Day three is in the books and many of those who lead at the beginning of the day are nowhere to be seen. That's the way it goes. 852 are still left it - which is more than the entire number of players in the 2003 main event.
At the Top: The current chip leader is Patrick Poirier, an AINHO (American I've Never Heard Of). There is an overwhelming chance the championship will be won by a AINHO, who will then become a celebrity. That's the way it goes. Ben Lamb, who was leading going into the day, fell back to 174th - which is still not that bad a spot to be in.
Player of the Year Battle: Earlier I blogged about Phil Hellmuth coming in second place in two WSOP events this year. Shortly after my post Phil came in second place yet again - this time in the prestigious Poker Players Championship event. The amazing performances have Phil at the top in the points standings for the Player of the Year award with Ben Lamb close behind in second. This battle for the POY honors has added some extra interest to the main event as both Hellmuth (currently hanging in at 770th place) and Lamb are both still alive.
Star Watch: Not too many poker stars remain among those still standing - and those that are still in the hunt are fairly far down the leader board. Patrick Antonious, in seventh place going into day three, didn't make it out of day three. The top "star" is Erick Lindgren at 169th spot, followed by Vanessa Rousso in 242nd and Freddy Deeb in 265th.
Other big names remaining include Daniel Negreanu (400), Todd Brunson (514), Mickey Appleman (526), and Jeff Madsen (626). Yeah, I know I predicted a charge up the leader board by Madsen. Oh, well. That's the way it goes.
Canuck Watch: Sol Bergen, the pride of Saskatoon, fell from 16th to the still very respectable 52nd today. In all there are six Canadians in the top 50 spots, including current top Canadian David Barter who is sitting pretty in 4th. One Canadian who will not win it all this year is the defending WSOP main event champ Jonathan Duhamel, who crashed out in day two.
A lot of people say that the key to Duhamel's 2010 victory was when he knocked Matt Affleck out with only 15 people remaining with a big suck-out on the river. That hand has been talked about a lot but I only recently viewed it on YouTube. If you haven't seen it, just type "Matt Affleck Jonathan Duhamel" in the search window. The next time you feel gutted about a bad beat you took, remember what happened to Matt and it won't seem so bad.
That's the way it goes.
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