The third day of the 42nd World Series of Poker welcomed one of the marquee events of the series with the Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Holdem kicking off in the Pavilion Room.
Today's event was a true test of how Black Friday would effect the World Series, and when the dust settled on registration, a whopping field of 865 settled down to battle it out the felt; which bested the 792-player field from last year.
Nearly every table was stacked with a seasoned veteran or a dangerous online whiz kid as players sought to take advantage of a generous structure. Reigning champion Jason DeWitt led an array of causalities throughout the day as highly-talented players such as Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Sorel Mizzi, Tom Dwan, Jonathan Duhamel and Huck Seed all managed to find an early exit.
With the chips bagged and tagged, the board still reads that 246 players remain in contention for taking a piece of the $4,065,500 prizepool home - but more importantly the $874,116 first prize.
Leading the field into tomorrow Gavin Cochrane who amassed a 175,500-chip stack which just pipped PokerStars Team USA Pro Victor Ramdin who bagged a 174,700-chip stack mainly courtesy of winning an ace-king versus queens flip late in the day. 2009 champion Brian Lemke sits third on our leaderboard with 171,900, and when you throw in the dangerous Jordan Morgan (136,400), Brandon Cantu (129,500) and Erick Lindgren (102,200) alongside Jennifer Tilly (61,900), Maria Ho (47,000) and Lauren Kling (27,800), and tomorrow's field is certainly stacked.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will again be providing continuous live coverage as we play firstly down to the money-paying top 81, before making a run at the final table. Make sure to join us from 2:30 pm PST as we continuing writing the history of the 2011 World Series of Poker live from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino!
Bernard Lee has been working to finish strong in the last level of the day. He mentioned that he three-bet opponents twice in the last level, once with and the other with . Both times his opponent folded and Lee was able to pick up a few chips. He rounded out the day with 52,400 in his stack.
Facing an early position raise to 1,800 and a three-bet to 5,400, Victor Ramdin pushed out 15,000 into the pot from the button.
The original raiser moved all in for 61,100, and once the three-bettor passed, Ramdin made the call.
Ramdin:
Opponent:
Fortunately for Ramdin, the poker Gods were smiling down on him as the board dropped to see him bump his opponent to the rail while sending him soaring up to 177,000.
"That's gotta be a chip leader pot. Gotta be!" exclaimed Ramdin in excitement.
Mega Miami Heat fan Noah Schwartz broke tables, and on the first hand at his new location, bumped it up to 2,200 from middle position.
A few spots over, James Bord shuffled chips and ummed and ahhed for over ninety seconds before moving all in for 16,600. The action passed back to Schwartz and he made the call to the WSOP Europe Champion at risk.
Bord:
Schwartz:
With Bord in the lead, the flop would ensure his double to over 35,000 as Schwartz slipped down to 30,000.
Huck Seed raised under-the-gun to 2,000 and was called by a player in middle position, Erick Lindgren on the button and the big blind.
The flop came and Seed c-bet 6,000 after the big blind checked. The middle position player folded and Lindgren raised to about 30,000, which was enough to put Seed all in. Seed made the call.
Showdown
Seed:
Lindgren:
Seed was in bad shape despite having a straight-flush draw. The turn was no help and the river sealed the deal for Seed, sending him to the rail.
Lindgren now stands with a healthy stack of 110,000
![[user122394]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Both times his opponent folded and Lee was able to pick up a few chips. He rounded out the day with 52,400 in his stack.
to see him bump his opponent to the rail while sending him soaring up to 177,000.
flop would ensure his double to over 35,000 as Schwartz slipped down to 30,000.
and Seed c-bet 6,000 after the big blind checked. The middle position player folded and Lindgren raised to about 30,000, which was enough to put Seed all in. Seed made the call.
turn was no help and the 
river sealed the deal for Seed, sending him to the rail.