As it is, I write this only six hours of play after the first card of the day was dealt. This was as swift and accelerated as the Abyss vertical-drop slide in the Atlantis resort's water park. And it was no less of a thrill.

The two men who made the most of a frankly ridiculous day of deep-stacked poker were Kevin Saul and Benny Chen, who spent most of the same day bossing the same table and busting anyone else.

They each took down pots worth close to a million, eliminating adversaries when it might have been them sent packing. Saul's Ac-10c cooled Max Pescatori's set of kings when it made the nut flush on the turn; Chen also had A-10 when he rivered an ace against Craig Boyd's jacks, and he also busted Eric Liu with two-pair against a missed flush draw, then seeing off Brad Huhtala and Michael Durrer.

Those two bagged up close to two million chips and they are joined at those upper reaches by Daniel Heimiller (1.6m), David Baker (1.4m) and Benny Spindler (2.2m), whose ascents to those dizzy heights were somewhat more steady but no less dramatic.

Alexandre Gomes rose closest to the sun for Team PokerStars Pro. His day started off as something of a grind, got very good at the mid point, before his wings were clipped again late on. After initially watching his stack dwindle to around 300,000, he was rescued by two monstrous hands. First he made a straight with pocket nines to best Jesse Kramer's aces, then he accounted for Brent Wheeler with tens against eights.

That put Gomes at more than a million, but he had lost half of those by day's close, many in a pot against Kathy Liebert's pocket kings.

At the other end of the 32 remaining players, the Team PokerStars Pro Victoria Coren will be the first to admit that she rode her luck to get through to the fourth day. At one point, she was all in with J-7 and ending up chopping the pot against her opponent's K-J. Then her 5-6 beat A-6 when she flopped the straight, and late on she managed to get jacks to hold up against A-5.

Coren returns for day four with a short stack but still in the game.

Of course for every survivor, there were two departures and we lost both of the Million Dollar Men among them. The World Champion, Peter Eastgate, fell early and Ylon Schwartz suffered a miserable day, watching his mid-to-short stack become a short-ish stack, then a bone fide short stack, then a shorter-than-short stack and then it was gone.

But players sent to the rail today found themselves in good company. In addition to those already mentioned, this was no day to be any of Mark Seif, Joao Barbosa, Nenad Medic, Tom Franklin, Jeff Madsen, Grant Hinkle, Denes Kalo or John Cernuto. They all perished too.

So it is that we reconvene at noon tomorrow to squeeze this field further until it fits on the eight chairs of Saturday's EPT final table.

In the meantime, take a look back at today's action with the level-by-level, blow-by-blow account of the day in paradise.

Level 15 updates
Level 16 updates
Level 17 updates
Level 18 updates
Level 19 updates

And if you want something very similar, only in words that you probably won't understand, why not try the foreign-language version of PokerStars blog. It's available in German, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian and evenPolish.

There's all the moving-picture action on the ever-excellent PokerStars.tv, where you can also catch the EPTLive coverage of today's High Roller event final table and tomorrow's final 32 main event coverage.

The end of day chip counts can be found on the chip counts page. The prize-winners to date are on the prize-winners page.

That's all for today from the main event, although stay tuned for coverage of the High Roller's final table, with Stephen Bartley. They're down to four players there and playing to a winner.

All photos (c) Joe Giron/IMPDI and Neil Stoddart

Levels are 75 minutes long and blinds are 8,000-16,000 (1,500).

Post last updated at 6:54pm

6:54pm--Michael Durrer Eliminated in 33rd place

Michael Durrer busted out when his pocket nines ran into Benny Chen's pocket Kings. With Durrer's elimination, play has been suspended. The final 32 players will return tomorrow at 12 noon.

6:53pm--Kathy Liebert Doubles Up

Kathy Liebert doubled through Alexandre Gomes. Her pocket Kings held up against Gomes' pocket fives. That pot pushed Liebert to almost 500,000 in chips.

6:50pm--Mike Rowe, legal crusader, looking to make Day 4

We've just discovered (with the help of a friendly e-mailer) that one of our remaining 35 players is none other than Mike Rowe. In 2003 as a high school student, Rowe took on the computing powerhouse Microsoft. Microsoft went after Rowe for his website MikeRoweSoft.com. Rowe became famous after fighting for his domain name and a proper settlement with Microsoft. The international press loved the story and Rowe became a bit of a celebrity. Now he's here playing poker and fighting for the $3 million first prize.

