More than 1300 players left the Rio Hotel and Casino with nothing to show for more than two days of toil in the 2009 WSOP Main Event. After the field of 2044 had been slashed to approximately 800 (just 150 players short of the money bubble), it promises to be a fascinating start to day four with the prospect of a minimum payout of more than $21,000 agonisingly close.

A total of 34 Australian players took their seats at the start of day three, but fewer than 20 remains at day’s end. Those who bowed out included Steve “The Big Show” Topakas, Jai Kemp, Shane Warne, Tony Hachem, Jon Curtis, Will Mitchell, Shane Brown, Ross Parsonson, Parry Lee, Bill Jordanou, Billy Seri, Mark James and ANZPT Melbourne winner Chris Levick, who nursed his short stack through almost 10 hours of poker before bowing out late in the day.

Jeff Lisandro’s hope of a fourth WSOP bracelet for 2009 also evaporated after he ran pocket kings into the flopped flush of John Myung during the final level of the day.

But the elimination of Finland’s Ville Wahlbeck earlier in the day confirmed that Lisandro is the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year, becoming the first Australian to claim this honour.

2005 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem is poised for a second WSOP Main Event cash after an eventful day in which his chip stack ricocheted either side of the chip average. He ended the day with approximately 180,000.

Some of the bigger stacks among the Australian contingent belonged to Charlie Elias (550,000), Sydney online whiz Tian Shiu (500,000), Daniel Neilson (350,000), Chad Awerbuch (320,000) and Paren “Puzz” Arzoomanian, who recovered from a late-afternoon slide to build a stack of 330,000.

Other Australians who’ll return for day four include Mike Comer (140,000), George Manolas (120,000), Joey Lawrence (110,000) and Rob Jackson (80,000).

The unofficial chip count (with thanks to www.worldseriesofpoker.com) had Frenchman Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier leading on 1.385 million ahead of compatriot Ludovic Lacay (925,000), 2009 Aussie Millions Opening Event winner Christian Heich (870,000), Adam Bilzerian (830,000), Jordan Morgan (785,000), Saar Wilf (765,000), Gabe Walls (715,000), James Akenhead (698,000), Brennan Hanson (685,000) and Tony Cavezza (670,000).

Players eliminated in the final level of the day included former chip leader Brandon Demes, Kirk Morrison, Shawn Buchanan, Josh Arieh, Jason Alexander, chess champion Ivo Donev, Shane Schleger, Lee Markholt, Joe Reitman, Robert Mizrachi, Dutch Boyd and 2008 APPT Macau High Roller champion Nam Le. We’ll be back from noon tomorrow for day four of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Posted by Sean Callander; 1am; 11/7/09

With just over two hours of play (half of level 14 and level 15) to go, the WSOP Main Event field has been slashed to less than 1000 and for the first time, all players are seated in the Amazon Ballroom.

Standout performer of the level so far has been Tian Shou (pictured below). The young Sydneysider, who placed 10^th in the ANZPT Adelaide Main Event back in February, has charged to more than 500,000 to be among the overall chip leaders.

A Supernova Elite on PokerStars, Shou is playing in the WSOP Main Event for the second year in a row, and made the trip with his good mate David Hovey, who won the $1000 No Limit Hold’em event in Adelaide. Shou is heading straight to Queenstown when he leaves Las Vegas, and plans to play all APPT events in 2009.

Charlie Elias and Emma Grace, proudly representing Australia at the WSOP

Charlie Elias has been steady since dinner on 450,000, South Australia’s Craig Ivey is on 310,000, APPT Sydney High Roller champ Daniel Neilson has 270,000, Paren Arzoomanian is heading in the right direction with 235,000, Emma Grace remains solid as a rock on 220,000, Chad Awerbuch has recovered to 205,000 and Manny Stavropoulos has an even 200,000.



Paren Arzoomanian's stack is looking healthier

With the chip average just under 200,000, players below that figure include Mike Comer (120,000), George Manolas (110,000), Chris Levick (100,000), Charlie Caris (83,000), Jonathan Wertheim 60,000) and Rob Jackson (45,000).

