I'm sure all the recent World Series of Poker contestants have felt like a herd of sleep while being puttered long from lines that rival getting on the Matterhorn roller coaster at Walt Disney World. No greater feeling is seeing the record breaking crowds at the Rio trying their skills against fellow poker players in search of a little cash and a lot of respect to strap across your wrist.

Event #3 at the WSOP started with a non Main Event breaking flock of 2,998 players that defied the recent speculation that this year's poker carnival would feature many less players then before. I'm sure even the event promoters of the tournament didn't expect this influx of players despite the denial of "internet" money that has been rerouted versus direct entries from the poker sites themselves.

Alex Jacob, the 2006 United States Poker Champion, approached the final table well in command holding half the chips in play as they began the nine person finale. Despite the sizable lead Jacob ended up finishing 3rd behind eventual newly minted bracelet winner Ciaran O'Leary who took home $727,012 along with the wrist jewelry.

Below is Event #3 final three recap from Pokernews.com's Earl Burton (find the entire article from the link):

Six hands later, O'Leary bounced Jeff Yoak. O'Leary limped from the button and Yoak moved all in from the small blind. O'Leary once again called with only an A-6 off but, once again, it was good; Yoak could only table a K-Q off and, after an ace on the flop and blank turn, Jeff Yoak was dismissed from the event in fourth place, earning $184,152 for his three days of work.

With play now three-handed, O'Leary took control of the table. On Hand 56, Alex Jacob raised from the button to 300K and faced a reraise by Paul Evans to one million chips. Surprising both, O'Leary moved his monstrous chip stack all in. Jacob quietly mucked and Evans, after much deliberation, released his cards as well. That one pot was responsible for over two million chips added to O'Leary's stack.

The hand seemed to break O'Leary's opponents. On the very next hand, O'Leary limped from the small blind for 120K and Jacob checked his option, with O'Leary immediately checking in the dark. The dealer gave them a flop of and, after Jacob fired 150K, O'Leary responded with a 600K pop. Jacob made the call after agonizing over it for several minutes and, on the turn, O'Leary made an all-in push. Alex Jacob once again took his time making his decisions and, in the end, called with a 9-4 off for a pair of fours. O'Leary tabled his pocket sevens and, after a blank on the river, Alex Jacob was finished in third place, taking home $282,367.

Heads up, O'Leary' late dominance was evidenced by the chip stacks:

Ciarin O'Leary - 7,540,000
Paul Evans - 1,485,000

It only took two hands of heads-up play to determine the winner. After Evans limped from the button on Hand 59 and O'Leary checked the option, the two saw a rainbow flop of K-6-2. O'Leary checked over to Evans, who pushed 500K to the center of the table. O'Leary immediately moved all in and was just as quickly called by Evans. Evans turned up for second pair but, amazingly, O'Leary once again had the dominant hand with . A turn opened some doors for Evans as it put two spades on the board but, once the river appeared, Ciaran O'Leary was the champion of the $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event.

PLAYER - EARNINGS

Ciaran O'Leary - $727,012
Paul Evans - $450,150
Alex Jacob - $282,367
Jeff Yoak - $184,152
Craig Crivello - $128,907
Andreas Krause - $94,122
Thad Smith - $73,661
Bart Hanson - $55,246
Matt Vengrin - $43,378

O'Leary credited his fellow countryman, 1995 World Champion Dan Harrington, with teaching him patience at the tables, patience well rewarded with a World Series of Poker bracelet in the finale of the $1500 No Limit Hold 'Em event.