David Johnston Leads; Dombrowski, Gagliano, Howe, and Affleck Follow
Welcome to PokerNews' Day 3 coverage of the PokerStars Festival New Jersey Main Event.
The starting field of 208 players is down to just 23, each looking to capture the first-place prize of $38,220. On top of the chip counts is David Johnston with 534,000, and a talented pack is hot on heels. Chris Dombrowski (494,500), Michael Gagliano (484,000), Dan Howe (480,000), and Matt Affleck (418,000) round out the top five chip counts. Also still in the field are PokerStars qualifier Peter Smyth (102,500), PokerStars Team Online's Randy Lew (100,500), NJCOOP Main Event champion Jesse "ROU$EY" Elliott (84,500), and Darren Elias (66,000).
The plan for the day is to play until the final table of eight players is reached. Each player right now is guaranteed $2,331, and a seat at the final table will lock up $4,455.
Here is the Day 3 table and seat draw:
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Peter Smyth | UK | 102,500 |
| 1 | 2 | Jason Acosta | USA | 137,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Darren Elias | USA | 66,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Robert Cheung | Canada | 53,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Randy Lew | USA | 100,500 |
| 1 | 6 | Dan Howe | USA | 480,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Eli Kim | USA | 113,500 |
| 1 | 8 | Jovy Ounthongdy | USA | 268,500 |
| 2 | 1 | Sridhar Sangannagari | USA | 338,500 |
| 2 | 2 | --empty-- | ||
| 2 | 3 | Jack Duong | USA | 51,000 |
| 2 | 4 | John Gulino | USA | 246,500 |
| 2 | 5 | Rocco Dicondina | USA | 93,500 |
| 2 | 6 | Wayne Gerichten | USA | 54,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Matt Affleck | USA | 418,000 |
| 2 | 8 | NIck Aguilera | USA | 247,000 |
| 3 | 1 | Ruben Costa | USA | 132,600 |
| 3 | 2 | John Kim | USA | 109,500 |
| 3 | 3 | David Vamplew | UK | 219,000 |
| 3 | 4 | Tom Revello | USA | 199,500 |
| 3 | 5 | Jesse Elliott | USA | 84,500 |
| 3 | 6 | David Johnston | USA | 534,000 |
| 3 | 7 | Chris Dombrowski | USA | 494,500 |
| 3 | 8 | Michael Gagliano | USA | 484,000 |
Play begins at 11 a.m., so keep it here throughout the day for live updates on the action.