Day 4 play will begin at 11am EST Wednesday.

	David Tran - chip leader

Here are the end of day chip counts for the final 27:

	Zachary Hyman - 28th place

Richard Dabal finished in 29th place, earning $20,655.

Zach moved his last chips in and got looked up by Vadim Trincher. Zach held K2 and was ahead of Vadim's 76 suited, but the board came A Q 4 7 T and Vadim paired his 7 to take the pot and bust Zach.

Zachary Hyman finished in 28th place, earning $20,655.

That's it for today. The final 27 are counting their chips now and will return at 11am EST Wednesday.

David Tran raised to 37k and Bill Kontaratos came over the top to the tune of 112k. David made the call and the flop came T 9 9 . David checked, Bill fired 200k, David moved all in and Bill called all-in, showing A K . David was way ahead with pocket Aces. Last two cards came 3 9 and David took another huge pot to extend his chip lead -- he now has over 2.2 million.

Bill Kontaratos finished in 30th place, earning $20,655.

Here's the latest batch of bustages:

	Vanessa Rousso - 37th place

Dale Pinchot got all in for 145k, then Scott Blackman made the call. Bill Kontaratos then moved in over the top, having Scott covered. Scott went into the tank for several minutes, finally said "there's too much out there to fold" and made the call. Dale held AJ and was in bad shape; Scott held pocket Kings and as he feared, Bill held pocket Aces. Then the board came K 8 6 J K and Scott made QUADS to bust Dale and double through Bill.  Dale Pinchot finished in 38th place.

Vanessa got all in with AT only to face John Cox's pocket Tens.  The board changed nothing and John took the pot.  Vanessa Rousso finished in 37th place.

Gavin Griffin raised, Brian Haveson moved all in and Gavin made the call. Brian held K Q and Gavin was ahead with pocket Tens. The flop was T 4 3 and Gavin's lead got bigger with a set of Tens, but Brian had picked up the flush draw. Turn was the A which completed Brian's flush giving him the lead and also a re-draw to the royal flush, needing the J . The river, however, was the 3 which gave Gavin the full house and booted Brian in 36th place.

Level 21: Blinds 6k/12k with 1k antes. Play has resumed. Here are the current chip leaders:

End of level 20 and players are taking 15. Here are the latest departures:

	Roy Winston - 39th place

Roy Winston, who won $1.5 million here at the Borgata Poker Classic in September 2007, got all in with A3 and called by Gavin Griffin, who held AT. A Ten hit the flop and Roy couldn't catch up.

Roy Winston finished in 39th place, earning $17,213.

	John Juanda - 40th place

Brian Haveson is all in -- again -- and this time is called by Richard Dabal. Brian's pocket 6s are in bad shape against Richard's pocket 7s. Then a 6 falls on the turn and Richard falls over backwards in his chair. For a few seconds he wiggled around like a turtle on its back before he was able to right himself, stand up, and then ship some chips over to Brian.

They're still dropping quickly. Gordon Wilcox limped, then John Juanda raised to 40k. Gordon pulled the limp-re-raise and moved in. John called, showing pocket Aces. Gordon held pocket Jacks and was in bad shape...until the board came K Q 8 T 9 giving Gordon the straight.

John Juanda finished in 40th place, earning $17,213.

Here's an update on the chip leaders:

There's been a flurry of bustouts and they are down to 45 players at 5 tables. Average stack is 338k. Here are the folks who have departed in the money:

Level 20: Blinds 5k/10k with 1k antes. Play has resumed.

	John Hennigan - 50th place

Just before the dinner break, there was a flurry of activity. Ralph 'Rep' Porter finished in 52nd place. Farzad Rouhani got his short stack in from the big blind and was busted by Roy Winston. Farzad earned 51st place.

John Hennigan's set of deuces went down to Richard Dabal's rivered flush. John was left with a single 500 chip, which went in for the ante on the next hand and he was busted -- 50th place. There will be no repeat champion.

Level 19 has ended and the players have been dispatched on a 75 minute dinner break. Play will resume at about 7:50pm EST.

	Ryan Young - 54th place

After Matt Vengrin opened for 30k, Ryan Young moved in from the small blind. Matt made the call, showing pocket 8s. Ryan was racing with A T , but Matt flopped a set and Ryan couldn't catch up. Ryan was the first player to money, taking 54th place.

Gavin Griffin raised to 21k and Gordon Wilcox made the call, as did Lee Watkinson from the big blind. All three checked the flop of T T 8. Turn was the 5 and it was checked to Gordon, who bet 60k. Lee moved in for 70k on top of that. Gavin folded and Gordon tanked for a minute, then mucked.