Chris Levick (far right) has reining WSOP Main Event champ Peter Eastgate (left) for company

Joe Hachem and Jeff Lisandro remain seated two spots apart on one of the TV feature tables. Although the 2005 WSOP champ’s recently doubled through Lisandro when his all-in with top-pair of queens on the flop against the four-time bracelet winner’s pocket sixes, Hachem is down to 92,000 while Lisandro has 170,000.

The current chip leaders (with thanks to www.worldseriesofpoker.com) are Ludovic Lacay (902,000), Owen Crowe (885,000), James Akenhead (665,000), Gabe Walls (648,000) and Brennan Hanson (620,000). Notable nears the top of the chip count include Kenny Tran (590,000), 2008 Aussie Millions champion Alexander Kostritsyn (575,000), Phil Hellmuth (545,000), Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier (510,000) and Phil Ivey (475,000).

Players eliminated since the dinner break have included reigning WSOP Europe champion John Juanda, 2007 WSOP Main Event final table participant Lee Watkinson and PokerStars Team Italy pro Luca Pagano.

Posted by Sean Callander, 10pm, 10/7/09

What a session for the Aussies, with unsung Australian Poker League player Charlie Elias bolting to 450,000, well within the top five per cent of stacks on day three of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Coming up to the dinner break after three levels of play today, Elias, who won his way to Vegas after finishing fourth in the 2008 APL Tournament of Champions, has been an among the top three Australians for the past two days and continues to impress in his WSOP debut.

Tian Shou and Daniel Neilson (pictured above) have 350,000 and 310,000 respectively, Craig Ivey recently eliminated Liz Lieu to take his stack above 330,000 while the sole Australian female in the field, the Gold Coast’s Emma Grace, has improved to more than 250,000.

You're next ... Craig Ivey (right) faces down 2008 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Dennis Phillips

Newcastle online qualifier Dave Haas had an interesting level 12, starting with not much more than 30,000 but found a friendly flop of Q-10-10 when he pushed all in with A-10 against A-Q, and is now above 100,000.

Dave Haas has just replenished his stack and is back in the hunt

Other Aussies we caught up with before the dinner break were Chris Levick, who is now seated on the same table as reigning WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate – the Sydneysider is on 70,000. Manny Stavropoulos holds 140,000, Paren "Puzz" Arzoomanian is back to down to 145,000, George Manolas is looking solid with 150,000, Luke McIntyre is on 120,000, Charlie Caris has 81,000 while Rob Jackson and Billy Seri are short-stacked with just over 30,000 apiece.



Lots of chips, but not many orange ones for Puzz

We should also make special mention of Sarne Lightman, the former marketing director of PokerStars in Asia-Pacific. Now based in Argentina where he’s in charge of PokerStars’ Latin American operations, Lightman is chasing a second WSOP Main Event cash and holds more than 270,000 in chips.

With the dinner bell about to sound, Rifat Palevic leads overall (635,000) from Brian Hansen (625,000), James Akenhead (625,000), Chris Tardea (615,000) and Peter Kremenliey (595,000).

Players who’ll be free to enjoy an indefinite dinner break after being KOed over the past two hours included Mark Teltscher, ‘Miami’ John Cernuto, Jimmy Fricke, Cliff Josephy, Jason Gray, Marco Traniello, Pamela Brunson, Allen Kessler, Liz Lieu, Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, Jean-Robert Bellande, Darus Suharto, Will Mitchell, Adam Schoenfeld, Bill Edler, Farzad Bonyadi and Terrence Chan.

Posted by Sean Callander, 7.05pm, 10/7/09
 

Some observations from the floor today: normally, the weird costumes and silly hats have disappeared by the time day three of the WSOP Main Event rolls around, but good to see Andrew “Little Big Chip” Fields sticking with the Native American headdress and outfit. His table has taken on a distinct “wild west” feel with the black cowboy hat of Chris Ferguson ominously stalking the aforementioned Fields.

The WSOP's version on Murrindindi, Andrew Fields

We thought the rate of eliminations was rapid yesterday! Almost 500 players were KOed during the first three hours of play today, leaving just over 1500 in the running for the title. So anyone left has already outlasted more than 75 per cent of the field, but we’re still a long way from the money.

