There are still four days remaining in the 2010 $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio, but amazingly, only 35 players remain. The field whittled itself down at a rapid pace over five levels of play from the 98 who began the day.
There are two former winners in contention. Carlos Mortensen, (pictured right) who won in 2007, is looking for his third major victory of 2010 and is coming off of last month’s win at the WPT Hollywood Poker Open in Indiana. Mortensen had a solid day at tables and finished near the middle of the pack with 586,000, just over the current average.
The second former winner is 2009 champion Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who continues to push forward in his title defense. Timoshenko had two million dollar scores in 2009 and is hoping to pick up his first of 2010 with a top two finish in this tournament.
The chip leader at the end of day 3 was none other than Shawn Buchanan, (pictured left) who ended day 1 with the chip lead and finished day 2 in second place. Buchanan was coasting through the day before tangling in a series of pots with Brandon Cantu. Eventually, Buchanan flopped a straight and got Cantu to commit the rest of his stack with pocket aces. The straight held and Buchanan surged up the leader board. He finished with 1,841,500, over three times the current average.
Other notables remaining in the tournament include Phil Hellmuth, Billy Baxter, David Williams, David Benyamine, Scotty Nguyen, Josh Arieh, David “Devilfish” Ulliott and 2009 Card Player Player of the Year, Eric Baldwin.
The action will resume at noon on Wednesday and it won’t be long before the players confront the money bubble at 18 players.
Here’s a look at the remaining 35 players and their chip counts.
| Rank | First Name | Last Name | Hometown | Chip Count | Table No. | Seat No. |
| 1 | SHAWN | BUCHANAN | ABBOTSFORD, CAN | 1,841,500 | 59 | 4 |
| 2 | HEATHER SUE | MERCER | NEW YORK, NY | 1,364,500 | 61 | 2 |
| 3 | ROBERT | COOPER | PLANTATION, FL | 937,000 | 61 | 3 |
| 4 | MATTHEW | STOUT | LAS VEGAS, NV | 919,500 | 62 | 2 |
| 5 | BILLY | BAXTER | LAS VEGAS, NV | 887,500 | 62 | 8 |
| 6 | FARAZ | JAKA | SAN JOSE, CA | 852,000 | 60 | 4 |
| 7 | TODD | TERRY | HOBOKEN, NJ | 817,500 | 60 | 2 |
| 8 | PHIL | HELLMUTH | PALO ALTO, CA | 807,000 | 62 | 7 |
| 9 | DAVID | WILLIAMS | LAS VEGAS, NV | 757,000 | 61 | 5 |
| 10 | DAVID | BENYAMINE | LAS VEGAS, NV | 731,000 | 59 | 1 |
| 11 | JASON | LESTER | MIAMI, FL | 723,000 | 61 | 6 |
| 12 | OLIVIER | BUSQUET | NEW YORK, NY | 671,000 | 60 | 8 |
| 13 | NIKOLAY | EVDAKOV | MOSCOW, RUSSIA | 668,500 | 62 | 5 |
| 14 | CARLOS | MORTENSEN | HENDERSON, NV | 586,000 | 59 | 6 |
| 15 | SCOTTY | NGUYEN | LAS VEGAS, NV | 569,500 | 62 | 9 |
| 16 | BRIAN | LEMKE | NORRISTOWN, PA | 562,000 | 61 | 7 |
| 17 | J.J. | LIU | LAS VEGAS, NV | 495,000 | 62 | 4 |
| 18 | CLIFF | JOSEPHY | SYOSSET, NY | 489,500 | 62 | 3 |
| 19 | RANDAL | FLOWERS | FORT WORTH, TX | 486,500 | 59 | 8 |
| 20 | GUY | CICCONI | LAS VEGAS, NV | 454,000 | 60 | 6 |
| 21 | ROBERT | RUGIERO | DEARBORN HEIGHTS, MI | 453,000 | 62 | 6 |
| 22 | ERIC | BALDWIN | HENDERSON, NV | 387,000 | 59 | 5 |
| 23 | YURY | SHAPIRO | CHICAGO, IL | 357,000 | 61 | 8 |
| 24 | YEVGENIY | TIMOSHENKO | LAS VEGAS, NV | 350,000 | 62 | 1 |
| 25 | MAROUN | JAZZAR | BEIRUT, LEBANON | 318,500 | 59 | 3 |
| 26 | DAVID | ULLIOTT | HULL, UK | 310,000 | 61 | 1 |
| 27 | JOHN | OSHEA | DUBLIN, IRELAND | 308,500 | 60 | 5 |
| 28 | JAMES | CALDERARO | VENICE, FL | 279,000 | 60 | 9 |
| 29 | KYLE | BOWKER | WALTON, NY | 217,500 | 60 | 3 |
| 30 | ANTOINE | ARNAULT | PARIS, FRANCE | 213,500 | 60 | 1 |
| 31 | DANIEL | SMITH | LAS VEGAS, NV | 194,000 | 61 | 4 |
| 32 | CHRISTOPHER | MOORE | CHICAGO, IL | 137,000 | 61 | 9 |
| 33 | JAMES | GUINTHER | BETHLEHEM, NH | 129,000 | 59 | 7 |
| 34 | JOSH | ARIEH | ATLANTA, GA | 115,500 | 60 | 7 |
| 35 | TONY | COUSINEAU | DAYTON BEACH, FL | 105,500 | 59 | 2 |