On a flop of 8 8 2, Noah Schwartz bet 45k. Richard Dabal came over the top for 100k straight. Noah thought about it for a couple of minutes, then moved all in (having Richard covered). Richard surrendered.

Michael Roderick has busted out in 53rd place.

They're now seated at 6 tables and play has resumed. The next 9 players to bust out will each earn $14,754.

The money bubble has burst. A short-stacked player was all-in and called by two bigger stacks, who checked down the board. He was busted and asked to remain anonymous.

The 54 remaining players are all in the money and are now taking their 15 minute break.

Level 18 has ended and they are continuing play without a break until one more player busts.

Level 19: Blinds 4k/8k with 500 antes. Hand-for-hand play continues.

Ben Palmer picked the wrong time to make a move, going all-in with K2. He ran into the pocket Jacks of Bill Kontaratos. No help for Ben on the board and he takes 56th place, good for $0.

With 55 players remaining, it is bubble-time and they are now playing hand-for-hand.

Hyon Kim got all in with AJ against Robert Hwang's pocket Queens. A Jack hit the board, but it was not enough and Hyon was busted.

With 56 players remaining and only 54 getting paid, it is double-bubble time!

Brian Haveson got all in with AK against the pocket Aces of James Maltz. It looked like Brian was headed for the rail, but running Kings on the turn and river saved Brian's tournament life.

On a board of A Q 7 A 5, (no suit) Steve Sung bet 20k and Dan Shiff came over the top for another 60k. Steve tanked for a while, torn over the decision, and finally mucked his A9 (trip aces) face up. As Dan pulled the pot, he showed his JT offsuit (nothin' but air) trying to send Steve into Tilts-ville.

Gavin Griffin has been shedding chips all day, but he got all-in against Ryan Young with pocket Kings against Ryan's pocket Jacks. The kings held up and Gavin doubled up to about 240k.

Jesse Martin doubled through Justin Bonomo when his AJ out-flopped Justin's AK. Jesse had about 330k after that double-up and Justin held about 390k.

John Racener takes 44k from James Maltz with pocket Queens over pocket Tens.

Level 18: Blinds 3k/6k with 500 antes. Play has resumed. 62 players remain. Only 54 will get paid.

End of level and time for break. Before the bell...

On a flop of 9 7 6 , Men 'the Master' gets all in against Vanessa Rousso. Men's A K (nut flush draw) would need help to beat Vanessa's set of 7s....which he got when the 5 landed on the river, completing his flush and double up.

Robert Hwang doubled up to about 260k when his pocket Aces held up against AK.

	Cliff 'Johnnybax' Josephy - busto

Cliff 'Johnnybax' Josephy got all in with pocket Aces against Jesse Chinni's open-ended draw. Jesse caught his card on the turn, busting the 'Bax.

Brian Havenson got all in with QJ suited and John Racener looked him up with pocket Aces. Unfortunately for John, two Jacks hit the flop and Brian doubled up.

Arthur Azen's pocket Aces were up against AK -- you guessed it -- two Kings hit the board and Arthur's stack was crippled.

Pocket Aces did hold up for Dale Pinchot, who was all in against pocket 5s. He caught an Ace on the flop, which meant the 5 on the river didn't crack his rockets. Dale doubled up to about 160k.

In a battle of the blinds, Jordan Rich raised from the small blind and Lou Esposito moved in from the big. Jordan called, showing 42 off and Lou was ahead with 87 off (I don't make this stuff up, folks). Then a 4 hit the flop and another 4 hit the river and Lou was busted.

	Isabelle Mercier

After Michael Tait raised utg+2, Isabelle Mercier moved all in from the small blind for ~33k more. Michael made the call, showing A K . Isabelle held AQ off and would need help to survive. The board changed nothing, however, as it rolled out T 8 5 7 T and Isabelle said au revoir.

	Zachary Hyman

Zach Hyman got all in with A Q against a player holding pocket Tens. It got worse on the flop of T 5 4 when his opponent flopped a set. Then the last two cards came J 3 and Zach caught the four-flush to survive and double-up to about 300k.

Jeff King has busted out.

Table 6, which was already interesting with Jared Hamby, Vanessa Rousso, and John Juanda seated there, just got WAY more interesting as Men 'the Master' Nguyen was moved into the seat vacated by Jeff King.

	John McEwen

Level 17: Blinds 2,500/5,000 with 400 antes. Play has resumed. 76 players remain.