6:48pm--Chris Bush eliminated

Chris Bush's eights just got bested by K-T and yesterday's big chip stack is out in 33rd.

6:43pm--Fernandez eliminated

Benny Spindler has just sent Alejandro Sanchez Fernandez to the rail.

6:39pm--Brad Huhtala Eliminated

Benny Chen had been a raising machine ever since he busted Eric Lui. He raised 60,000 from the button and Brad Huhtala shoved all in from the big blind. Chen insta-called with pocket sevens. Huhtala was behind with pocket treys. Chen's sevens held up and Huhtala was out in 36th place.

6:30pm--Coren doubles again

We think it's called "alligator blood." Vicky Coren is ice and she won't melt. She just doubled her short stack again with jacks versus A-7.

6:25pm--Back from break

Players are back from break.

Levels are 75 minutes long and blinds are 6,000-12,000 (1,500).

Post last updated at 5:59pm

6:08pm--Break time

The remaining 36 players are headed out for a 15-minute break. The most recent eliminations have been listed on our PCA winners page.

5:59pm--Bryan Sapp Busto

Bryan Sapp was the latest casualty. Sapp shoved with a shortstack and 10d-9d. He got picked off by Mike Rowe's Big Slick and headed to the rail in 37th place. Down to 36.

5:49pm--Vamos!

It almost looked like Team PokerStars Pro Alexandre Gomes was going to cry.

It went like this. Jesse Kremer came in for a raise to 32,000. There was a call in the middle from Dustin Dirksen. Gomes pushed all-in from the small blind for nealry 300,000. Kremer feigned a hard decision before announcing he, too, was all-in. Dirksen folded and Kremer turned up pocket aces. It was pocket nines for Gomes.

The flop gave Gomes a few more outs Jh-Ts-7c. The three of diamonds on the turn did nothing. And then the river...8c.

Gomes exploded from his seat and hugged his friends on the rail. Fellow Brazilian Andre Akkari came over to help celebrate. In the meantime, a stunned Kremer wandered off to collect his prize money.

Just a few hands later, he busted Brent Wheeler when Wheeler shoved with eights. Gomes called with tens, flopped an unnecessary set, and sent Wheeler to the beach.

Gomes now has 1.1 million.

5:45pm--Craig Boyd Eliminated

Craig Boyd raised to 30,000 from the button. Benny Chen re-raised from the small blind.as he grabbed a handful of chips and indiscriminately tossed them in. Boyd moved all in and Chen called. Boyd held pocket Jacks against Chen's A-10. Boyd was ahead until Chen rivered an Ace on the river. A dejected Boyd headed to the rail.

Chen now has 1.6 million.

5:37pm--Chris Underwood Eliminated

Chris Underwood shoved with pocket Kings. Kevin Saul called with As-Qh. Saul rush continued when he flopped an Ace to take the lead. Underwood's hand did not improve and he was nevermore.

5.35pm--Capt Tom sails away; Elizabeth Bennett-Martin doubles

A strange-three way pot just played out between Captain Tom Franklin, Elizabeth Bennett-Martin and Hafiz Khan, although Franklin would be the first to admit that his was just a bit part. He was in the big blind when Khan (cut-off) and Bennett-Martin (small blind) got plenty of chips in pre-flop. Franklin only had 38,000 at this point and was priced in with any two cards.

The flop came 6d-Ad-6s and then Khan called Bennett-Martin's shove, for her final 160,000. Bennett-Martin had A-K, Khan had A-9 and Franklin's 3-5h was, well, not quite enough. Bennett-Martin is around the 400,000 mark, Khan is a few hundred better than that, and the good Captain is all at sea.

5:27pm--Eric Liu Eliminated in 44th Place

I caught the action on the flop of Ks-10h-3s. Benny Chen fired out around 100,000. Eric Liu moved all in. Chen called with Kh-3h and was ahead with two pair. Lui had Js-8s for just a flush draw. The turn was the 8d and the river was the 4c. Liu could not improve and he was out in 44th place.

