202 players came back for Day 3 of the Super Main Event, and the early stages belonged to chip leader Martin Kabrhel who took center stage on the feature table.
It was a swingy start for him. He came in with 22 million chips and quickly found himself down to 13 million after sending a load towards Jean-Robert Bellande.
That didn’t quieten him down.
“Let’s gamble, guys!” he urged. “JRB, please! Don’t miss a hand. Come! No, really, I’m not bluffing. Come, please. I don’t want you to miss any hands today, it’s very bad for me. Please.”
Then he let his poker do the talking.
Stone Cold Martin Kabrhel
“One million, one hundred and twenty-five!” announced Kabrhel from the hijack, on a flop reading 
.
Oscar Bayo had 
UTG+2, and Cesar Del Pino had 
on the button. Neither was going anywhere, and both called.
Kabrhel bet 1.8 million on the 
turn.
After Del Pino called, Kabrhel started staring at Bayo’s legs under the table. That got rid of Bayo.
Kabrhel moved all-in on the 
river, and Del Pino folded. Kabrhel had 
for a stone bluff with no heart blocker.
“Great play,” Kabrhel said. “One of the greatest laydowns in poker history. You join JRB club. No, really.”
That drew a grin from Del Pino.
And Kabrhel wasn’t the only one laying down fearless bluffs.
Stone Cold Ryuta Nakai
Ryuta Nakai raised Jesse Lonis’ 5.5 million river bet to 11 million on a board reading 
.
Lonis had flopped a set of kings, but what were Nakai’s bluffs?
Lonis tank-folded and Nakai had 
.
“I’m pretty sure he bluffed,” Amirpasha Emami said. “I don’t know, I could be wrong, but that’s my read.”
That put Nakai up to 24 million. The hand is well worth a few watches – check it out below.
Meanwhile, the payouts had been confirmed with an incredible $10 million up top and $6 million for second – the same amount Yinan Zhou took home for winning last year. Everyone in the top eight would get over $1 million.
Kabrhel takes out JRB
Kabrhel and JRB were building up a bit of a bromance, with Kabrhel promising to buy him a bottle of wine when they laddered up to $100K.
That went out the window when Kabrhel picked up kings and raised, and JRB moved all-in for his last 7 million with .
Kabrhel made him sweat, asking for a count before committing his chips.
“Good call,” JRB said stoically, ignoring what could be construed as a slowroll.
The board ran out 
but JRB took it like a gent.
That gave Kabrhel a big stack again, but he couldn’t keep his momentum going and eventually busted in 56th for $150,000.
Lonis followed him out the door as we started moving towards the big money.
Big stacks assemble late on
Play was scheduled to get down to 24 today, and by 11pm we were down to 41.
PokerOrg’s Terrance 'TJ' Reid had moved himself into the top 10 and onto the feature table, but he took a hit when he lost a 30 million pot with vs. Isaiah Goldman’s 
all-in preflop. Two kings on the flop led TJ to look skywards.
Charles Hook was looking to bag his second bracelet straight after winning his first in the $50K PLO. After doubling up Ren Lin, Hook took out Del Pino to move above 75 million in chips.
But he wasn’t the only player on the move late on.
William Blais, back-to-back Playground Circuit Main Event final tablist, busted Alex Kulev in brutal fashion with kings vs. aces in a 90 million pot to take the chip lead with 36 left.
Nakai ran that bluff against Lonis up to 34th spot, and left with $270,000 and a hand that he can replay forever, but also a sour taste after Lin cracked his tens with pocket sixes.
Ari Engel dropped in 33rd when his AK came out second best in the most classic of flips with pocket queens.
Last woman standing
On the same table, Natasha Mercier had found kings and a huge double-up as the last woman standing. She then moved to over 80 million after busting David Coleman and Ivan Stokes in the same hand.
Mercier called a three-bet with jacks preflop and then shoved a six-high flop. Coleman was all-in for his last 100K, and Stokes called off his last 5 million with KQ and didn’t catch up. That put Mercier up into second, just ahead of Hook.
Ren Lin went out in 28th, and Lautaro Guerra was the final elimination before bagging.
It ended as a Canada one-two at the top, with Pascal Lefrancois bagging 126,400,000 as the chip leader. Hook dropped to fifth, Mercier was seventh, Benny Glaser finished just outside the top 10 and TJ Reid ended 18th.
The remaining 24 players return at 1pm ET on Wednesday to play down to an absolutely huge final table.
Super Main Event Day 3 top 10 stacks
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pascal Lefrancois |
126,400,000 |
| 2 | William Blais |
123,300,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Reijmer |
115,400,000 |
| 4 | Jean-Noel Thorel |
101,200,000 |
| 5 | Charles Hook |
94,200,000 |
| 6 | Bernhard Binder |
89,500,000 |
| 7 | Natasha Mercier |
88,000,000 |
| 8 | Belarmino De Souza |
86,500,000 |
| 9 | Leonard Maue |
70,000,000 |
| 10 | Faraz Jaka |
63,300,000 |