A bizarre incident played out at table 162 in the Brasilia room during the last level when one of the chip leaders, Dan Bilzarian, took more than 12 minutes to act on a hand. At one stage, Bilzarian started flipping a coin to decide whether he should call Jamie Brown’s bet of 115,000 on the river with the board showing K-5-6-A-2. Surprise, surprise, Bilzarian folded.

We also watched an ugly scene where an all-in player pleaded with the dealer not to continue with a hand until the ESPN cameras were there to film the action. “I paid my $10,000, I want my TV time,” squealed the all-in player. Wow, way to play those pocket aces.

But we were delighted to see Jeff Lisandro accept the congratulations of WSOP commissioner and president Jeffrey Pollack as he was confirmed the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year. Lisandro’s only remaining challenger, Finland’s Ville Wahlbeck, was just eliminated from the Main Event ensuring the 2009 triple bracelet-winning Aussie added another prestigious title to his list of achievements.

According to www.worldseriesofpoker.com, there are nine players with more than 500,000 in chips: Gabe Walls (635,000), James Akenhead (586,000), Amir Lehavot (555,000), Tony Cavezza (550,000), Jamie Brown (540,000), Michael Kinney (530,000), Dan Bilzerian (505,000), Troy Weber (500,000) and John Hammer (500,000).

Joey Lawrence is among more than 20 Aussies still standing in the Main Event

Among the Aussies, Charlie Elias leads the way with more than 300,000, Jeff Lisandro is up to 211,000, Sydney university student Chad Awerbuch dropped to 140,000 after losing a 50k pot to a short stack with pocket jacks, while Manny Stavropoulos (100,000), Joe Hachem (80,000), Joey Lawrence (70,000), Chris Levick (60,000), Rob Jackson (50,000) and Dane Coltman (50,000) have survived the first two levels.

ANZPT Melbourne winner Chris Levick has climbed off the floor to be back in the hunt

However, Shane Warne’s hopes of a first WSOP cash have been dashed, and other big names eliminated have included Adam Junglen, Humberto Brenes, Kirill Gerasimov, Dario Alioto, Sammy Farha, Ville Wahlbeck, Jennifer Harman, Matt Hawrilenko and Steve Brecher.

Posted by Sean Callander, 5pm, 10/7/09 

Tomorrow night at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, Brock Lesnar will meet Frank Mir to decide the Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight title in UFC 100.

We have a heavyweight battle of our own here in the 2009 WSOP Main Event with Australia’s two most successful poker players and Hall of Famers – 2005 WSOP champ Joe Hachem and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro – seated together on one of the two TV feature tables; Hachem in seat six, Lisandro in seat nine. We’ll keep on eye on this table with interest.

It was a dramatic start to day three for Melbourne’s Manny Stavropoulos. His cab was involved in a three-car nose-to-tail crash on Flamingo Rd as he made his way to the Rio this morning.

The chance of hailing a cab on the Interstate 15 flyover wasn’t great, but in a twist of fate, the guy driving the car at the tail of the pile-up was also playing in the Main Event and agreed to drive Manny to the Rio. Hope that’s the bad luck sorted for the day, Manny!

Manny Stavropoulos has already made one lucky escape today!

Shane Warne lamented to us at the start of the day that he faced another tough table today – he started strongly and was cruising on 250,000 until he flopped a flush against a set of kings, and the board paired on the river to send him back to 150,000, but still in good shape.

Like his Aussie Millions opening event and Melbourne Champs runner-up finishes, Steve Topakas nursed a short stack for more than two days and eventually succumbed towards the end of the day’s first level when he moved all-in for 21,700 over the top of Eugene Katchalov’s raise to 3000.

He bumped it 40,000 to scare the three other players out of pot and showed pockets 10s. Topakas revealed pocket nines, the board ran out 4d-Qd-3s-5s-2d, and the curtain came down on the “Big Show’s” WSOP Main Event.

Parry Lee, the player who’d scratched through day 2B after starting with only 3700 in chips, finally ran out of luck when his A-Q failed to connect against pocket 10s.