5:21pm--Shameful

Vicky Coren is bordering on ashamed. With less than 120,000 chips, Coren knows she has to double up. It is, in fact, any-two-way-do time. So, this time it was 5-6 offsuit for her, all-in pre-flop against A-5. When the board ran out K-8-7-9-7 to give her the straight, she shook her head. "Shameful. Just shameful," she said. With her recent good fortune, she is thinking about running up to the casino for a bit of roulette.

5.12pm--Table of chips

With the massive stacks and reputations of Kevin Saul, Benny Chen, Felipe Ramos, Eric Liu and Michael Durrer all on the same table, there's certain to be aggression and action. And so there is. Chen and Liu got involved in a battle of the blinds, with Chen picking it up with a sizeable bet on an ace-high flop. Then Durrer bet and took one, before one of the shorter stacks, that of Brad Huhtala, getting one through the big gblind of Ramos.

5:09pm--Chop Chop for Coren

Vicky Coren was moved to a new table. She open-shoved with a shortstack. Paul Greim headed into the tank for a few minutes before he called with Kc-Jd. Coren tabled Js-7h. The flop was Ks-7d-9s. The turn was the 8s and the river was the 10d. Coren and Greim chopped the pot with a Jack-high straight. Coren stays to fight another day.

5:05pm--Players return from break

The remaining 46 players have returned from break to play Level 18. Play will be suspended when 32 players remain. Anyone eliminated at this point will earn $30,000. prize winners to this point have been updated on the 2009 PCA Winners page

Levels are 75 minutes long and blinds are 5,000-10,000 (1,000).

Post last updated at 4:30pm

4.30pm--Break-time
Players take a 15 minute break at the end of level 17. The chip count page will be updated momentarily, and the most-recent list of prize-winners has just been brought right up to the minute.

4.27pm--Massive, massive pot accounts for Pescatori
The largest pot of the tournament so far - a record that will stand for quite some time - accounts for Max Pescatori, who was third in chips at the last break. The only player on his table who had him covered was Kevin Saul and all the money went in on the turn with these cards showing: Kc-Qs-5c-9c.

Max Pescatori

No wonder. Pescatori had K-K for top set; Saul had Ac-10c for the nut flush. Although Pescatori still had outs to the full house, the Ad river was effectively a brick and the Saul is now the runaway chip leader with comfortably more than 2 million.

Kevin Saul

4:20pm--Angel Manuel Guillen Pereda Eliminated in 51st Place

Kathy Liebert took out shortstacked Angel Manuel Guillen Pereda. Down to 50 players.

4:18pm--Cameos

A couple of pros stopped by to rail the action including Greg Raymer, Joe Sebok, and Layne Flack. Greg Raymer popped by Kathy Liebert's table to wish her luck. Layne Flack wandered in with a bag full of freshly rolled cigars and chatted with Miami John Cernuto for a bit.

4.14pm--A lot of chips for no showdown

Kevin Saul just took another nice pot, this time from Benny Chen, and this time without even showing his hand. Chen raised pre-flop to 23,000, two off the button. Saul made it 70,000 and Chen four-bets to 170,000. Saul calls. The flop is 3s-5d-2c and Saul checks. Chen bets 180,000 and Saul announces all in, for more than 800,000 more. That covers Chen and he lets it go.

4:13--Chilly

Holding 9-T on a 9-9-6-8-x board can't feel all that great, especially when you're opponent sets you all-in. Regardless, Christopher Drake felt obliged to call for his last chips. Sure enough, his opponent held 5-7 and that was it for the PokerStars qualifier.

4.10pm--All in or nothing

Vicky Coren has no choice but to move in pre-flop if she wants to get involved. With only 135,000 she has no other choice. She does so from late position in a hand with Michael Durrer, and he flashes an ace as he folds.

4:08pm--Timely Double Up

Jesse Michael Kremer woke up with Aces and doubled through Angel Manuel Guillen Pereda's A-K in a pot worth over 420,000.

3.54pm--Mexican wave

Christian De Leon Angeles is on a charge. A vocal one at that. The Mexican player just survived an all-in pre-flop encounter against Brad Huhtala when his A-J spiked a jack to beat Huhtala's A-K. Then two hands later he sent Steven Tabb to the rail when he again found a decent-sized ace (A-10) to better Tabb's A-5. Both hands were greeted with a now-trademark clap and punch of the fist.

