Chris Moneymaker One of Seven WSOP Main Event Champs Still Alive on Day 3

4 min read

While more than 4,000 players have already been knocked out of the WSOP Main Event, the remaining 2,359 who made it through to the official Day 3 continue their battle today for the championship bracelet and $8 million first-place prize. 

WSOP Chris Moneymaker
Chris Moneymaker is taking a big stack into Day 3 of the WSOP Main Event to try to repeat his 2003 win. (Image: PokerGo)

It’s a minefield marked with seven former WSOP Champs, three former Players of the Year, a handful of 2021 Player of the Year contenders, Circuit event winners, and tournament grinders all looking for a huge score.

Day 3 chip leaders

These are the players at the top of the leaderboard heading into the start of Day 3.

  1. Conrad DeArmas: 744,000
  2. Shahid Rameez: 731,700
  3. David Mock: 679,700
  4. Adam Walton: 673,100
  5. Keyu Qu: 664,900
  6. Damien Steel: 649,000
  7. Cameron Mitchell: 642,000
  8. Farhad Jamasi: 635,000
  9. Raul Martinez: 628,100
  10. Daniel Lowery: 625,600

Lowery has the most hardware out of the top 10. While he has no WSOP bracelets, he doesn’t have enough fingers to wear all of his WSOP Circuit rings at once. His latest ring needs to go on a thumb.

Seven WSOP Main Event champs still in contention

Playing in the Main Event can be a nerve-wracking experience under ideal conditions, so just imagine what it must be like to look across the table and see one of these familiar faces looking back at you.

30. Chris Moneymaker (2003) – 531,600

42. Qui Nguyen (2016) – 479,100

322. Martin Jacobson (2014)-  288,100

2070. Jerry Yang (2007) – 57,500

2131. Scott Blumstein (2017) – 50,800

2133. Joe Hachem (2005) – 50,800

2316. Phil Hellmuth (1989) – 25,400

It’s going to be fun to see how Moneymaker and Nguyen use their top-50 stacks to try and win a second Main Event bracelet. But with 180 big blinds, count on Jacobson to go deep.

Three former Players of the Year still alive

Former Main Event winners aren’t the only competitors who can strike fear in the hearts of their tablemates, as these former POY winners all know — and are counting on.

865. Ben Lamb (2011) – 180,600 

970. Robert Campbell (2019) – 168,100

1006: Erick Lindgren (2008) 163,100

None of the players listed above are contenders to win POY this year, with only two cashes between them.

Current POY contenders

The winner of the Main Event will get 1,664 points toward the WSOP Player of the Year, with the final nine finishers earning at least 416 points each.

Josh Arieh is the current leader with 3,110.91 points, and is still alive in the Main Event with 177,800 chips. A deep run by any of the four others currently in the top-10 of POY standings could challenge Arieh’s lead, as the race is that tight.  

264. Anthony Zinno (2,731.32 pts) 309,400

273. Ben Yu (1,643.33 pts) 304,800

367. Cole Ferraro (2,032.64 pts) 272,000

889. Josh Arieh (3,110.91 pts) 177,800

2316. Phil Hellmuth (2,598.59 pts) 25,400

There are plenty of old favorites and serious contenders still in the hunt, including our CardsChat News field reporter Chris Wallace.

Other notable names making a run

In a field this large, it’s no surprise that big names and famous faces can be found at almost every table in the Rio. Some players to look out for on Day 3 include:

20. Nick Petrangelo: 580,000

21. Matt Glantz: 580,000

37. David Williams: 499,100

67: Victor Ramdin: 473,400

95. Matt Affleck: 404,100

157. Jason Koon: 361,200

101. Blair Hinkle: 396,200

259. Robert Mizrachi: 311,300

264. Anthony Zinno: 309,400

290. Ted Forrest: 298,100

293. Stephen Chidwick: 296,200

305. JJ Liu: 292,200

315. Liv Boeree: 289,500

322. Martin Jacobson: 288,100

367. Cole Ferraro: 272,000

409. Chris Moorman: 259,700

449. Danny Wong: 251,300

462. Barry Greenstein: 248,300

513. Justin Bonomo: 236,200

549. Lara Eisenberg: 229,300

646. Jared Jaffee: 213,600

674. David Pham: 208,800

686. Pete Chen: 206,500

698. Brian Yoon: 204,600

739. Mario Ho: 199,000

795. Billy Baxter: 190,300

824. Barny Boatman: 186,200

825. Chris Wallace: 186,100

865. Ben Lamb: 180,600

889. Josh Arieh: 177,800

901. Bertrand Grospellier: 176,500 

934. Matt Berkey: 172,600

944. Micheal Mizrachi: 171,200

945. Nate Silver: 171,000

970. Robert Campbell: 168,100

1006. Erick Lindgren: 163,100

1062. David Baker: 157,100

1084. Mike Wattel: 154,900

1291. Barbara Enright: 133,400

1350. Steve Zolotow: 127,100

1421. JC Tran: 121,100

1446. Eric Mizrachi: 119,100

1519. Mark Newhouse: 111,700

1606. Kathy Liebert: 103,700

1897. Eli Elezra: 74,700

2056. Allen Kessler: 59,000

2070. Jerry Yang, 57,500

2316. Phil Hellmuth: 25,400


Play continues today and will go on until a winner is crowned on Day 9. The final nine will be determined either late Monday night or early in the morning on Tuesday. They will then play down to the final four on Tuesday, with the winner celebrating like a champion on Wednesday, Nov. 17.



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