POKERSTARS.COM EPT GRAND FINAL DAY 3 CHIP COUNTS

Chip counts / seating positions after day 3 of the Pokerstars.com EPT Grand Final:

1. Marc Karam 231,900
2. Marcel Luske 486,000
3. Jeff Williams 495,700
4. Ross Boatman 119,700
5. Thierry Cazals 766,600
6. Arshad Hussain 131,600
7. Fraser Dunphy 125,600
8. Alexander Strandli 633,500

The televised final will start at 3 p.m tomorrow. The blinds today were 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante, but I expect they will be reduced to 4,000-8,000 / 800 ante. Anyway, with the many unknowns, with top pros Marcel and Ross, and with the wild and aggressive Jeff having position on Marcel, I expect an exciting final tomorrow. I hope you guys will join me for the coverage - here on PokerPages. From Monte Carlo, I say: Take care, you guys - See you all tomorrow. 

It is over! First, we lost Thomas Wahlroos. His jacks could not hold up against Alexander Strandli's AQ, who caught an ace on the turn and river. And then, Ben Grundy was eliminated as well. Having lost this huge pot against Marcel, he now moved in for about 85K with A J. After long deliberation, Marc Karam called him with nines, and when the final board showed T62TT, the Milkybar Kid was out.

10. Thomas Wahlroos (Sweden) EUR 33,500

9. Ben Grundy (England) EUR 56,000

Down to ten! We have lost Mark Teltscher, whose 8 7 ran into Alexander Strandli's queens. (Final board: 7JAAA.) And at the televised table, Marcel has won a huge pot against Ben Grundy. On the turn 769T Ben called a raise by Marcel, and then paid off another 60K on the river. The Fox showed Q8 - and that proved good.

Down to ten, we will continue to play on two five-handed tables - and this could speeden up decisions considerably. 

11. Mark Teltscher (England) EUR 33,500

Two "all-in stays in" situations. First it was Fraser Dunphy to double through Arshad Hussain, and then Arshad did the same, doubling with A5 against Marcel's Q8. Arshad is still one of the short stacks though. 

And the same players clashed again not much later, and with the same result. Arshad had the worst hand this time - QT versus Marcel's AK - but managed to flop a ten to stay alive.

We have a new chipleader. At the 'regular' table it is Thierry Cazals, who just a few hours ago had been so lucky to stay alive, who carries no less than 700K - for almost 25% of the total chips in play. 

Down to 11. Swedish Irishman Matthew Davey has just been busted out, just as former chipleader Arnaud Mimran. Arnaud moved in with a KJ, only to get called by Thierry Cazals' AK. And our chipleader has just suffered a blow as well. Ross Boatman had pocket tens, and saw Jeff Williams double through him with queens in a total pot of 610K where Ross had come over the top of Jeff. Ross is now down to 150K, while Jeff is the chipleader again.

In the meantime, Marcel continues to do well. In a pot that had been reraised by Ben Grundy, Marcel bet out on the flop to win uncontested.

13. Arnaud Mimran (France) EUR 28,100

12. Mattew Davey (Sweden) EUR 33,500

Play has resumed, with two well-known faces in charge: Ross Boatman & Marcel Luske. Keep in mind that just 60 minutes before the end of yesterday's play, Marcel was down to just 10,000! The chipleader at that day, and also after day 1 (Arnaud Mimran) is also back in the saddle now. He has doubled through Jeff Williams, the youngster who is continuing his ongoing yo-yo'ing. Unfortunately for him, he is moving into the wrong direction now.

14. Radu Butan (Canada) EUR 28,100

Estimated chip counts at the start of post-dinner play, with 13 players left (Radu Butan out):

TV table:

• Alexander Strandli 105K
• Thomas Wahlroos 160K
• Arshad Hussain 130K
• Marcel Luske 350K
• Fraser Dunphy 92K
• Marc Karam 150K
• Ben Grundy 345K

Regular table:

• Mark Teltscher 205K
• Matthew Davey 142K
• Ross Boatman 470K
• Arnaud Mimran 150K
• Jeff Williams 338K
• Thierry Cazals 340K

We are down to 14! First, we lost Jim Kerrigan, and not much later also Markus Golser. Markus first doubled up in a somewhat lucky manner (with AT versus Mark Teltscher's AJ, only to flop a ten), but then a possibly bad judgment sent him out. In an unraised pot, it was Thierry Cazals who made a standard bet on a flop K94, and holding the 9 5 Markus decided to try and raise the Frenchman off his hand with a big bet. But Thierry called with a KQ - and that held up.

While the players are now enjoying a dinner break, the redraw for seats has led to the following line-ups: 

Table 1

• Aleksander Strandli
  Radu Butan
  Arshad Hussein
  Marcel Luske
  Frazer Dunphy
  Marc Karam
  Ben Grundy

Table 2

• Mark Teltscher
  Mathew  Davey
  Ross Boatman
  Arnoud Mimran
  Jeff Williams
  Thierry Cazals
  Thomas Walhroos
  

16. Jim Kerrigan (England) EUR 22,400

15. Markus Golser (Austria) EUR 28,100

We have just lost Alain Bilodeau in 17th place, Alain who moved in with a pair of fours but got busted by Arshad Hussain's pair of eights. And just before that, it was Terence Halliday who busted out. All in all, we are now down to two tables - 16 players left.