Gavin Griffin has dropped down to about 300k. John McEwen is now the chip leader with ~675k. David Tran is second with ~560k. Justin Bonomo has about 450k and Eric Buchman has about 430k.

Level 16 is over and players are on break. Before the break:

Tuan Nguyen moved in and after getting a count, Vanessa Rousso made the call. Tuan's A K was dominating Vanessa's AQ off, but the board came Q T 5 6 3 and Vanessa took the pot, sending Tuan to the rail.

Chris Beal has been on life support for some time, but after Anthony Campagna raised to 17,500, seat 9 called, and Gavin Griffin called, Chris called all-in for less from the small blind. The other three players checked to the river as the board came A 9 4 A 7. Gavin bet the river and the other two bowed out. Gavin showed AJ for trip Aces and that was good for the side pot, but Chris held pocket 4s for 4s full of Aces and he quadrupled up to about 51k.

	Erik Cajelais - gonzo

Erik Cajelais has busted out.

Jeff Renaud got busted by Lee Watkinson, full house over full house (ouch!). Down to 81 players now. Average is almost 188k.

Emeline Boich tripled up when her pocket Aces held up against two opponents.  She's up to about 150k.

	Fred Goldberg - iced

Before the end of level 14, Fred Goldberg's stack was crippled when his pocket Aces were cracked by Arthur Azen's pocket 7s that hit a set. In this level, Fred moved his last chips in dark and Leonard Cortellino looked him up with A6. Fred's K3 was live, but an Ace hit the flop and he couldn't catch up.

	Joseph 'JoeytheB' Brooks - busted

Level 16: Blinds 2k/4k with 400 antes. Cards are back in the air.

Just before the break, Joseph 'JoeytheB' Brooks ran his pocket Jacks into Jesse Martin's pocket Aces.  The Aces held and Joey is toast.

End of level 15 and players are taking 15. Here are the chip leaders:

They're dropping like flies here in early action. These folks have already hit the bricks: Rhett Butler, Ray Coburn, Lacey Dalton, and Chris Dombrowski.

John Racener called a shorter-stack's all-in with pocket Tens and was in good shape against pocket 7s, but a 7 hit the board giving the double-up to the short-stack.  John was left with abut 170k.

Down to 10 tables, so 90 players remain. Average stack is 169k.

On a board of K 5 2 T, Thomas Coan moved in and got called by Scott Blackman. Thomas' KJ (top pair) was drawing dead against Scott's pocket 5s (set) and he was busted.

Ben Bianco moved in pre-flop and Ylon Schwartz asked how many chips he had, then said "you've got me covered - I call" and rolled over pocket Aces. Ben's pocket 9s were trailing badly, but the board ran out Q T 8 J 7 giving Ben the straight with his 9 and busting Ylon.

Raymond Coburn got all in with pocket Tens and got action from John Hennigan, who was in a bad way with pocket 9s.  No miracles here and Raymond doubled up.

Robert Hwang got all in with A8 and looked up by Chris Dombrowski, who held pocket Tens.  An Ace on the river gave Robert the double-up.

Level 15: Blinds 1,500/3,000 with 300 antes. 98 players have returned to the felt to duke it out for more than $1.4 million. Only 54 will get a piece of the prize pool, so today is the day. They will play until only 27 remain.

Here are the top ten chip leaders as of the start of day 3:

313 players took to the felt Monday morning to continue their bids for the $1.4 million first prize. When the dust settled almost 12 hours later, only 99 of those remained.

Among the more than 200 departures today were TV Personality Montel Williams, Mike 'the Mouth' Matusow, Kathy Liebert, JC Tran, David Williams, John Spadavecchia, Erick Seidel, John Phan, Chris Moneymaker, Dutch Boyd, Joe Sebok, and Josh Arieh. 

Others still alive in the field are:  Roy Winston, who won the 2007 Borgata Poker Classic; John Hennigan, who won the 2007 Borgata Winter Open; Vanessa Rousso, Justin Bonomo, Gavin Griffin, and John Juanda.

Gavin Griffin went on a rush late in the day and grew his stack to over 560k and will be the chip leader going into day 3.

Day 3 play will get underway just after 11am EST Tuesday.

Kaelaine Minton Reporting

Kaelaine is one of the hardest working reporters on the tournament cicruit, and she can play poker, too!  She won the 2007 World Poker Open Media Tournament at the Goldstrike in Tunica, besting a field of 50 to win the event and the WPO gold bracelet!   Her motto is "will do anything poker-related for money".

Contact Kaelaine