Brant Hale moved all in from the hijack for 480,000 and received a call from Reginald Roberts on the button. The blinds got out of the way and the cards were turned up:
Roberts:
Hale:
It was a flip, but Hale needed to improve to stay alive. He didn't do it on the flop, but he did on the turn. The river was of no consequence and Hale doubled on the hand, essentially swapping chip positions with Roberts.
It took about a half hour for the first elimination to occur here on Day 3, and the unfortunate victim was Kasra Khodayarkhani.
Lee Abramson opened for 90,000 from early position and watched the field fold around to the small blind. It was then that Dale Roesel three-bet to 210,000, prompting Khodayarkhani to four-bet all in for 680,000 from the big blind. Abramson got out of the way and Roesel snap-called.
Roesel:
Khodayarkhani:
It was a bit of a cooler for Khodayarkhani as he had run his big pocket pair into one of the three bigger ones possible. The flop wasn't anything special, and neither was the turn. Khodayarkhani needed a jack on the river to survive, but it was not in the cards as the peeled off.
Khodayarkhani exited in 15th place to a nice round of applause.
Bryan Campanello opened to 80,000 on the button, Brent Hale defended from the big blind, and the dealer fanned . Hale checked, Campanello continued for 65,000, and Hale called.
The turn was another queen - the - and Hale checked again. Campanello quickly reached for chips, then tossed out 140,000. Hale tank-called.
The completed the board - and a possible club flush - and Hale checked a third and final time. Campanello reached for a rainbow variety of pink T100,000 chips, green T25,000 chips, and grey T5,000 chips, and tossed out 230,000. Hale sat quietly for the better part of two minutes, then made the call.
Campanello ripped over for trip queens, and Hale folded. Campanello now has over three million chips, while Hale is down to 400,000.
Action folded to Clifton Stewart in the hijack and he opened for 85,000. Bryan Campanello, who was next to act in the cutoff, then three-bet to right around 200,000, action folded back to Stewart, and a call was made. The latter proceeded to lead out for 190,000 on the flop, and then bet an additional 320,000 on the turn.
Campanello responded by moving all in, and Stewart hit the tank. While contemplating the decision, Stewart popped a piece of gum, leaned back in his chair, and double checked his cards. Eventually he decided to concede the hand and gentle slid his cards to the dealer.
Dale Roesel opened for 80,000 from the cutoff only to have Lee Abramson three-bet to 200,000 from the big blind. Roesel made the call and then quickly called when Abramson led out for 310,000 on the flop.
When the dealer burned and turned the , Abramson moved all in and Roesel folded. Abramson then showed and a frustrated Roesel verbally lamented the ace on the turn.
Day 3 of the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Choctaw Durant Main Event will begin in 30 minutes or so, and leading the remaining 15 players is Circuit regular Jeff Fielder. Fielder, who already owns one WSOP-C gold ring, bagged over 3.2 million chips upon the completion of Day 2. He is looking to best his previous largest score of $67,422, which he earned for finishing 92nd in the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
Drazen Ilich enters the third and final day sixth in chips with 1.7 million. Ilich is a two-time ring winner, and if he finishes fourth or higher then he will became the casino champion for Choctaw Durant. The current leader is Andrew Robinson, though Event #12 is yet to be determined.
There are two females still standing. Brenda Bassett, who lost a big chunk of her stack during the last level of play, and Krissi McFarland, who bagged just over one million chips. No female has ever won a WSOP-C Main Event, so Bassett and McFarland are looking to make history.
The action is set to kick off at 12:00 p.m. CST. Make sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all of your live, upt-to-the-minutes updates straight from the tournament floor.