It took until the end of level 14, actually beyond the end of level 14, for the money bubble to burst. Erik Seidel, Chris Moneymaker, Men 'the Master' Nguyen, and Patrik Antonius did not make the money. The wives are doing better -- Van Nguyen and Maya Geller-Antonius are both still alive and returning Friday. Only two main event winners made the money: Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan. They will join the 474 players returning at 1 p.m. PDT Friday for Day 4. Jeremy Joseph leads the field, but Jeremiah Smith is right behind him.

Official chip counts and seat assignments at the end of Day 3:

The clock was paused for a few minutes during the last level as they had to resolve a discrepancy between the number of players remaining and the payouts. Everything was confirmed correct and play continued.

On a flop of K J T, Alan Jaffray got his chips in and called by a player holding pocket Aces. Alan held pocket Tens for the set and just had to dodge the Aces and Queens. The last two were bricks and Alan chipped up to ~850k.

Sigurd Eskeland has been at or near the top of the chip counts all day, but he finally met his match in James McManus (not to be confused with Jim McManus, the author). They got all the chips in the middle preflop and Sigurd’s A5 was badly dominated by James’ AQ. The board changed nothing and James doubled up to 780k while Sigurd dropped to 550k.

Chris ‘Armenian Express’ Grigorian got his last chips in with pocket Jacks only to run into pocket Queens. The Queens held up and the Armenian Express has run out of gas.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, they had Mike ‘the Mouth’ Matusow draw a number (between 5 and 9) to determine how many more hands would be played. He pulled an 8 so each table will play 8 more hands then call it a night.

Level 15 is over and the ~479 survivors began the bag & tag process. They will return Friday at ***1pm*** for day 4 (the start time was pushed back due to the late finish on day 3).

When the end of day chip counts are available, they will be posted here. As usual, there was some movement on the leader-board late in the day. It appears that Jeremy Joseph has edged out Jeremiah Smith for the top spot.

Here are the latest bustouts/payouts:

12:10am Following the color-up, play resumed with Level 15: Ante 500, Blinds 2k/4k. One more two hour level must be played before we can call it a night. The first 63 players to leave will each earn $21,230.

Fernando Gordo started today with 137,900 chips. He never showed up to play and has finally been blinded off, making the first payout level and earning $21,230 – if he ever shows up to collect it.

Lou ‘the Big Easy’ Esposito and Devin Porter get to the river with a board of Q 6 2 4 A. Lou bet 17k and Devin Porter made the call, showing pocket 9s. Lou showed pocket Queens for the set to take the pot and chip up to 220k.

On a flop of J T 8, Greg Peters (big blind) got all his chips in and called by Brandon Adams (cutoff). After the dealer announced “All-in and call” they turned up their hands. Brandon had J5 for top pair, but was crushed by Greg’s J8 (two pair). Only running 5s would send Greg home. The last two were blanks and Greg got the double-up.

Vanessa Rousso called a short-stack’s all in, showing pocket 7s. Her opponent held A6 off and was beat, but the board came T 5 4 3 2 giving him the straight and the double-up. Vanessa was left very short and got her last chips in with AJ, only to have the same player call her with Q4 suited. A Queen on the board was the end of the road for Miss V.

After a player moved in for 73k, Mike ‘the Mouth’ Matusow looked him up, showing AJ suited. His opponent held pocket 5s. Not one but two Aces hit the board giving Mike the pot – chipping up to 485k.

After being told by one floor-person to move to the rail, then told by another to move outside the rail, (which would mean behind the three-deep spectators) I went in search of less populated rails.

The ESPN feature table 2 is currently populated by Victor Ramdin, Farzad Rouhani, and Bill Blanda, among others. Mike ‘LittleMan’ Sica was on the rail watching and was kind enough to share his rail space with me. After the player in the 4 seat moved all in, Bill Blanda tanked for quite a while. The all-in amount was about what Bill had left. He finally announced that he was making a “Big Boy Laydown” and mucked his pocket Queens face up.

At 12:47am it was announced that they were down to 603 players, which meant the next batch of bust-outs would earn $23,160. Here's the first batch and their paydays:

Still hand-for-hand.

At 11:14pm, Jack Effel announced they were at 667 players, the true bubble, and dealers should proceed with the next hand.

At 11:21pm, we were told that no one busted and they should proceed with the next hand.

At 11:24pm, a huge wave of applause went up and we knew the money bubble had burst. It was high-fives and back-slapping across the room, but we still had to wait for all 75 tables to complete the hand

At 11:30pm all the tables were finished and it was made official -- Another round of applause and high-fives.

Steve Chung is today’s bubble-boy. Courtesy of Milwaukee’s Best Light, Steve will get a $10,000 seat in the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Steve Chung put his tournament on the line with pocket 8s, only to get called down by Jesse McEuen who held pocket Kings.

The remaining 666 players were then sent on their belated 20-minute break, to be followed by the color-up.

Just missed the money: Dominic Prunko and David Peters.

