Ferguson 198000
Tomi Nyback 180000
Ilkka Koskinen 178200
Justin 'BoostedJ' Smith 175000
Neil Channing 154000



Tags: Poker News, WSOPE, Event, 3:, Young, guns, dominate, the, final, three, tables.