Lodden, one of the first great high-stakes grinders online and a Norwegian poker legend, had a dominating day at his table to bag up 605,200 for the overall lead
He doesnt have an easy path forward though as the rest of the field behind him is literally stuffed with superstars.
In second is Calvin Anderson (472,600), a true grinder in the midst of a tear through the European poker circuit, while Day 2 leader Noah Schwartz is still charging hard in third at 453,400.
Ukrainian bracelet winner Oleksii Kovalchuk and poker vets Steve O’Dwyer and Freddy Deeb also grabbed spots in the top six while PokerStars pros Daniel Negreanu (340,100) and Jason Mercier (321,900) follow closely behind. The top 10 and chip counts:
1. Johnny Lodden 605,200 2. Calvin Anderson 472,600 3. Noah Schwartz 453,400 4. Oleksii Kovalchuk 414,200 5. Steve O'Dwyer 389,200 6. Freddy Deeb 350,200 7. Daniel Negreanu 340,100 8. Jason Mercier 321,900 9. Goran Mandic 310,000 10. David Yan 296,900Torelli, Volpe, Lichtenberger Just Smattering of Talent
If the leaders heading into Day 3 were hoping for a drop-off in talent outside the top 10 they’re decidedly out of luck as the remaining players from bottom to top are as talented as they get.
Just off the lead pack is Party Poker Big Game vet Alec Torelli (270,100), WPT POY contender Paul Volpe (256,500), Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger (227,300) and more PokerStars pros in Jake Cody (223,300) and Ville Wahlbeck (217,000).
If that wasn’t enough Victor Ramdin (202,900), John Juanda (181,300), Taylor Paur (177,900), JC Alvarado (159,300) and Ole Schemion (132,000) are also among the well stacked heading into tomorrow.
Angel Guillen, Chad Brown, David Vamplew, Luke Schwartz, Annette Obrestad, Ignat Liviu, Mickey Petersen, Randy Lew and Davidi Kitai are just a few more names to advance.
They'll all be chasing an impressive €1,224,000 first-place prize as play winds towards the final table.
Action picks up from Monte Carlo tomorrow at 12 noon with live updates available on the PokerStars blog and live streaming of the feature table right here on PokerListings.com.
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