3:45pm--Isaac Hakim Eliminated in 55th Place

Shortstacked Isaac Hakim was moved to the same table as Vicky Coren, Dan Heimiller, and Hafiz Khan. As soon as he sat down, Coren commented on how she fancied his glasses. Hakim's time at his new table was brief. Hakim hit the rail when his pocket fives were flushed out by Justin Rollo's 10c-4c. Down to 54 players.

3:38pm--Andrew Li Eliminated

Shortstacked Andrew Li as all in with Jh-10h, but unfortunately, he ran into Dustin Dirksen's pocket Aces. The Aces held up and Li went out in 56th place. Down to 55 players.

3:33pm--Charles Furey Eliminated

We caught the action on the flop of Ad-Kh-4s. Charles Furey was all in against Ryan Karp. Furey was behind with Ks-Jd against Karp's Ah-7. The turn was the 6c and the river was the 4c. Karp's pair of Aces held up and Furey was eliminated in 57th place.

3:29pm--Coren holding on in Day 3

Vicky Coren is still alive here in Day 3. Here's what she had to say to the video blogging team about her deep run.

Watch PCA 09: Coren makes Day 3 on PokerStars.tv

3:25pm--Mark Seif eliminated

Mark Seif made it 26,000 to play and got a call from Albert Minnullin. The flop came down 6h-Ks-5h. Seif bet 40,000 and Minnullin called. The Td fell on the turn. Seif checked and Minnullin bet 100,000. Seif called and saw the Ts on the river. Seif checked, Minnullin moved all in, and after a lengthy time in the tank, Seif called. Minnullin turned up pocket fives for the flopped set and rivered boat.

3.18pm--Level 17 set to begin

Players are returning from a 15-minute break. Fifty-nine players remain. We will be update the PCA Prizes page and PCA Chip Counts page soon.

Levels are 75 minutes long and blinds are 4,000-8,000 (1,000).

Post last updated at 3:00pm

3.02pm--Schwartz's life support runs out

And no sooner is he cut right down than Ylon Schwartz is out. "What a horrible day," he said, heading to the cashiers' desk. He moved all in once pre-flop and got no callers, but the second time he did it he was looked up by the monstrous stack to his left, for whom 40,000 was a mere drop. Schwartz had Kc-6s but he was up against As-Qh. An ace flopped and Schwartz's day, week in Paradise is over.

3:01pm--Ylon's life support on life support

Ylon Schwartz was already badly in need of a double up. When Isaac Hakim limped for 8,000, Schwartz announced all-in for 82,000. Hakim called for less with Ad-Qd. Schwartz only held Ah-9d. Hakim flopped a queen and said, "Watch out, guys. I'm back." Schwartz was left with 42,000.

3:00pm--Alfredo Delgado Davila eliminated

With a short stack of less than 100,000, Alfredo Delgado Davila pushed all in with As-Ts. When Mark Seif insta-called from the blinds, it was clear to the Mexican player it was over. "Queens again?" he asked. Seif nodded and flipped them up. The board ran out blanks and Alfredo Delgado Davila is gone.

2:50pm--Captain Quads

Capt. Tom Franklin is back after he doubled through Elizabeth Bennett-Martin.

He flopped a set of sixes and promptly rivered quads.

Hafiz Khan has so many chips they're all but impossible to count. It's not necessarily a chip leader's pile, but he has thousands of the lower denominations piled up making the chip counters' lives hell. Just glancing at his stack, there are 13 full stacks of yellows (1,000 apiece), two bonus stacks of yellows with more than the regulation 20 in them, four stacks of blues (5,000 apiece), four full stacks of pinks (500 each), seven bonus stacks of pink, and a half stack of reds (10,000 apiece). That's just the visible stacks. There are plenty below all that on his second layer. You can add all that up.

2:37pm--It's worth it...

"Let me just look at one card," Captain Tom Franklin said. Play had folded to his short stacked on the small blind. "Alright, all in."

Sitting in the big blind and facing a raise to 100,000, Dan Heimiller said, "I hope I have a nine," as he peeked at his cards.

"Call me" Franklin said. "It's worth it to get rid of somebody like me. Just don't double my ass up."

