The Poker Thread

Day 3 Concludes

He's won the WSOP Main Event twice already. Back-to-back, in fact, in 1987 and 1988. And darned near won it in again in 1989, finishing runner-up to Phil Hellmuth.

And now, more than 20 years later, he's back making another Main Event run, having enjoyed the chip lead for much of Day 3. The Orient Express, charging from the past into the WSOP headlines today. Johnny Friggin' Chan.

A number of different storylines wound their way through the Day 3 chapter of our ongoing chronicle of the 2010 WSOP Main Event. The 2,557 players who'd made it to today were swiftly narrowed to less than half that figure -- about 1,240 as the last hands were dealt -- with numerous notables hitting the rail while others began to build those gaudy, passers-by-stopping, eye-popping, jaw-dropping stacks of chips.

Among the first to go today were Scott Seiver, Phil Laak, Jennifer Harman, Chris Moneymaker, David Williams, and Erik Seidel. They were followed by Kara Scott, Bill Chen, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Joe Cada, Billy Kopp, Eugene Katchalov, John Hennigan, and Archie Karas.

Meanwhile, we saw Alexander Kostritsyn, Kevin Gates, Ricardo Fasanaro, Paul Kristofferson, Chris Tipper, Jeffrey Ross, Nicholas Rainey, Andrew Brown, and James Carroll all taking turns swapping the chip lead back and forth as stacks surged past the 500,000-chip mark.

There was one other interesting subplot from today that all will be watching when play resumes tomorrow. That of the four Mizrachi brothers -- Robert, Eric, Danny, and Michael -- all of whom made it through today. How far will they go?

It looks as though James Carroll will be returning to the biggest stack tomorrow, having snuck past the 800,000-chip mark late in the day, with Imari Love, Gerasimos Deres, Max Casal, Josh Brikis, and Johnny Lodden all not too far behind.

However, much of the talk will be about Chan -- also there near the leaders -- and whether or not he can sustain his performance of the first three days. Adding to the excitement will be the bursting of the cash bubble, which most anticipate will happen later in the day on Day 4.

Thanks for following our coverage of Day 3, and be sure to come back tomorrow at noon local time for the next chapter of the 2010 Main Event saga!