When the money bubble burst shortly after 2:30 am, Day 2 officially came to an end. Day 3 was originally scheduled to start at noon, but Tournament Director Johnny Grooms let the players vote on whether they wanted to delay the start time to 2 pm or 3 pm. The majority picked 2:00 pm, so Grooms reset the starting time accordingly.

Just another example of why Johnny Grooms is such a respected tournament director -- as much as possible, he gives the players input into the decisions that affect them as a group, and he always has a good reason for his decisions.

The final 27 players will return to start Day 3 at 2:00 pm CST, but they'll be playing in a different ballroom while the WPT stage is constructed for Sunday afternoon's TV final table. Here are the official chip counts and seating positions:

TABLE 1
1. Lee Markholt - 50,500
2. Clint Schafer - 249,500
3. Haralabos Voulgaris - 59,000
4. Hank Sitton - 461,000
5. Chad Brown - 181,500
6. Vanessa Rousso - 213,500
7. David Robbins - 117,500
8. L.D. Williams - 145,000
9. Gene Coggins - 85,000

TABLE 2
1. Tim Frazin - 179,000
2. Lyle Vincent - 363,000
3. T.J. Cloutier - 144,500
4. Fletcher McKinney - 270,000
5. Larry Kozlove - 166,500
6. Tim Hebert - 204,000
7. Bob Cole - 281,500
8. Bernard Lee - 109,000
9. Captain Tom Franklin - 115,000

TABLE 3
1. Bob Slezak - 102,000
2. Sean Morrison - 183,000
3. Bobby Mahoney - 125,500
4. Jonathan Little - 502,000
5. Surinder Sunar - 285,000
6. Pat Madden - 106,500
7. Nadim Shabou - 56,500
8. Bill Edler - 238,000
9. John Davidson - 138,500

For a look at the field in chip count order, click on the "Chip Counts" link. Jonathan Little (who won the WPT Mirage back in May) leads the field with 502,000, closely followed by Hank Sitton with 461,000. Lyle Vincent (363,000) is the only other player above 300,000.

In an interesting twist, Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso will be seated at the same table for the third straight day. According to Brown, in the 16 months that they've known each other, they had never been seated at the same table before this tournament, and now it has happened three days in a row. Of course, now that they're in the money and within sight of a WPT Final Table, it's not such a bad problem to have -- Brown is near the average chip count, while Rousso is slightly above average.

There are also several notable local players still alive, including longtime professional player Captain Tom Franklin (Gulfport, MS), and chipleader Jonathan Little (Pensacola, FL). And you can't get much more local than Bob Mahoney. He's not only from Biloxi, MS, but he literally lives across the street, where he owns and operates a fantastic seafood restaurant named after his mother -- Mary Mahoney's. A few of us ate there Friday night, and we can't recommend it highly enough.

Return to WorldPokerTour.com and CardPlayer.com at 2:00 pm CST Saturday for continuing live coverage as 27 players fight for six seats at the WPT Final Table.

As almost all the grizzled veterans of major tournaments will tell you, poker is one giant roller coaster. The ride was in full swing Friday during day two of the Gulf Coast Poker Championship. Notable players that started the day with commanding chip stacks found themselves making frustrating early exits, while some nursed their short stacks back into contention.

The day was not a good one for a majority of the remaining pros in the field. Jared Hamby, Shannon Shorr, Clonie Gowen, Chris Moneymaker, David Pham, Matt Graham, Allen Kessler, and Dewey Tomko all made early exits from the tournament. J.C. Tran and Mark Seif had amassed large chip stacks but were not able to parlay them into a birth to day three.

Tran had run his stack to over 80,000, but came crashing down in spectacular fashion. On his final hand he bet 2,200 from the big blind on a766 board. Terry Jennings made it $30,000 to go and Tran moved all in. Jennings made the call, and Tran tabled pocket jacks. He was drawing thin when Jennings rolled over the 86 for trips. The turn and river cards hit the board 53and Tran was eliminated. Tran is currently involved in one of the more heated chases for the title of Card Player Player of the Year, and is currently in second behind David Pham. Bill Edler (who is currently in sixth in the POY race) could close the gap between himself and the top five if he makes it deep in the money. He ended day two with 238,000 chips.

