Nine Remain in Aruba and All Eyes Are On Joe Serock
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Day 3 of the 2013 PPC Aruba World Championship $2,500 Main Event. Just nine competitors remain in the battle for the title, and they are all in the money and guaranteed at least $5,000. With $68,000 up top and a PPC Aruba champion to be crowned, today plans to be an exciting day of poker.
[Removed:65] leads the way by a big margin, with over 200,000 chips more than RJ Sullivan has in second place. Rounding out the top three is World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Joe Ebanks.
While [Removed:72], Sullivan, and Ebanks boast the largest stacks returning to play, all eyes are on one man — Joe Serock.
For all of the results and accolades that Serock has, it was here in Aruba just one year ago that he earned his first live tournament victory. Last year, Serock bested a field of 31 entries to win $40,594. While Serock has fired four bullets into the event this year, he's made it to the money and has a chance to grab back-to-back wins. Only eight players stand in the way of Serock and that accomplishment, and the former World Poker Tour Player of the Year seems poised and ready for the challenge.
Other notables at the final table include former WSOP Circuit Main Event champion David Tuthill, Ryan Franklin, and Andy Seth. Seth will be bringing up the rear with the short stack of 70,000 in chips, but the 2009 World Poker Challenge champion is just one double up away from being right in the mix.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Removed:65] | 559,000 |
| 2 | RJ Sullivan | 351,000 |
| 3 | Joe Ebanks | 281,000 |
| 4 | Sterling Savill | 276,000 |
| 5 | Ryan Franklin | 261,000 |
| 6 | Joe Serock | 222,500 |
| 7 | David Tuthill | 137,500 |
| 8 | Stephen Sindler | 72,000 |
| 9 | Andy Seth | 70,000 |
Last night, it was Sullivan that sent Arun C. home in 10th place as the tournament bubble boy. Sullivan got there with the 
against Arun's 
by rivering trip fives, but many saw this as Sullivan simply returning the favor because right before that, Arun cracked Sullivan's kings with the 
.
Play is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. local time at the beautiful Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa and won't end until a winner is crowned. Stay tuned right here to PokerNews for live coverage in just a bit.