Jeremiah Smith is still the chip leader with 1.16 million. Sigurd Eskeland is second with 950k.

Play has been hand-for-hand since about 10pm when they reached 675 players. There are 75 9-handed tables in action and after 75 tables are dealt a hand, they have to wait until all 75 tables finish playing that hand before proceeding. When a table is finished with their hand, the dealer stands up. Tournament Director Jack Effel is standing on a raised platform in the middle of the room so he can see when all 75 dealers are standing. He then gives the instruction to play the next hand.

The vast majority of players are playing tight during this time and folding anything but premium hands. There are some, however, who are taking advantage of the bubble-play to build their stacks.

Jeremiah Smith is one of those players – he has crossed the million-chip-mark and continues to play aggressively and collect more chips. At the start of hand-for-hand he had 946k and was second in chips. He’s now over a million and the chip leader.

The clock for level 14 ran out, but Jack Effel ammounced that hand-for-hand play would continue at the same level until the money bubble burst. Then they would take their break, color-up the black 100 chips, and continue with Level 15.

6 players have been eliminated. 3 more must go to reach the money. Play continues hand-for-hand.

Recent departures: Michael Greco, Rasmus Nielsen, Elliot Smith, Josh Prager, Chris Dyer, Christopher Olson, and Minh Nguyen.

Hand-for-Hand Time!

The field is down to 675, one table away from the money, and hand-for-hand play about to begin. Things are getting very tense inside the Amazon room.

Unfortunately for bracelet-winner Nenad Medic, it's not so tense for him anymore. Sitting at the ESPN feature table, he moved all in on a A J 5 board with A-K. Chip-leader Sigurd Eskeland had Medic covered and made the call to discover that his A-Q was far behind. The 9 on the turn was safe for Nenad, but a Queen spiked on the river to send Medic back to Canada without Main Event cash.

Jon Friedberg chipped up in a monster hand. He, Christopher Olson, and a third player got it all in after some heated pre-flop action. Friedberg tabled K-K, leading Olson's Q-Q and the other player's J-J. The board ran out A 8 7 7 4, shipping a mountain of chips (448,000 to be exact) in Friedberg's direction. Olson was left with 156,000, and their tablemate was eliminated.

On a flop of 7 6 2, Johnny Chan (big blind) checked and Tri Nguyen bet 13k.  Back to Johnny, who raised another 18k on top.  After about three minutes in the tank, Tri released his hand.  As he was tossing his cards to the dealer, they were accidentally exposed and showed a 6 (middle pair on the board).  Johnny flashed a 7, then said “you know what the other one is, don’t you? Deuce to Seven, my favorite hand.” That would have given Johnny two pair.

On a board of A K 9 J, Justin Phillips got his last chips in the middle against big stack Jamie Rosen.  Justin turned over AJ for two pair.  Jamie held 6 5 for the flush draw.  “Hold!” yelled Justin.  The river was the 2, and Justin’s two pair was good for the double-up.

Beginning hand-for-hand, Sigurd Eskeland is the chip leader with 950,000. Jeremiah Smith is next with 946,000.

Play resumed after dinner at ~8:30pm with Level 14: Ante 400, Blinds 1,500/3,000.

747 players returned from the dinner break and they got right down to business getting their money in the middle. The unfortunate part is that us media have been relegated to the rails and perimeter of the room – we’re no longer allowed between the tables, so that the ESPN cameras can run over when they hear “All-in and call on table ##”. So we’re basically spectators with badges now.

Lou ‘the Big Easy’ Esposito has been working with a short stack for a while now. He got all in with pocket Kings and got looked up by the big blind, who held 53 suited. Lou managed to hold on and double up to ~80k.

In a battle of the short stacks, Webb Song got her last chips in with pocket 8s and got looked up by Jeff Bryan, who held AT suited. “I’ve only got a couple more rounds” Jeff said, by way of justifying his call. The board ran out K K 2 A 9 and Jeff caught his Ace on the turn to take the pot and send Webb home. Jeff almost doubled up when adding Webb’s chips to his.

Sean Sheikhan sent the player in seat 3 packing. They got all-in pre-flop and Sean held Ace-Face, but that’s all I could make out from my place on the rail.

Alexander Kravchenko got his last chips in with T8 suited and ran into Eetu Vehilainen’s pocket Tens. No held for Alexander on the board and he was busted.

702 players remain and only 666 will get paid. When they get down to 675, play will go hand-for-hand until they burst the money bubble. Harrah’s is giving the bubble-person a $10k seat into next year’s WSOP, so in this case, the bubble-person will not leave completely empty handed. How they will handle a tie for the bubble is yet to be determined.

Sigurd Eskeland has re-taken the chip lead with ~750k. His table has been promoted to ESPN’s Feature Table 1. Alberto Font Rytzner has dropped below 700k and dropped to 4th place on the leader-board, behind Jeremiah Smith and Karle Wilson.

Play resumed following the break with Level 13: Ante 300, Blinds 1,200/2,400.

