Three intense, long days of poker action have further narrowed down the field at the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event to 720 players since our last update. A slew of poker’s finest have been eliminated while other household names have not only survived, but risen to the top of the chip counts. Yesterday, Day 3, saw the entire remainder of the field condensed and playing simultaneously for the first time since the Main Event began back on July 7th. Here’s a rundown of who’s gone, who’s left and what to expect on Day 4.
Who’s Out?
Day 2a saw the eliminations of former Main Event final tablists like Mike Matusow, Allan Cunningham, last year’s runner up Martin Staszko, 2010 runner up Darvin Moon, and 2004 runner up David Williams, as well as Erik Seidel, Jeff Lisandro, and Mike Sexton.
Day 2b saw arguably two of the biggest eliminations of all, with the departure of Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson. In addition, the field saw the end of former World Champions Jamie Gold (2006), Joe Cada (2009), and Tom McEvoy (1983). Other bracelet winners who failed to survive the day included Scott Clements, Jennifer Tilly, Ted Forrest, Jeff Madsen, Jennifer Harman, Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi, Jason Alexander, Victor Blom, and Gus Hansen.
Though 1,738 players made it to Day 3, plenty of well-known professional poker players got felted and will not be playing on Day 4, including another five former WSOP Main Event champions: Dan Harrington (1995), Robert Varkonyi (2002), Jerry Yang (2006), Peter Eastgate (2009), and defending champ, Pius Heinz. Others to lose all their chips included Barry Greenstein, Eugene Katchalov, Nick Schulman, Phil Galfond, and 2011 WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb.
![Negreanu, Esfandiari, Chan Negreanu, Esfandiari, and Chan](https://cdn.cardplayerlifestyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/players.png)
Negreanu, Esfandiari, and Chan are 3 of the biggest names who still have a shot at winning.
Who’s Still In?
When Day 3 ended and it was time to bag and tag, some star poker players still had chips, including Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, “the Flying Dutchman” Marcel Luske, Sorel Mizzi, Shaun Deeb, 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan, 1996 WSOP Main Event Champion Huck Seed, and the Big One for One Drop winner Antonio Esfandiari. From the celebrity contingent, the biggest name left standing is NHL Goalie and 2010 Olympic Hockey Gold Medalist Roberto Luongo.
Starting off high in the Day 4 chip counts are Jason Somerville and Vanessa Selbst. Somerville has had a strong WSOP this year, with a third place finish in the $25,000 One Drop Mega Satellite for $400,000 payday, while Selbst won her second WSOP bracelet.
What to Expect Now?
A total of 720 players will be starting off Day 4 of play in just a few hours, meaning the money bubble will burst soon. As is customary, about 10% of the starting field (of 6,598 players) will make the money. The “bubble boy” will be the player who finishes in 667th place. He or she will receive a consolation prize of a free entry into next year’s WSOP Main Event. All other players will cash for at least $19,227 apiece. The march towards the Main Event final table continues – stick with us here at Cardplayer Lifestyle for more 2012 World Series of Poker updates.