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Dmitry Vitkind

Tough luck of being a bubble-boy was this time shared by McLean Karr, who moved all in from the blinds for about 122,000 with pocket fives and was called by Javier Etayo with 10-10. The board 3d-2s-3c-4d-Qc did not make Karr’s day and he had to departure in the annoying spot of 73rd place, everyone else is in the money.

A number of notable American names made decent runs on Day 3 finishing in the money. Melanie Weisner built a stack early but busted in 30th for an €11,000 payday. Olivier Busquet equaled that payout, riding a short stack most of the day before busting 34th. Alex Kravchenko, Kevin MacPhee, Dermot Blain, Toby Lewis, Johnny Lodden, Barny Boatman and David Benyamine were other notable names to hit the rail today.

Joao Paulo Simao nice spin up ...

As you could see, EPT Hamon (that’s how Melanie Weisner calls EPT Madrid) was no so kind to everyone, but not only Brazilian João Paulo Simão, who earned his spot as the outright chip leader at 1.9 million thanks to a double elimination on the last hand of the night. Simão, Andries Swart and Konstantinos Nanos all got it in pre-flop with Simão holding AK to Swart’s QQ and Nanos’s 77. A king on the river pushed the huge pot to Simão and he’ll lead the pack by about 800,000 heading into Day 4.

We've still got one former champion left looking for the double dip — Canada's Michael "Timex" McDonald. He won in Dortmund in 2008, and since that made two more EPT final tables. Those efforts have come up short, but he'll return with a top-five stack of 883,000 on Friday, looking to become the first-ever two-time winner on the European Poker Tour. Besides Simao and McDonald there are still plenty of players, who still have their chances to get the title. Among those: the French rap icon Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes, Ilan Boujenah, Jason Duval and twoFrench pros Nicolas Levi and Tristan Clemencon.