Yesterday, we saw 304 players whittle themselves down to our final 48. These remaining players will tentatively play down to a winner today depending on time (as there is a 3:00 AM hard stop rule in effect). Standing tall as chipleader going into Day 3 is Kyle Julius with 876,000 in chips.
Yesterday we saw many notable players attempt to make a deep run at this thing only to fall short, including Jeff Lisandro, Jennifer Harman, Andy Frankenberger, Peter Eastgate, Jonathan Duhamel, Pius Heinz and Phil Hellmuth - who met his end after his opponent spiked an ace on the river after getting all in on the turn.
Some were "luckier" than others, however. Those who survived the money bubble and cashed include Nam Le (103rd), Allen Kessler (99th), Neil Channing (97th), Matt Matros (79th), Matt Brady (75th), Brock Parker (74th), Will "The Thrill" Failla (67th), Ana Marquez (59th) and JP Kelly (50th).
Despite the vast number of pros eliminated, you can be sure that with a field this stacked - there are still plenty of notables chasing the gold bracelet at the end of the tunnel. Some include Joseph Cheong, Tommy Vedes, Galen Hall, Alexander Kravchenko, Ronald Lee, Randy Lew and Dan Smith - who has been on quite a hot streak this year. Smith has already won three big events, including the Aussie Millions $100,000 buy-in event back in January. He will be looking for his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet, however.
Here is the seating assignment heading into Day 3:
Table
Seat
Player
Chips
438
1
Micah Raskin
461,000
438
2
Konstantin Puchkov
162,000
438
3
Ronald Lee
189,000
438
4
Tommy Vedes
363,000
438
5
— Empty --
438
6
Kyle Julius
867,000
438
7
Amir Lehavot
209,000
438
8
Andrew Weisner
258,000
438
9
Daniel Perper
292,000
439
1
Thiago Nishijima
269,000
439
2
Andres Garcia
441,000
439
3
Galen Hall
305,000
439
4
Derek Gregory
536,000
439
5
Andrea Dato
745,000
439
6
Stanislav Barshak
690,000
439
7
Jason Mann
361,000
439
8
— Empty —
439
9
Randall Pfeifer
294,000
440
1
Brendon Rubie
343,000
440
2
Thomas McCormick
180,000
440
3
Dan Smith
477,000
440
4
Chamath Palihapitiya
456,000
440
5
— Empty —
440
6
William Pierron
144,000
440
7
Alexander Kravchenko
266,000
440
8
Rodrigo Caprioli
146,000
440
9
Cary Katz
263,000
441
1
Randy Lew
143,000
441
2
Pratyush Buddiga
244,000
441
3
Robert Macdonald
138,000
441
4
Erik Aude
688,000
441
5
Jonas Wexler
188,000
441
6
— Empty —
441
7
Anders Wessman
270,000
441
8
Andrew Lichtenberger
258,000
441
9
Fernando Brito
82,000
443
1
Jason Wheeler
215,000
443
2
Foster Hays
124,000
443
3
Thomas Conway
422,000
443
4
— Empty —
443
5
Panayote Vilandos
218,000
443
6
Sam Chartier
179,000
443
7
Sami Nassar
217,000
443
8
Madison Bergeron
231,000
443
9
Joseph Cheong
482,000
444
1
Samuel Ngai
448,000
444
2
Bryan Leskowitz
125,000
444
3
Dominykas Karmazinas
58,000
444
4
— Empty —
444
5
Kevin Schulz
128,000
444
6
Eric Cloutier
136,000
444
7
Jeremy Ausmus
391,000
444
8
Matt Giannetti
361,000
444
9
David Diaz
568,000
There you have it - will Julius be able to use his chiplead to coast into a final table and claim victory? Will Dan Smith ride his impressive momentum thus far to his first gold bracelet? Or will one of the many other talented players stand tall as champion? Please stick with us here at PokerNews to find out!
A short0stacked Thiago Nishijima moved all in for 100,000 from middle position and received a call from Kyle Julius on the button.
Showdown
Nishijima:
Julius:
It was another flip and Nishijima's Brazilian contingent, of which there were quite a few including Andre Akkari, were on their feet cheering for their man. The flop silenced things a bit, though the turn did give Nishijima some counterfeit options. Unfortunately for him, and much to the dismay of his rail, the blanked on the river.
Nishijima's 18th-place finish marks his fifth cash at the 2012 World Series of Poker, four of which have been top 25-place finishes. An impressive performance by the Brazilian to say the least.