"I call," Heimiller said and flipped up K-4. Franklin turned over As-3s. With an ace on the flop, Franklin said, "That's a good card," and stacked his doubled up chips.

2.31pm--More plunder for Pescatori

Max Pescatori raises to 23,000 from the cut off and Benny Chen reraises 33,000 more. Pescatori calls. The flop is 5s-Kh-8s and Pescatori checks. Chen bets 51,000 and Pescatori makes it 77,000 more. That's too rich for Chen, who lets it go.

2:26pm--Wet foot? Who cares?

Canada's Elizabeth Bennett-Martin has a problem.

"I spilled my diet pop all over my foot!" she said.

One of her tablemates remarked, "Things could've gone a lot worse for you over the last 30 seconds."

True story.

In fact, she just busted PokerStars qualifier James Kilarjian with TT vs. AK.

Wet foot. More chips. Not a bad trade.

2:21pm--Chip Counts Updated

Head over to the chip counts page to see the latest update.

2:20pm--EPT Warsaw Champion Joao Barbosa Eliminated

Portugal's Joao Barbosa opened for a raise. Paul Greim re-raised to 72,000 from the big blind. Barbosa quickly announced that he was all in. Greim asked the dealer for a count. Barbosa had over 280,000 in chips. Greim tanked for several minutes before he called with Jh-Jc. Barbosa flipped over Ac-Kh. Greim's pocket Jacks held up and Barbosa was out. Barbosa, the EPT Warsaw Champion, was eliminated in 71st place.

2.15pm--Big stacks clash

Anthony Gregg takes a slice out of Benny Spindler's stack. There's some pre-flop action and then after the first three cards come 5d-10s-5s, Spindler bets 100,000, which Gregg calls. The both slow right down through turn and river of 3s-4c and Gregg shows jacks, better than Spindler's K-Q.

2.13pm--Big hands clash

Brett Switzer doubles up through the big-stacked Christopher Bush. It's a fairly standard late-position all-in pre-flop shove and Bush has J-J to Switzer's Q-Q. The queens survive and Switzer doubles to about 220,000.

2.05pm--Tense moments

At the same time and on two different tables, Ylon Schwartz and Kathy Liebert are facing the possibility of elimination. Liebert has bet all in on a flop of 7s-4c-4d-Qh and Eric Liu, who has her well covered, is in the tank. Meanwhile Schwartz has raised pre-flop and the player to his left has shoved all in over the top, having Schwartz well covered. There's a lot of thinking but, ultimately, less action. Both players end their deliberations by folding.

1:55pm--Frenchman Down

High stakes cash game player Guillaume De La Gorce from France became Hafiz Khan's latest victim. De La Gorce got it all in with pocket Kings against Khan's As-Qs. Although De La Gorce turned a set of Kings, that same card gave Khan a Broadway straight. Khan's hand held up because De La Gorce did not boat up on the river. The Frenchman was eliminated in 78th place.

1:53pm--"So sick!"

Dan Heimiller opened for a raise. Ralph Porter called from the button. Finland's Jani Johannes Lehtinen shoved all in from the small blind for almost 60,000 more. Heimiller tanked for several minutes before he folded. Porter called with Kc-Qc. Lehtinen tabled 7c-6c.

"You shoved with that?" Heimiller asked Lehtinen. "I thought you had a much better hand than 7-6."

Although Porter was way ahead, Lehtinen rivered a six to win the pot with a pair.

"So sick," exclaimed the player from Finland. "I got lucky."

1:47pm--Level 16 begins

The final 78 players in the 2009 PCA are returning from break to 4,000-8,000 (1000) blinds. Play will continue until we get down to 32 players.

Levels are 75 minutes long and blinds are 3,000-6,000 (500).

Post last updated at 1:30pm

1:40pm--Break

Players are on a 15 minute break. We'll be working on chip counts and have them up soon.

1.30pm--Newer chip leader?

David Baker hit back at Benny Spindler's claims at the chip lead by eliminating Asa Smith to take himself to more than 1.1m. "Sixes greater than jacks," was how Baker described the hand that meant the end of the young Brit Smith's adventure and put Baker back to the summit.

