Through The Lens of Drew: $50K Contenders

Drew Amato • Jun 18, 2018

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Drew Amato has been covering the World Series of Poker since 2014. This year he’s covered the U.S. Poker Open and Super High Roller Bowl for Poker Central. Twice per week, Amato will share his favorite images from the World Series of Poker. Enjoy this recurring piece as, in his own words, Amato describes the biggest moments in the game.

Day 3 of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship started with 42 players and saw its field whittled down to just 12. The fourth day of play will be streamed live on Twitch at 6:00 pm ET, after which the final table of six returns on Tuesday for the PokerGO live-streamed final table.

The third day of play saw the elimination of numerous top players such as Jason Mercier, Phil Galfond, John Monnette, defending champion Elior Sion, Daniel Negreanu, and Justin Bonomo. Below you’ll find the photo highlights from Day 3 of the event.

Doing it for the Vlog: Another day, another vlog for Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu has been documenting his past few summers with daily videos that he uploads on his YouTube Channel. It’s a great behind the scenes look at the life of a high stakes player, as well as a great learning tool as he breaks down his biggest hands of the day and talks you through his thought process!

The Mercier Family: In between hands, I snagged this photo of Jason Mercier, who was catching up with his wife Natasha. As his expression on his face shows, the day didn’t go as expected. The winner of five WSOP bracelets was eliminated from the PPC early on Day 3.

Popcorn: Another player to fall short here on Day 3 was Eric Wasserson. This photo was taken as he battled it out in a big hand with Elior Sion that extended into the break. The defending champ would win the hand, leaving Wasserson extremely short. A few hands later he was eliminated from play.

Hanging in There: Day 3 was full of smiles for Tommy Hang, as he continued to chip up and build one of the biggest stacks. This photo was captured after Hang correctly called a river bet from Ben Lamb in Limit Hold’em with jack high. Pretty absurd if you ask me, but I’d be smiling too! Hang, however, was later eliminated close to the money bubble.

Holla! Just a few days ago Dan Smith put out a tweet about selling action to the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Fast forward to Day 3, and he found himself chip leader heading into the dinner break. Smith skyrocketed to the top of the counts when his aces held against the tens of Jesse Martin in a monster hand of No Limit Hold’em. Smith comes into Day 4 with an average stack.

You’ll also enjoy “Super High Roller Bowl Highlights”, “Poker’s Annual Gold Rush” and “Doyle’s Final Ride” in the series “Through the Lens of Drew” by clicking the links.

Follow Drew Amato on Instagram. The 2018 World Series of Poker streams live on PokerGO now. Don’t miss a minute of the action by subscribing to PokerGO. The final table of this event will be live on PokerGO. Follow Poker Central on Twitter to stay up to date with all the latest from the world of poker.

Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Drew Amato, Natasha Mercier, Elior Sion, Poker Players Championship, Tommy Hang, Eric Wasserson