WORLD SERIES OF POKER MAIN EVENT STARTER SURVIVORS COMBINE ON THIRD DAY
Just 2,186 entrants survive from the starting total of 6,737…and the money bubble is still some distance away.
The starting flights of the World Series of Poker main event have been completed, and the 2,186 survivors from an original field of 6,737 are set to combine today (Thursday) for the first time in Day 3 of the competition.
The money bubble is at the 1,011 elimination mark, so theres still everything to play for.
When the survivors sit at their tables today it will be San Diego pro Valentin Vornicu leading in chip counts on 838,000 (the player average so far is around 120,000).
He is chased by Gustavo Lopes (630,700) and Raffaele Castro (587,000) but there are a host of top players still in contention, including Gaelle Baumann (504,600), Andrew Chen (447,200), Ole Schemion (438,400), Maria Ho (435,000), J.C. Alvarado (430,700), Marc-Andre Ladouceur (410,500), Kenny Hallaert (410,100), Dan Heimiller (402,000) Tony Dunst (388,500) and Kristen Bicknell (381,500).
Still in the top 100 chip counts are Bertrand Grospellier, Liv Boeree, Sorel Mizzi, Michael Gathy, Barry Schulman, Michael Binger, Scott MOntgomery and Shannon Shore.
The list of former main event champs still in action includes Phil Hellmuth (82,300), Ryan Reiss (349,000) and 2015 champion Joe McKeehen (183,900), but attrition among the better known players has claimed notable names like Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Vitaly Lunkin, Dennis Phillips, Jeff Madsen, Rainer Kempe, Fedor Holz, Phil Ivey, Martin Jacobson and even Daniel Negreanu.