And just before these two players' exits, Thierry Cazals managed to stay alive miraculously. First he doubled up with tens against fours when he dodged a dangerous straight draw on the turn (board 5J23K). Having moved up to 100K, he then made a massive semi-bluff all-in bet on the turn 793J with just an AT, and got called by chipleader Jeff Williams' AJ. All in all, Thierry was drawing to a gushot only - but as it happened, that gutshot came on the river.

18. Thierry Bidoleau (Canada) EUR 22,400

17. Terence Halliday (England) EUR 22,400

Nick Gibson is out. With blinds 3,000-6,000 and a 600 ante, he moved all-in for 78K from the small blind with a Q J , being the first one in. Big blind Alexander Strandli had a big hand for this situation though, and called him all-in for 68K total with an AJ. His ace high proved good. Being down to just 10K, Nick was then finished off by Marcel. 

And just before Nick, we also lost Kim Wittendorff - meaning we are down to 18 now. Chipleaders at the moment: Jeff Williams (close to 400K) and Arnaud Mimran (360K). In attacking mode: Mark Teltscher (230K), Ben Grundy (220K), Marcel Luske (210K) and Ross Boatman (270K), Ross who is seated to Marcel's immediate left. Starting to run into trouble: Markus Golser (95K).

Our next victim is Martin Wendt. He moved all-in for about 46K with a QJ, and got called by Jeff Williams' queens. No surprises, meaning the strong Wendt is out - and Jeff now has over 300,000 in chips. The young American has been a yo-yo all throughout the tournament, but with his loose / aggresive style of play, he is definitely one of the favorites to win here. 

Also out: John Kabbaj.

Down to 22. Eliminated are:

• Mark Bolliger
• Dustin Dirksen
• Paul Jackson
• Peter Gould (with TT against Mark Teltscher's AJ, an ace on the flop)
• Dario Mineri

Up to more than 200K is Marcel Luske, the one who eliminated Dario (with KK against the young Italian's A8). 

We are in the money! After a couple of "all-in stays in" situations, we are down to 27 now. Frode Fagerli had moved in with a J7, and Alain Bilodeau had called him with tens to bust out the Norwegian. We will have a 20-minute break now and the start up of a televised table - the one that has Jeff Williams on it. If my information is correct, the next redraw for seats will be at 16 players, when we will go down to two tables. 

Still on the bubble. Ross Boatman has just doubled up with aces against queens, and play is very tense because of the usual "hand for hand" play. Mattew Davey has just stayed alive with 77 against Thierry Cazals' A3 suited. Marcel is using this time to accumulate chips, and has 103K now. Jeff Williams does even better, with no less than 297K.

Blinds now 2K-4K with a 400 ante.

Two more victims. Indeed Jan Boubli has not been able to make it. And we have also lost Tony Chessa, who is not just a good player but also a real character - and who had done so much damage to Marcel yesterday at the televised table.

One out of the money, Martin Wendt was very close to becoming our bubble boy. But all-in with a K9 against jacks, he rivered a flush to stay alive.

Anyway, this is what we are battling here for:

1. €900,000
2. €492,000
3. €251,000
4. €195,000
5. €168,000
6. €140,000
7. €112,000
8. €84,000
9. €56,000
10-12 €33,500
13-15 €28,100
16-18 €22,400
19-27 €16,800

31 players left, who will first try to get into the money, then reach the final table, and finally give their all to win it. Pictured here: Marcel Luske & Ross Boatman among others

We have our first victims: young Johnny Lodden is out (with AJ versus 55). Dustin Dirksen has lost some chips, while Marcel Luske is going out of his way to try and accumulate some. The Flying Fox was down to just 11K yesterday at the televised table - so he has come a long way already. He may be a good example for the short stack right now: EPT Barcelona winner Jan Boubli.

Life is great out here! My girlfriend & I enjoyed a lovely breakfast, and then had one or two spare hours to spend some time at the outside swimming pool. Well, swimming pool.... Piscine De Luxe is more like it. Everything out here is luxurious, big and still smells brand new. (The Hotel & Resort has been open for just a few months.) And situated down the sealine, this is the place to be for those who want to spend a beatiful and romantic holiday.

But that's not what we are here for, is it? We are here for the poker - and I can tell, the poker is kind of exciting too. From the initial field of 298 players, there are now 31 left. The last 27 players are in the money, and today we will play down to the final 8 - who will be at our Televised Final tomorrow. And the winner? Well, he will receive a first prize of 900,000 Euros, plus the honor of being Rob Hollink's successor as the European Poker Champ.

Chip standings at the beginning of day 3:

MIMRAN, ARNAUD 226800
WILLIAMS, JEFF 204900
GOLSER, MARKUS 183100
CAZALS, THIERRY 166300
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER 163300
DUNPHY,FRASER 152300
GRUNDY, BEN 151000
DIRKSEN, DUSTIN 148000
TELTSCHER,MARK 132700
KARAM, MARC 119300
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD 102300
HALLIDAY,TERENCE 92700
KABBAJ,JOHN 91400
KERRIGAN, J 89200
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 89100
GIBSON,NICK 84900
BOLLIGER, MARK 79000
BUTAN, RADU 77200
BOATMAN,ROSS 74400
WITTENDORFF, KIM DARLING 72000
LODDEN,JOHNNY 68100
BILODEAU, ALAIN 62200
WENDT,MARTIN 58200
MINERI, DARIO 55100
CHESSA,TONY 55000
LUSKE, MARCEL 53900
JACKSON,PAUL 40800
GOULD,PETER 39500
FAGERLI,FRODE 30400
DAVEY, MATTHEW 27300
BOUBLI,JAN 6500

The players in alphabetical order, with their respective seats at the table: