Event #31: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship Day 3 | 2017 World Series of Poker

Event #31: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Day 3 Completed

06-18-2017 20:12 UTC-8

Mark Lillge Leads the Final Table of Event #31: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship; Heimiller Still Alive Looking to Win His Second Seniors Title

MrCleverFox

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

There were 67 players returning to start Day 3 of Event #31: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, and starting the day in the lead was Dan Heimiller. For a while, it looked as if Heimiller might steamroll his was through the tournament. At the start of the day, Heimiller couldn’t seem to lose a pot. He won multiple coin flips and always seemed to have his opponents all in and at risk while dominated.

Unfortunately for Heimiller, he ran into a massive cooler right at the end of the night, and he lost most of the lead he had amassed when his pocket kings ran into the pocket aces of Frank Maggio. Heimiller managed to make a slight rebound at the end of the night to finish in the middle of the pack, looking to lock up his second Seniors’ Championship. He'll return tomorrow with 2,970,000, which puts him fourth in chips.

Finishing on the top was Mark Lillge. Lillge eliminated Bill Klein in 12th Place ($41,97) when Klein shoved all in with pocket twos and Lillge woke up with pocket jacks in the big blind. Lillge also picked up a big double through Paul Spitzberg, who finished the night eighth in chips (1,320,000) when his ace-king out-raced Spitzbergs pocket queens.

With many short stacks, players fell relatively quickly at the start of the day. Bracelet Winner Larry Wright dropped early (64th for $7,693), as did bracelet winner Blair Rodman (60th for $9,239). Eluterio Rodriguez, who finished Day 2 second in chips, fell at the very end of the night, becoming the final table bubble boy when Lewis LeClair’s ace-king made a flush against his own. He took home $41,972 for his 10th-place finish, while the final nine bagged up to get some rest for Day 4 and the final table.

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Gina Bacon	United States	960,000	16
2	Mark Lillge	United States	5,300,000	88
3	Paul Spitzberg	United States	1,320,000	22
4	Anthony Licastro	United States	2,800,000	47
5	Lewis LeClair	United States	2,530,000	42
6	William Murray	United States	4,000,000	67
7	Dan Heimiller	United States	2,970,000	50
8	Frank Maggio	United States	4,910,000	82
9	Dieter Dechant	United States	2,375,000	40

There are 50:52 minutes left in Level 29 with blinds of 40,000/80,000 and a running ante of 10,000. The final table will commence at 12 p.m. PDT on Monday and will play down to a winner over on the live-streamed feature table. PokerNews will be here with all the action, so be sure to stay tuned.

Tags: Anthony Licastro Bill Klein Blair Rodman Dan Heimiller Dieter Dechant Eluterio Rodriguez Eric Blair Frank Maggio Gina Bacon Harvey Lewis Larry Wright Lewis LeClair Mark Lillge

06-18-2017 19:52 UTC-8

End-of-Day Chip Counts

Christian Zetzsche

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Gina Bacon	United States	960,000	16
2	Mark Lillge	United States	5,300,000	88
3	Paul Spitzberg	United States	1,320,000	22
4	Anthony Licastro	United States	2,800,000	47
5	Lewis LeClair	United States	2,530,000	42
6	William Murray	United States	4,000,000	67
7	Dan Heimiller	United States	2,970,000	50
8	Frank Maggio	United States	4,910,000	82
9	Dieter Dechant	United States	2,375,000	40

Player	Chips	Progress
Mark Lillge	5,300,000 100,000	100,000
Frank Maggio	4,910,000 270,000	270,000

William Murray	4,000,000 -260,000	-260,000
Dan Heimiller	2,970,000 -10,000	-10,000

Anthony Licastro	2,800,000 -50,000	-50,000
Lewis LeClair	2,530,000 80,000	80,000
Dieter Dechant	2,375,000 -115,000	-115,000

Paul Spitzberg	1,320,000 5,000	5,000
Gina Bacon	960,000 10,000	10,000

06-18-2017 19:47 UTC-8

Eluterio Rodriguez Eliminated in 10th Place ($41,972)

MrCleverFox

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

From the button, Anthony Licastro raised to 240,000. Lewis LeClair then moved all in from the small blind for 1,140,000. From the big blind, Eluterio Rodriguez moved all in for 1,050,000. Licastro folded, and the hands were turned up.

