Apparently the poker gods are in the mood to punish people.

After the Festa al Lago Day 1a and 1b fields combined on Wednesday Antonio Esfandiari had an impressive chip lead only to lose a monster pot to Daniel Negreanu and be sent to the rail a few hands later.

That hand propelled Negreanu to the chip lead at the end of the Wednesday’s play but he fell to the wayside on Thursday, unable to overcome this newfound chipleader curse.

So for the third day in a row the World Poker Tour event will have a new chipleader when the players return to the Fontana Lounge to unbag their chips. Ryan Fair sits atop the leaderboard with 1,331,000 just ahead of Will Mietz who finished with 1,217,000.

But right behind Fair and Mietz is a trident of players that are within striking distance of the lead and have the pedigree to make a final table run.

Sitting in third is 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier with 1,151,000. In fourth is perennial WPT bridesmaid Joe Sebok. With 1,100,000 Sebok is the last player to have crested the 1 million chip mark. Nenad Medic, who won his first World Series of Poker bracelet this past summer, has 925,000 and sits in fifth place.

The day started with 104 players and wrapped up late Thursday night with only 34 remaining. Some of the big names to join Negreanu on the outside looking in include Doyle Brunson, David Chiu, Matt Stout, Johnny Chan, Mike Matusow and Jennifer Tilly.

The average chip stack when play resumes on Friday at 12 pm PT will be 487,059. The field will be reduced to the final six players who will make the TV final table.

Top 10 Chip Counts

1. Ryan Fair - 1,331,000
2. Will Mietz - 1,217,000
3. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier - 1,151,000
4. Joe Sebok - 1,100,000
5. Nenad Medic - 925,000
6. Osmin “Odie” Dardon - 703,000
7. Steve Fiorentini - 686,000
8. Brad Booth - 616,000
9. Joe Ebanks - 595,000
10. Nam Le - 557,000

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