The World Series of Poker is enjoying a vigorous round of play in their first ever Regional Championship event, held at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. With a $10,000 buy-in, 226 players have been engaged in a two-day battle for the inaugural crown.

And when the cards finally hit the air on Day Three, it was FlopTurnRiver’s own Gabe Patgorski in the lead. His stack of 729,000 chips  bested a field which included such names as Steve Zolotow, Brandon Adams, Bernard Lee, and Justin Smith. Twenty-four players were still alive, all having made the money.

Leading throughout the day, Patgorski was involved in several of the game’s largest hands. One of particular note came midway through the session, when Bernard Lee and Curt Kohlberg squared off with the big stack. Patgorski limped in from the cutoff, followed by a completion from Kohlberg in the small blind and a check from Lee. The flop came 8h8s5c, inducing a check from the entire table. After the Kh landed on the turn, Lee then placed a bet of 21,000 chips, which called quickly by Patgorski. After Kohlberg declined to continue, the river card came – 7c. Lee took a stab with 28,000, and was again quickly called by Patgorski.

But here’s where things get interesting. Following the call, Lee snap-mucked his cards, and Patgorski turned his cards into the dealer, face down. Unlike many states which require the winning player to reveal their cards, Indiana does not require a showdown. Once things were explained to Lee by the floor, the game was allowed to move forward.

The action has moved swiftly along, and has now reached the final table. Patgorski has maintained his lead, and is currently the only player with more than 2,000,000 chips. Here’s how the rest of the table shaped up…

#1 – Gabe Patgorski (2,263,000)
#2 – Dave Sands (1,360,000)
#3 – Shannon Shorr (905,000)
#4 – Curt Kohlberg (863,000)
#5 – Bernard Lee (401,000)
#6 – James Anderson (345,000)
#7 – Mark Owens (270,000)
#8 – Anthony Hartmann (194,000)
#9 – Brandon Adams (155,000)

The bubble man in the equation was poker legend Steve Zolotow, who was knocked out by Dave “Doc” Sands after pushing all-in preflop with Ks2s. Sands called immediately with Ah4d, and the board went Tc9c5sAdKh. For his efforts, Zolotow takes home $39,346.