1.25pm--Clinging on, hanging in

As Peter Eastgate strolled to the cash desk, which neighbours table two, Eastgate's fellow Million Dollar Man Ylon Schwartz was facing a decision that might have found him following the Dane out of the tournament. Schwartz bet 17,500 on a flop of 5c-Qc-6c and Daniel Heimiller moved all, comfortably covering Schwartz. He tanked for a long, long time but folded to fight another day. With less than 100,000 in chips, he'll know to get busy soon-ish.

1:24pm--Germany claims first Million Dollar Man

On a flop of Ah-5s-8c, Bill Brindise got it all in against Germany's Benny Spindler. Brindise held 5-8 for the flopped two pair. Spindler held Ad-Qd. When the ace spiked on the turn, Brindise did what you might expect. He cursed, he threw his iPod on the ground, and came very close to deservedly losing his mind. Spindler offered all he could: "Sorry." Spindler (see at left below) now has 1.1 million.

1:22pm--2008 WSOP champion eliminated

Peter Eastgate is now on the rail with the simple explanation: "Weaker top pair." The full story sees Eastgate raising pre-flop with Ac-4c. He got a call and saw an ace on the flop. His opponent shoved into him and Eastgate called. Up against A-Q, Eastgate was drawing slim.

1.15pm--Double-time

Peter Eastgate just got himself back in the game with a timely double up. He pushed all in from the button and was called by Joseph Cassidy in the big blind. Eastgate had 7-7, Cassidy A-5. A five came on the flop to give some encouragement to Cassidy, but a seven on the turn was emphatic for Eastgate and he doubled up to about 180,000.

1:13pm--Coren makes a stand

Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren came in for a raise and got a call from both blinds. The flop came down 9d-6d-Th. Both blinds checked and Coren led into the pot. The small blind pondered a bit before announcing "All-in." Coren immediately said, "Alright then, let's do it." She turned over Kd-Td for top pair with the flush draw. Her opponent turned up Ad-Jd. "Well, no diamond then," Coren said. The board missed every diamond, every ace, and every jack left in the deck and Coren doubled up to 365,000.

1:08pm--Christoph Niesert eliminated

The young German, Christoph Niesert, lost a race to last year's runner up Hafiz Khan. Niesert's A-Q could not run down Khan's pocket tens and he was out.

1.03pm--Good call, bad result

Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy is out after watching his opponent, Christian De Leon Angeles gradually catch up through flop, turn and river. They got it all in pre-flop, both with a little more than 100,000, and Josephy had 9h-9s to Angeles's Ah-10h. The flop came 9d-2s-Jd, giving a set to Josephy, but the turn was Kd, offering an inside straight draw to the Mexican. Sure enough, out popped the queen and JohnnyBax was done.

1:00--Being priced in really sucks

"I have four-high" Mark Seif said.

The board showed 5c-8c-Js-Kh. Seif had gotten himself into a fix. He was priced in to call Kevin Saul's all-in bet. Seif turned up 2c-4c. Saul held a set of jacks. No club on the river and Saul doubled up.

12.59pm--The electric chair

Table eight is the table of death so far this morning, and the one seat in particular. It was empty at the start of the day, but no sooner had Jeff Madsen been moved into it than he was busted from it and it's empty again now.

12:50pm--Regicide

Christopher Drake came in for a raise and saw a near-immediate push from the man to his left, Andrew Glogowski. Drake made the call with queens. Glogowski turned up his kings. When the dealer went to work, the first thing we saw was a a queen in the door. Glogowski barely blinked as the board ran out bricks and sent him to the rail.

12:46pm--Max Lohy eliminated

It was not a bad time for a move-in from the small-blind Max Lohy. Kevin Saul had raised from the button. Lohy moved in for about 65,000 more from the small blind. Saul thought for a bit before calling with Kh-Jd. Lohy held As3s. The flop brough two kings. By the turn, Lohy was drawing dead. Saul only remarked, "Gamble, gamble."

12.43pm--Drop-outs

The field has already thinned to 95 players. The first few eliminations are currently being added to the prizewinners page.

12.40pm--Huhtala moving in the right direction

Brad Huhtala called Jason Glass's pre-flop raise on the button. They saw a flop of 2s-8h-8s and Glass bet 32,000. Huhtala called. The turn was the Qh and Glass bet again, prompting Huhtala to move all in. Fold.