Other Aussies KOed so far today have been Tim Horan, Bill Jordanou, Jai Kemp, Mark James and Tony Hachem, while others to hit the rail have included Eric Lynch, Peter Hedlund, Erik Seidel, Jesse Jones, Bill Gazes, Bryan Micon and Roland de Wolfe.

Posted by Sean Callander, 3pm, 10/7/09

It’s “moving day” in the 2009 WSOP Main Event – day three, where the money bubble will almost certainly be broken and players position themselves for a serious shot at the final table.

First some housekeeping – thanks to the Dream Team Poker guys for running an awesome media tournament yesterday. Team Budgie Smugglers may have been sent packing early (not without claiming the scalps a few Eurodonks along the way), but it was a fantastic event – hope future events are played under the same format.

Then it was off to the Palms for the annual PokerStars bash at Rain Nightclub. Wow – a performance from rap superstar Nelly, dancers spinning from wires attached to the ceiling, blasts of fire and 2000 people. Somehow, we managed to escape at a respectable time to make it here for the start of play today.

The cards are in the air for the 2044 remaining players shooting firstly for a spot in top 648 to secure an in-the-money finish, then the charge to the final table and spot among the second November Nine. This is the first time the whole field has been brought together after four day one and two day two flights.

We’re not sure how many levels will be played to day, but the levels will be:

Level 10: 600/1200 (ante 200)
Level 11: 800/1600 (ante 200)
Level 12: 1000/2000 (ante 300)
Level 13: 1200/2400 (ante 300)
Level 14: 1500/3000 (ante 400)
Level 15: 2000/4000 (ante 500)
Level 16: 2500/5000 (ante 500)

Australians playing on day 3

Paren Arzoomanian (Sydney) 272,900
Jeff Lisandro (Perth) 229,300
Tian Shou (Sydney) 209,400
Chad Awerbuch (Sydney) 199,400
Charlie Elias (Sydney) 176,600
Shane Warne (Melbourne) 173,700
Joe Hachem (Melbourne) 138,900
Tim Horan (Sydney) 133,400
Daniel Neilson (Sydney) 130,100
Luke McIntyre (Sydney) 125,900
Ross Parsonson (Sydney) 108,800
Manny Stavropoulos (Melbourne) 106,200
Charles Caris (Brisbane) 99,700
George Manolas (Darwin) 98,200
Dane Coltman (Melbourne) 90,200
Mike Comer (Sydney) 89,400
Aaron Lim (Perth) 81,700
Jon Curtis (Perth) 80,700
Shane Brown (Sydney) 67,800
Jai Kemp (Sydney) 66,800
Emma Grace (Gold Coast) 60,600
Joey Lawrence (Sydney) 57,600
Bill Jordanou (Melbourne) 54,700
Jonathan Wertheim (Sydney) 50,800
James Bills (Adelaide) 47,600
Tony Hachem (Melbourne) 46,900
Craig Ivey (Adelaide) 39,600
Billy Seri (Melbourne) 28,100
Will Mitchell (Sydney) 24,400
Steve Topakas (Melbourne) 22,500
Parry Lee (Sydney) 21,900
Chris Levick (Sydney) 20,400
Mark James (Brisbane) 18,300
Rob Jackson (Perth) 16,100

The overall chip leaders (days 2A and 2B combined) are:

1 Amir Lehavot (Weston, FL) 610,500
2 Peter DeBaene (Shelby Township, MI) 465,000
3 Troy Weber (West Terre Haute, IN) 453,200
4 Dan Bilzerian (Tampa, FL) 439,500
5 Franklin Grigsby (Austin, TX) 424,400
6 Gabe Walls (Billings, MT) 417,900
7 Mikael Thuritz (Los Angeles, CA) 395,400
8 Andrew Gaw (Philippines) 386,800
9 Eric Cloutier (Quebec, ON, Canada) 383,500
10 Jason Brice (Sugar Land, TX) 376,100

• Remember, you can keep up to date with the latest happening from the 2009 World Series of Poker by following twitter.com/bluffaussie.

Posted by Sean Callander, 12.45pm, 10/7/09