Rodriguez:
LeClair:

It looked as if it would end in a chop, but the flop came , giving LeClair a flush draw and Rodriguez a backdoor flush draw, as well. The on the turn sealed Rodriguez's fate, though, as it made LeClair the winning flush. The river was the , and Rodriguez was eliminated in 10th place, bringing the final nine players down to the official final table.

Player	Chips	Progress
Lewis LeClair	2,450,000 1,170,000	1,170,000
Eluterio Rodriguez	Busted

Tags: Anthony Licastro Eluterio Rodriguez Lewis LeClair

06-18-2017 19:40 UTC-8

Heimiller Doubles Through Rodriguez

Christian Zetzsche

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

Eluterio Rodriguez raised to 190,000 from under the gun, and Dan Heimiller three-bet to 490,000 from middle position. Rodriguez called, and the flop fell , which brought a check by Rodriguez and a bet of 500,000 by Heimiller. Rodriguez moved all in, and Heimiller called.

Dan Heimiller:
Eluterio Rodriguez:

"I need a heart," Rodriguez said to his rail. However, both the turn and river were blanks, and Heimiller doubled for 890,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Heimiller	2,980,000 1,320,000	1,320,000

Eluterio Rodriguez	1,060,000 -740,000	-740,000

Tags: Dan Heimiller Eluterio Rodriguez

06-18-2017 19:22 UTC-8

Break for the Final 10

Christian Zetzsche

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

The end of Level 18 was reached, and the last 10 players were sent on a 15-minute break. They were also given bio sheets for the live-streamed feature table on Monday, and most of them immediately sat at a nearby table to fill them out.

Play will conclude when the nine finalists have been determined.

06-18-2017 19:20 UTC-8

LeClair Doubles Through Maggio

Christian Zetzsche

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

Lewis LeClair moved all in for 560,000 in one of the first hands on the unofficial final table, and Frank Maggio, in the small blind, announced call. Dieter Dechant folded and said, "If he didn't call, I would have."

Lewis LeClair:
Frank Maggio:

Upon spotting the hand of his opponent, LeClair tapped the table, said, "Nice hand," and was ready to leave. However, the board came , and LeClair improved to trip jacks to double.

Player	Chips	Progress
Frank Maggio	4,640,000 -560,000	-560,000

Lewis LeClair	1,280,000 700,000	700,000

Tags: Dieter Dechant Frank Maggio Lewis LeClair

06-18-2017 19:14 UTC-8

Redraw for the Unofficial Final Table

Christian Zetzsche

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Gina Bacon	United States	950,000	19
2	Mark Lillge	United States	5,200,000	104
3	Paul Spitzberg	United States	1,315,000	26
4	Anthony Licastro	United States	2,850,000	57
5	Lewis LeClair	United States	580,000	12
6	Eluterio Rodriguez	United States	1,800,000	36
7	William Murray	United States	4,260,000	85
8	Dan Heimiller	United States	1,660,000	33
9	Frank Maggio	United States	5,200,000	104
10	Dieter Dechant	United States	2,490,000	50

Player	Chips	Progress
Frank Maggio	5,200,000 220,000	220,000

Mark Lillge	5,200,000 -120,000	-120,000
William Murray	4,260,000 1,460,000	1,460,000
Anthony Licastro	2,850,000 50,000	50,000
Dieter Dechant	2,490,000 -360,000	-360,000

Eluterio Rodriguez	1,800,000 -645,000	-645,000
Dan Heimiller	1,660,000 70,000	70,000

Paul Spitzberg	1,315,000 -345,000	-345,000
Gina Bacon	950,000 -500,000	-500,000
Lewis LeClair	580,000 -620,000	-620,000

06-18-2017 19:10 UTC-8

Peter Smaha Eliminated in 11th Place ($41,972)

MrCleverFox

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante

William Murray raised to 120,000 from the cutoff. Lewis LeClair called from the small blind before Peter Smaha moved all in for 365,000 from the big blind. Murray called, and that led to a fold from LeClair.

Murray:
Smaha:

The board came , and that offered no help to Smaha at any point. He hit the rail in 11th place, taking home $41,972 for his finish and bringing the final ten players down to the unofficial final table.