12.38pm--Chop, chop

Christian De Leon Angeles got his last 97,000 into the middle and was called by Jeff Madsen. De Leon Angeles had Ah-Kh and Madsen As-Ks. No horror flushes came and they chopped it.

12.36pm--Support from the rail

Sascha El-Abiad was standing by the cashout desk for his winnings. "It was a pretty good hand," he said to a supporter on the rail. "He had a better one," came the reply.

12:32pm--Sascha El-Abiad can't catch

In a battle of raising and re-raising, Sascha El-Abiad got the last raise in for 150,000 total. PokerStars qualifier Ryan Karp made the call with his pocket jacks to see El-Abiad's Kd-Qd. The board came ten-high and El-Abiad hit the rail.

12:23pm--One down

Daniel Morris has been the first to fall in early action. He earns $15,000 for showing up today.

12:10pm--Tough Tables

A couple of late arriving players are currently unbagging their chips. Action will be underway shortly. There are a couple of tough tables at the onset of Day 3. Those include...

Table 1: Kevin Saul, Mark A Seif, and Nenad Medic

Table 2: Dan Heimiller, Matt Glantz, and Ylon Schwartz

Table 5: Rybachenvo Sergey, Antonio Bueti, Grant Hinkle, and Capt. Tom.

Table 6: Denes Kalo,John Cernuto, Hafiz Khan, Victoria Coren

Table 9: Kathy Liebert, Dustin Dirksen, Andrew Li, and Eric Liu

Table 11: Alexandre Gomes, Chris Bush, and Peter Eastgate

12:00pm--Day 3 set to begin

The final 102 players in the 2009 PCA are taking their seats. Live coverage will begin shortly.

There were 102 players bagging up chips at the end of day two yesterday evening, but there is only space on day four for 32 of them. We don't know anything of their identities, nor how long this disappearing act will take, but we will follow every trim and every slice right here on PokerStars blog.

No doubt there will be some engaging stories along the way. Two of the remaining field have started 2009 in precisely the manner they finished 2008: near the summit of huge poker fields and eyeing vast fortune.

Peter Eastgate and Ylon Schwartz were members of the PokerStars Six, that subset of the so-called November Nine, who battled through the masses of the World Series Main Event in July to return late in the year to contest the final table.

Schwartz led the way for long periods before some brutal beats knocked him back and sent him to the rail in fourth - nearly $4m richer. Eastgate, as if anyone needs reminding, went all the way to first place and became the World Champion, his coffers swelled by $9m.

Both of them have chips and both have been supremely focused on another huge score here in the Bahamas.

Also in today's field are a pair of Team PokerStars Pros in sight of a major payday. Victoria Coren and Alexandre Gomes both have more than 200,000 in chips and all the talent to make a charge today.

Coren also overlaps into another elite subset: she and Joao Barbosa are the only remaining former EPT champions in the mix. As has been written hundreds of times, there has never been a two-time EPT winner, but wouldn't the PCA 2009 championship title look sweet alongside either the season three London title (Coren) or season five Warsaw crown (Barbosa).

Other names to watch today include last year's final table players Hafiz Khan, who finished second, and Kris Kuykendall, who was fourth. Both seem to enjoy the Bahamian air and are still going strong.

Also still in the field are the likes of Kathy Liebert, Eric Liu, Mark Seif, John Cernuto, Denes Kalo, Tom Franklin and Max Pescatori, who scarcely need any introduction to seasoned poker observers.

The man they are all chasing is David Baker, our overnight chip leader who will be sitting behind 925,000 chips today, a few more than second-placed Daniel Heimiller and Christopher Bush, in third.

***

The main event is only one of several tournaments going on here in the Bahamas. The final of the High Roller event, featuring Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Eli Elezra, Daniel Alaei, Humberto Brenes, Nick Shulman, Scott Seiver, Liya Gerasimova and Will Molson, kicks off at noon, and you can follow live coverage on EPTLive on PokerStars.tv or at this dedicated High Rollers' corner of the PokerStars blog, where the high-rolling Stephen Bartley will be your guide through the action.

There's also a Battleships Poker tournament getting underway today, where 64 players will face off over back-to-back laptops to play a series of heads up tournaments. The defending champion is Sorel Mizzi, and he's back in the running, alongside the Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin, among others. You can watch those match-ups on the PokerStars client - head to the Events → PCA → All tab.