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The big money is on the horizon in the $10,400 buy-in World Poker Tour World Championship (WPTWC) after Wednesday’s five-level Day 3 session.

Two more days of play separate six of the final 61 players and a seat at the final table on Dec. 21 where one player will be awarded $3,138,900. Michael Berk, an Indiana native with over $1 million in The Hendon Mob cashes, will come back to Wynn Las Vegas on Thursday with the biggest stack (8,110,000).

Players Falling Fast on Day 3

Day 3 was a less stressful day for the short stacks than the first two sessions as the bubble burst at the end of Day 2. The action heated up quickly on Wednesday with the short stacks having no reason to try to move up the pay ladder. There were 299 players entering the session, and there wouldn’t be another pay jump until 240th place, and it was minimal ($2,000 more).

Short stacks heading into the day had one goal in mind, and that was to spin it up so that they could reach Day 4 and beyond. That led to some early fireworks with players falling fast on Day 3.

Mike Leah, who squeaked by the bubble with less than a big blind, was one of the early eliminations in 286th place for $19,600. Poker vlogger and WPT Global ambassador Ethan “WPT123” Yau’s run was cut short in 283rd place ($19,600), and ditto for WPT commentator Vince Van Patten in 265th place ($19,600).

Van Patten was the last player standing among the WPT television broadcast team that also includes Tony Dunst and Lynn Gilmartin, both of whom busted on Day 2.

Even as eliminations began mounting through the first two levels, there still wasn’t much incentive for the short stacks to sit around waiting for a pay jump. There were 149 eliminations on Day 3 before the tournament reached a $10,000 pay increase compared to 299th place.

The session would come to an end close to midnight with some final big name eliminations, including Nadya Magnus (63rd place for $59,000) and Michael Gathy (67th place for $60,000), who is one of two players — Igor Kurganov being the other — to cash all three years in the WPT World Championship.

Who’s Moving On?

The big bucks are coming starting on Day 4 as the payouts will jump into six figures long before the session concludes. Berk will start play in the best position with a monster stack. But Serhii Popovych is right behind him at 7,945,000 chips. Fabian Gumz, a WPT Prime champion, isn’t far off the pace in third place with 7,165,000.

There are numerous high-profile players still standing in the WPT’s season-ending event. That includes Mikita Badziakouski, Chris Moorman, Paul Volpe, and Mark Seif.

Moorman, who reached the final table last year and finished in fourth place for $2,095,200, was among the chip leaders following Day 3 in this event in 2023. Dan Sepiol, the defending champion, had a slightly above average chip stack at this point in the tournament a year ago. Sepiol did not cash this year and was eliminated on Day 1.

Play will resume inside the Wynn-Encore convention center at noon PT. The tournament is scheduled for six 90-minute levels before bagging up chips.

*Images courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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