Kyle Julius opened for 42,000 under the gun and was met with an all-in three-bet by Jason Wheeler in middle position. Action folded back around to Julius and he made the call.
Showdown
Julius:
Wheeler:
Wheeler was in a bad spot as he'd run his mid-pocket pair into Julius' cowboys. The flop provided no help to Wheeler, and neither did the turn. In order to survive, Wheeler needed a seven on the river, but this is an elimination post so of course it didn't spike. Instead, the appeared and Wheeler exited in 17th place.
It was folded around to Sam Ngai in the small blind, who went all in for his last 300,000. Thomas Conway called from the big blind to put Ngai at risk and the hands were revealed.
Conway:
Ngai:
The board left Conway with trips, which was more than enough to send Ngai to the rail.
Daniel Perper opened to 42,000 from early position and action folded around to Joseph Cheong in the small blind, who announced he was all in for about 440,000 total. Directly behind him in the big, Kyle Julius also announced he was all in. Perper tanked, but eventually decided to fold and hands between Cheong and Julius were revealed.
Cheong:
Julius:
The flop looked good for Cheong, however, the turn and river would give Julius a runner-runner straight for the knockout blow.
Julius is hovering right around 2 million following the elimination.
Thomas Conway raised to 52,000 under the gun and was immediately met with an all-in three-bet to 490,000 by Konstantin Puchkov. Action folded to Panayote Vilandos on the button, and he opted to move all in over the top. The blinds both got out of the way, as did Conway, and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
Puchkov:
Vilandos:
Puchkov had picked up a big hand, but he ran it straight into the best hand in poker. The Russian would received no miracle as the board ran out , and Puchkov exited in 14th place.
Puchkov, who won the Event #31 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2010 WSOP for $256,820, has now notched a record-tying tenth cash in a single year. Coincidentally, Puchkov shares that record with another Russian, the late Nikolay Evdakov, who had ten cashes in 2008.
It was folded around to Daniel Perper, who pushed all in for his last 318,000 from the hijack position. Action folded over to Andrea Dato in the big blind and he snap-called to put Perper at risk.
Perper:
Dato:
Perper was dominated and would need help to survive, however, the board kept Dato in the lead and Perper was eliminated.
Andrea Dato opened to 60,000 from early position and action folded around to Kevin Schulz on the button, who three-bet to 140,000. It was folded back around to Dato, who thought it over and then announced he was all in for approximately 500,000. Schulz snap-called and hands were revealed.
Dato:
Schulz:
Dato's tournament life was in dire straits and the sealed the deal for Dato - eliminating him in 12th place.
Derek Gregory opened to 60,000 from under the gun and Chamath Palihapitiya called from the cutoff seat. Amir Lehavot also called from the big blind for a three-way pot.
All three players checked the flop.
However, when the fell on the turn, Lehavot checked again, prompting a 90,000 bet from Gregory. Palihapitiya then pushed all in for his last 275,000. Lehavot folded and action was back on Gregory, who tanked for a good three minutes before eventually calling.
Gregory: for a pair of deuces.
Palihapitiya: for a flush draw and inside straight draw.
Palihapitiya had outs, however, the river bricked for him and he was eliminated in 11th place.
Action folded to Dan Smith in the hijack and he raised to 65,000. When action reached Erik Aude in the small blind, he three-bet to 150,000, the big blind folded, and Smith made the call, bringing about the flop.
Aude proceeded to check-call a bet of 100,000 before checking the turn. Smith kept the pressure on with a bet of 220,000, but this time Aude woke up with a check-raise to 500,000. Smith made the call and then snap-called when Aude moved all in for about 660,000 on the river.
Aude rolled over for a set, but it was no good against Smith's set of aces. It was a monster pot, and Smith will be taking right around 3,000,000 million to the final table.
flop silenced things a bit, though the 
turn did give Nishijima some counterfeit options. Unfortunately for him, and much to the dismay of his rail, the 
blanked on the river.
turn. In order to survive, Wheeler needed a seven on the river, but this is an elimination post so of course it didn't spike. Instead, the 
appeared and Wheeler exited in 17th place.
turn and 
river would give Julius a runner-runner straight for the knockout blow.
sealed the deal for Dato - eliminating him in 12th place.
flop.
fell on the turn, Lehavot checked again, prompting a 90,000 bet from Gregory. Palihapitiya then pushed all in for his last 275,000. Lehavot folded and action was back on Gregory, who tanked for a good three minutes before eventually calling.
for a pair of deuces.
for a flush draw and inside straight draw.
river bricked for him and he was eliminated in 11th place.
river.