Over on ESPN Feature Table 2, Jan Sjavik of Norway was happy to get his last chips in with pocket Kings…until he ran into the pocket Aces of Va Shon Watkins. No miracle arrived to save Jan and he’s headed home.

On ESPN Feature Table 1, Kumar had all his chips in the middle with T8 offsuit. Johnny Chan held pocket Kings and a huge lead. The cards ran out T 5 4 Q 4 and although Kumar picked up one pair, it was not enough to beat the Chan-man and Kumar was busted.

On the river with a final board of Q 6 3 7 4 with three clubs, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier fired 25k at the pot. Ryan Dust looked him up, showing Kc4c for the second-nut flush. ElkY flashed a 5, which gave him a straight, and mucked.

On a flop of A 9 8 , Paul Jackson got all his chips in the middle against Markus Golser. Paul’s 8 7 (middle pair, flush draw) was trailing Markus’ AK off (top pair) but Paul would improve with any , 8 or 7. The last two were K 3 and Paul was busted.

Hevad Khan picked up a nice pot without having to show down. On a 9 8 4 board, Khan checked to action to the button, who bet 2,500. After a minute of playing with his chips, Hevad raised to 26,500, and the button called. A swarm of ESPN cameras had arrived by the time the 3 came on the turn. Khan counted out several configurations of chips and looked like he was choosing between them. Then, to his opponent’s consternation, Khan simply put all the stacks on top of each other and bet 43,500. The button thought about calling for a moment, but with a backwards glance at the ESPN crew, he tossed his cards, and the "Rain"man scooped the pot.

Matt Graham lost a chunk of his stack with trip Kings. On a K 7 5 Q K board, his tablemate shoved, and Graham made the call. But with K-J to his opponent’s A-K, the cowboys cost Graham more than 50k.

Sigurd Eskeland is the chip leader with close to 700k. Jeff Kimber is right behind with 665k and Jeremiah Smith is third with ~620k.

Gone, but not forgotten:  Andy Griggs, Catherine Calhoun, William Huntress, Steve Zolotow, Eric Morris, and Paul Renaud.

With 30 minutes left in the second level of the day, the field is already down to 909. While 1,300 players showed up this morning, and the speculation was about whether they'd hit the money today, now the question is, "Will they burst the bubble before dinner?"

Tony Cousineau won't be around to find out. He ran his 8s into Kings to hit the rail.

Paul McKinney met the same fate. His 6 6 were far behind his opponent's K K, and the board ran out 4 3 3 2 A. They both got to the flush, but McKinny's wasn't high enough to keep him around.

Eric Crain began the day with 315,000 and dreams of pushing his table around. That is, until he sat down and saw his tablemates. After dropping several big pots, Crain was losing steam fast. He raised to 6k pre-flop, and both Mike Matusow and Raja Kattamuri called to see the Q 4 3 flop. Crain fired out 11k, the Mouth mucked, and Kattamuri called. The 2 turned, and Crain bet out 22,000. Again, Kattamuri called. After the 7 on the river, Crain shoved with the 60,000 he had left. Kattamuri was only too happy to call, flipping up A J for the rivered nut flush. Crain tossed his cards, and his Main Event hopes, into the muck.

Gus Hansen wasn't convincing enough and took a big hit.

Hansen was in the small blind and one of three players who paid to 20k to see the flop, including the original raiser, who was UTG+1, and the BB, who put in the reraise. J 8 9 on the flop, and Hansen checked to the BB, who bet 20k. The other player got out of the way, and Hansen maked the call. Both players checked the 9 on the turn to see the 5 for free on the river.

Hansen took his time, counting out 44,400 and cascading the chips towards his opponent. The BB went into the tank, feeling the pressure of the 20 some media members huddling the table and the overflowing rail. Eventually, he decided to make the call, turning over A-K. Hansen rolled his eyes and laid back in his chair, turning over A-Q high, which was second best. The sick call cost Hansen almost 100k.

Men "the Master" is still alive. 

With more than 20k already in the pot and A Q 3 6 4 on the board, action was checked to Nguyen, who used a two-handed motion to move his last 13,700 in the middle. His oppenent reluctantly called, tabling Q-J as he asked if Men had it. The Master turned over his 9 6, having rivered the flush. It was good enough to double trough, pushing Nguyen up to 50k.

Sigurd Eskeland is the current chip leader with 680,000, followed by Jeff Kimber with 650,000.

The combined survivors of Days 2A and 2B will get back into action at noon PDT Thursday for Day 3. Just over 1,300 players will return, still in the hunt for the $9.1 million first prize. Brian Schaedlich is the overall chip leader with 801K. Peter Biebel is second with 531K. Brandon Adams, David 'Chino' Rheem, Victor Ramdin, and Nenad Medic are also high on the leader board. Be sure to stay right here at PokerPages.com as we bring you all of the live wire-to-wire action from the 2008 WSOP Main Event!

Click here for official chip counts and seat assignments for the start of Day 3.

Live coverage of the Main Event - Day 3 begins Thursday, July 10th.