Event 15: 3rd Place - Russell

$1000 + $90 NL

Steve Russell (Coolville, OH)

$13,454

Steve Russell showed the bluff of the day, but it's not enough to take him to the title. He was hovering between 300k and 400k the last few hours, but never got anything going and winds up in third place.

Russell begins the final hand with 160k and calls the 32k preflop raise of Mike Tauman.

The flop is K♦ Q♥ 9♥ and all the chips are in the middle.

Russell: J♥ 2♥ (flush draw, gut shot straight draw)
Tauman: K♠ 2♠ (pair of kings)

Turn: 6♣ (brick)
River: 5♣ (brick)

Russell misses both draws and is on the rail. "Not too bad," says the contractor from Coolville, a small town in southeastern Ohio. "I wish I was still playing, but that's the way it goes."

Russell says he'll take his winnings and buy into the Championship Event.

Tauman and Jesse Yaginuma are heads up for the title, with Tauman holding a slight edge in chips.