Shane Schleger and Kathy Liebert, tried their best to keep their dwindling short stacks alive, and both seemed to be gaining momentum late in the day. Things were derailed quickly however, when both players ran into massive coolers. On Schleger’s elimination hand he raised to $4,200 from the cutoff and the button made the call. The flop came K87 and Schleger led for 5,400. The button called and the turn brought the 8. Schleger checked and the button fired a 15,000 bet. Schleger calmly counted his chips, then made a raise to 32,500, leaving himself with only 4,400 behind. After a few moments of indecisiveness, his opponent moved all in and Schleger insta-called. Schleger announced he had 87 for a full house and his opponent tabled KJ, claiming he was drawing dead. As Schleger announces that he still has two outs, the K hits the river, shipping his opponent the pot. A clearly upset Schleger shrugged his shoulders and quickly left the room.

Liebert’s beat was not much easier to swallow. Chad Brown led for 6,000 preflop and Liebert moved all in for 19,200. Seat one reraised to 35,000 and everyone else mucked. Liebert flipped up pocket aces and her opponent showed pocket queens. The board comes Q229K and Liebert is eliminated tournament as well. Despite the bad beats, there were plenty of players that plowed though the day.

An older generation of poker, TJ Cloutier and Tom Franklin found success in Biloxi. Cloutier has been atop the chip leaders for most of the tournament, and ended the day with 144,500 chips. Franklin, a Gulfport resident, doubled though David Pham early in the day when he limped in early position and Pham raised to 5,000 from the button. Franklin made the call and the flop fell KQ6. Franklin open shoved his last 6,200 and Pham grudgingly called. Franklin tabled AQ and Pham showed down A10. The next two cards bricked and Franklin doubled to over 20,000. By afternoon he had over 70,000 and crossed the 100,000 mark later in the evening. He ended the day with 115,000.

Play finally reached the money early Saturday morning; here are some notable chip counts:

Bill Edler -- 238,000
Surinder Sunar -- 285,000
Vanessa Russo -- 213,500
Chad Brown -- 181,500
TJ Cloutier -- 144,500
Bobby Mahoney -- 125,500
Tom Franklin -- 115,000
Haralabos Voulgaris -- 59,000
Lee Markholt -- 55,000

Stay tuned to Cardplayer.comand WorldPokerTour.com for all of your exclusive live updates.

Vanessa Rousso raises to 11,500 and Ben Armstrong counts out a call and says "Raise." Before Armstrong announces the amount, Rousso asks for a count. Before she gets a response, Armstrong moves all in. Rousso insta-calls and slams her AA victorious on the table. Armstrong disgustedly tables his QQ, and watches his hopes die as the board runs K9695.

Day two has ended at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship and 27 players remain. Play will begin at 2 p.m. CST tomorrow as the final three tables play down to a final television table of six.

The player in middle position raises to 20,000, and Vanessa Rousso (on the button) asks how much he has behind. (The answer is about 100,000 in chips.) Rousso just calls.

Then, T.J. Cloutier moves all in from the big blind for 84,500, and the middle-position player quickly folds. All eyes turn back to Rousso, who goes into the tank.

The other tables finish their hands, and a lot of players wander over once they hear that Cloutier is all in. With everybody watching, Rousso asks if theirs is the last table with a hand. It is. She thinks for another 30 seconds or so, and says, "I'm gonna lay this down, T.J. It's tough for me to let these go, but I'm gonna lay them down."

Rousso folds, and Cloutier lets her off the hook -- he shows pocket kings. Rousso lets out a big sigh of relief, and says she had ace-queen.

Play has restated. We are currently still in hand for hand play and the blinds have been raised to 3,000-6,000 with a 1,000 ante.

The level comes to an end, although many players don't want to take a break during hand-for-hand at the end of the day. Tournament Director Johnny Grooms asks for a vote or a consensus from the remaining players, but the chorus of answers is rather chaotic. Grooms compromises by granting them a ten-minute break.

Twenty-eight players remain and play will now be hand-for-hand until we lose one more player. At that point the money bubble will burst, play will end for the night, and the players will redraw for seats at the final three tables.

After a flop of Q64, the player in seat 1 is all in with AJ against the KK of Lyle Vincent. The turn card is the K, giving Vincent a set, but his opponent four outs to a gutshot straight.

The river card is the 9, and Vincent's opponent is eliminated from the tournament.

Within about ten seconds, a player at the next table is also eliminated, and there are now 28 players left in the tournament. After the tables are balanced for equitable play, action will resume on a hand-for-hand basis until the money bubble is burst.

A board of 10876 is checked down by three players who limped into the pot. The 6 hits on the river and seat two moves all in from the small blind for well over 100,000. Vanessa Rousso starts laughing and says, "You ever heard of a value bet," and folds her hand.