Day 4 of the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event championship was underway at the Rio Casino. 474 players began the day and when it was all over 189 remained.
The Buzz: The field was thinned even more. Action progressed so fast that Jack Effel ended play one level early.
The Backstory: As the last batch of pros busted out, the few that remained got most of the media attention including Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, and Gus Hansen.
The Ladies: Tiffany Michele knocked out Hevad “Rain” Khan as she advanced to Day 5. EPT hostess Kara Scott also made it. Sadly, Evelyn Ng busted out.
Sight of the Day: Phil Hellmuth took time out to feast on the fish.
Quote of the Day: “Idiot from Northern Europe calls a raise with 5-7!” screamed Phil Hellmuth.Yes, the poker brat went on tilt when he lost a pot to an opponent from Scandinavia.
Big Dogs: Johnny Chan busted out early in the afternoon. Phil Hellmuth was in trouble early on but doubled up. Mike the Mouth and Gus Hansen were at the same table and the two were engaged in lots of banter, some trash talk, but both looked like they were having fun.
Day 4 Eliminations: Johnny Chan, Elky, Maya Geller-Antonius, Hasan Habib, Bill Blanda, Magnus Petersson, Chris Bjorin, PearlJammer, Evelyn Ng, Thierry van den Berg, Tracey Nguyen, RainKhan, Tino Lechich, Van Nguyen, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Mike Souza, and Alan Jaffray, Pat Poels, Carmel Petresco, Thayer Rasmussen, Jani Vilmunen, Iggy, Johnny Bax, Iwan Jones, Frankie O’Dell, Adam Schoenfeld, TMay420, Dave Colclough, Mike Wattel, Jean-Robert Bellande, Kirill Gerasimov, Robert Mizrachi, Jason Lester
Big Stacks: Brandon Cantu was second in chips most of the day. Jeremy Joseph took over the lead early and never looked back. He was the first player past the 2M and 3M mark.