Chi Zhang Leads the Final 18 in the 2015 partypoker WPT UK Main Event
Fifty-nine players returned to Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, UK, on Nov. 6 to compete in the third day of the 2015 partypoker World Poker Tour UK Main Event. After six 90-minute levels of play, all but 18 were left, and it was Chi Zhang holding the lead.
Zhang finished the day as the only player to amass more than 2 million in chips, as he bagged up 2.023 million. Zhang, who back in August finished third in the UKIPT Bristol Main Event for ￡26,500, has put himself in contention for another premier finish, but he'll still have to fend off 17 others if he wants the win.
Robert Davies also finished in an enviable position thanks his stack of 1.32 million. Davies sent the start-of-the-day chip leader, Paul Dando, to the sidelines in 19th place at the close of play to help bolster his stack and give him every chance of finishing this weekend with a pile of cash in his pocket.
Two other players, Joseph Townsend and Andrew Seden, bagged up more than 1 million in chips each, while among the 18 surviving players were the likes of Fraser Bellamy, World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Craig McCorkell, Iaron Lightbourne, Billy Chattaway, Andrew "stato_1" Hulme, Mitchell Johnson, and Ben Vinson. While those last two find themselves at the wrong end of the leader board, both are capable of turning their fortunes around and becoming a force to be reckoned with. Look out for both Johnson and Vinson should they accumulate chips early and get off the short stack.
Each of the 18 players still in the hunt are guaranteed a payout of at least ￡10,200, thanks to the money bubble bursting on Day 3. It took more than 75 minutes of hand-for-hand play for the 55th-place finisher to be decided, with that unfortunate soul being Carl Fitpatrick.
Fitzpatrick busted when he shoved over a raise from Emrah Yildiz for 10,000, or 20 big blinds. Bellamy cold-called the raise on the button, Nuno Duarte called from the big blind, and Yildiz also called.
All three players checked down the 
board, and Fitzpatrick showed 
. Both Yildaz and Bellamy had aces in their hands, and it was Bellamy winning with the 
.
Some of the stars to finish in the money included Richard Kellett, Nick Hicks, Ben Jackson, Ben Dobson, Simon Deadman, and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. Mizrachi added a 24th-place finish, and ￡8,000, to his fourth-place result in the High Roller earlier this week.
Play in the Main Event will resume at midday UK time on Saturday, Nov. 7, and it will continue until six players remain, regardless of how long that should take. Once the official WPT final table has been reached, the tournament will be paused one last time before the finalists return on Sunday, Nov. 8, to play for the title. As you can expect, PokerNews will be there every step of the way to provide live updates.