Sitting in the number one spot for the playdown to the final table is Patrick Eskandar, a poker player from Gulfport, Mississippi.
Eskandar is one of only three players to pass the 2 million chip mark, along with Matthew Burnitz who’s currently in second and Steve Brecher who’s in third.
Other players of note who secured a seat at one of the final three tables include Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams, Kyle Bowker, 2007 WSOP Main Event final-tablist Lee Childs, 2008 Aruba Classic winner Matt Brady and past WPT final-tablist Todd Terry.
Action is set to resume soon in Atlantic City as the final 27 are cut down to the six who will play at tomorrow’s televised final table.
Over $818,000 is waiting for the eventual winner. All of the final 27 are now guaranteed at least $17,922.
Here are the top ten chip counts heading into Day 4.
1. Patrick Eskandar - 2,972,000 2. Matthew Burnitz - 2,500,000 3. Steve Brecher - 2,463,000 4. David Diaz - 1,960,000 5. Jeremy Brown - 1,860,000 6. Jeff Saunders - 1,784,000 7. Farhan Madhani - 1,765,000 8. Vinny Pahuja - 1,670,000 9. Jeff Williams - 1,487,000 10. Lee Childs - 1,469,000
Cancer Survivor David Diaz Making Deep Run
2011 WSOP bracelet winner David Diaz is sitting fourth in chips with a shot at the biggest poker score of his career.
Diaz is originally from Honduras but was brought to the United States at age four to receive cancer treatment. Diaz survived, thanks to the help of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Now a professional poker player, Diaz has more than $1 million in live tournament earnings. He’ll have the chance to make that number nearly twice as large should he make tomorrow’s final table.
Cunningham, Dunst Fall Short of Final 27
Making the money but falling short of the final three tables was a long list of name pros, tops among them being Allen Cunningham and Tony Dunst.
Cunningham, who’s amassed more than $11.3 million in tournament earnings over his career, made it to 41st place while Tony Dunst bowed out in 64th.
Day 2 chip leader Brian Lemke made it into the money, but was eliminated by today’s biggest-stack Patrick Eskandar.
Eskandar had pocket aces which held up against Lemke’s pocket eights and a third player’s A-K in a massive pre-flop all-in confrontation that gave Eskandar the chip lead.
Action resumes this afternoon in Atlantic City. Keep an eye on our Poker News Section for more updates.
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