Brit Vamplew, EPT London champ in 2010, had a strong day to bump himself up one spot overall to 10th and to 547,000 in chips.
American Haxton, recently based out of Malta and widely considered one of the top Hold'em minds in the world, slipped inside the top 15 when he finished with 488,000 in chips – just slightly ahead of PKR pro Sofia Lovgren with 431,000.
All three will be chasing a local-tinged top 10 plus chip leader Inge Forsmo – ahead of the pack with 1,021,000 but still within striking distance - when play picks up again tomorrow.
Deeb, Salsberg, Watson Still Looming Large
While they’re not dominating the top 10, the foreign contingent in San Remo - always considered favorites in a big, local-dominated field - is still going strong with several notables in position for big cashes.
Online crusher Shaun Deeb has eclipsed the 400k mark and bagged up 402,000 to end the day in the top 20.
Weeds producer and WPT Paris winner Matt Salsberg (355,000), WSOPE €50k High Roller winner Mike “SirWatts” Watson (351,000) and Justin Bonomo (350,000) all sit on very workable stacks.
Ludovic Lacay, Ozzy Sheikh, Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Roberto Romanello are also still alive.
Busting out in the money today were Sam Razavi, Stephen Chidwick, Ignat Liviu, Ana Marquez, Chris Brammer, Chris Moneymaker and Liv Boeree.
Down to 24 Tomorrow
All players are now assured of at least €12,000 with a massive €800,000 waiting for the winner.
Players will return at 2:00 PM CET tomorrow with plans to shrink the field down to 24 players by the end of the day. Follow along with the live updates at EPT.com.
The top 10 in chips:
1. Inge Forsmo 1,021,000 2. Angelo Recchia 851,000 3. Carmelo Vasta 844,000 4. Eric Nhouyvanisvong 754,000 5. Laurent Polito 717,000 6. Jason Tompkins 681,000 7. Giuseppe Ottaviani 625,000 8. Michele Bianchi 614,000 9. Charly Maracchione 596,000 10. David Vamplew 547,000Visit www.pokerlistings.com