Stepuchin Drinks, Moons and Showboats His Way to partypoker MILLIONS Vegas Day 3 Chip Lead
Words cannot begin to describe the actions of one man late on Day 3 of the $10,300 partypoker MILLIONS Vegas at Aria. Frank Stepuchin put on a show during the last few hours of the day, fuelled by beer and an insatiable desire to ingratiate himself with his tablemates.
Conor Beresford was a frequent adversary, with Stepuchin even going so far as to moon Fahredin Mustafov at the table. Dennis Blieden also caught his eye, and after a few prickly encounters with Freddy Deeb that Stepuchin nicknamed 'Frederick' the former real estate salesman blazed a trail to bagging 11,725,000 in chips.
His cause was helped no end with the elimination of long-time chip leader Blieden with less than twenty minutes to go in the day, with Stepuchin's pocket kings no match for Blieden's ace-queen. This moved him up to over ten million where he stayed for the rest of the night.
Just 13 players remain from the 83 that started the day but with the average sitting at more than 50 big blinds a long Day 4 - supposedly the final day of this tournament - is in store.
Behind Stepuchin there is a big gap to Tom Marchese (5,805,000) and Jeremy Ausmus (5,625,000) who are the only other players to bag over five million in chips.
Other big names still in with a shot of the $1,000,000 first place prize include Chris Moneymaker (4,105,000), Ana Marquez (4,085,000), Rainer Kempe (2,260,000) and Sergio Aido (1,705,000)
2019 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Vegas @ Aria $10,300 Main Event Day 4 Seating Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Martin Mathis | United States | 1,180,000 | 17 |
| 1 | 2 | Chris Moneymaker | United States | 4,105,000 | 59 |
| 1 | 3 | Ana Marquez | Spain | 4,085,000 | 58 |
| 1 | 4 | Sergio Aido | Spain | 1,705,000 | 24 |
| 1 | 5 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 5,625,000 | 80 |
| 1 | 6 | Sergi Reixach | Spain | 2,240,000 | 32 |
| 2 | 1 | Conor Beresford | United Kingdom | 4,515,000 | 65 |
| 2 | 2 | Frank Stepuchin | United States | 11,725,000 | 168 |
| 2 | 3 | Tobias Duthweiler | Germany | 4,050,000 | 58 |
| 2 | 4 | Freddy Deeb | United States | 2,195,000 | 31 |
| 2 | 5 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | 4,100,000 | 59 |
| 2 | 6 | Tom Marchese | United States | 5,805,000 | 83 |
| 2 | 7 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 2,260,000 | 32 |
Day 3 Recap; Bubble Bursts and Big Stacks Grow
Play resumed on Day 3 just four eliminations away from the money. Brian Yoon and Mark Burford were among the unfortunate players to be eliminated before hand-for-hand was reached, with Joseph Kuether the eventual bubble boy busting against Govert Metaal after being forced all in from the big blind.
Start-of-day chip leader Jeremy Pekarek still lead during the early stages, but Conor Beresford and Thomas Boivin were also chipping up. But it was Dennis Blieden who emerged as the players headed on their dinner break with 36 players remaining.
When they resumed, Pekarek and Blieden resumed their battle at the top as players slowly made their way to the exit.
But Stepuchin was ready for a late surge. It began slowly, a four-bet jam here to pinch chips from Blieden followed by a flop raise against Amit Makhija. But the bullying took its toll and Stepuchin was eventually stacking towers after first beating Freddy Deeb for trip sixes and then sending Blieden to the rail. He held on to secure the chip lead with just 13 players remaining.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we possibly play down to a winner on Day 4 here at the Aria Resort & Casino Las Vegas.