Entering Day 3 the talk of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Copenhagen Main event was chip-leader Melanie Weisner. Weisner was in search of her first major tournament title, but ran into a few coolers towards the end of Day 3 that saw her fall from the chip-lead to out in 28th place.

With Weisner out of the tournament, a number of other well-known poker pros picked up the slack, with a handful finishing the day amongst the final 24 players remaining in the field. Among the big names still in the hunt are the current chip-leader Pierre Neuville, online superstar Mickey “Mement_Mori” Petersen, 2011 WSOP Main Event runner-up Martin Staszko, rising star Steve O’Dwyer, and last year’s EPT Copenhagen winner Michael Tureniec. Here is a look at what each of these players has on the line:

Neuville is a member of Team PokerStars Pro, and the Belgian is looking for his first major tournament win –Neuville finished second in the 2009 EPT Vilamoura Main Event.

Petersen is one of the best online tournament players in the game, with a resume that saw him land a coveted sponsorship deal with PokerStars as part of Team Online. Petersen is still looking to make a name for himself in live tournaments; something a win at the EPT Copenhagen would certainly do.

O’Dwyer is looking to cement himself as one of the top tournament players in the game after a blistering finish to the 2011 tournament season, a run he has continued thus far into 2012. O’Dwyer’s rise on Thursday came after being bluffed twice about halfway through the day, but later built up his stack and then crippled Weisner when she got into a raising war with O’Dwyer –Weisner held AQ, O’Dwyer AA.

Staszko is starting to look like the real deal after his amazing performance at the 2011 WSOP Main Event, most notably at the final table and during heads-up play –Staszko also managed to win a major online poker tournament in 2011.

Tureniec could very well become the first repeat winner on the European Poker Tour, an amazing feat considering the tour is in its 8th Season, with upwards of 15 tournaments played each year.

Here is a look at the Top 10 chip counts heading into Day 4 of the EPT Copenhagen Main Event:

1. Pierre Neuville — 780,000

2. Alexander Manson — 730,000

3. Aage Floenes Ravn — 691,000

4. Alejandro Sanchez Fernandez — 620,500

5. Keld Volquardsen — 523,500

6. Spencer Hudson — 523,500

7. Bjarke Hansen — 460,000

8. Mickey Petersen — 451,500

9. Martin Staszko — 432,500

10. Steve O’Dwyer — 423,500

Play will resume at Noon local time on Friday, with the remaining 24 players set to play down to the final table of eight. The action will resume with the players in Level 18, with 3,000/6,000 blinds and a 500 chip ante.

Tags: Coolers, Copenhagen, Dwyer, EPT, Handful, Melanie, Mement, Mickey, Neuville, Online Poker Tournament, Poker Pros, PokerStars, Real Deal, Rising Star, Slack, Sponsorship Deal, Stack, Steve O, Weisner, WSOP Main Event

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