Official Seating & Chip Counts

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

Update: For a recap of Day 3 and a preview of Day 4, scroll down past the chip counts. Day 4 begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 12:00 noon ET, and Vivek "Flog" Rajkumar, who won the most recent WPT event at the Borgata in Atlantic City, leads the final 27 players as he strives to become the first player in history to win back-to-back WPT titles. Here are the official seating assignments and chip counts: TABLE 1 Seat 1 - Xuan-Tien Nguyen - 350,000 Seat 2 - Sam Greenwood - 611,000 Seat 3 - Marc Karam - 424,000 Seat 4 - Brian Hawkins - 676,000 Seat 5 - Matt Matros - 943,000 Seat 6 - Khaled Aljoma - 552,000 Seat 7 - Dashmir Zyli - 223,000 Seat 8 - Jason Potter - 497,000 Seat 9 - Pat Pezzin - 252,000 TABLE 2 Seat 1 - Donald Carlton - 476,000 Seat 2 - Nick Alafogiannis - 784,000 Seat 3 - Mark Zajdner - 324,000 Seat 4 - Dominic Staniscia - 428,000 Seat 5 - Glen Witmer - 491,000 Seat 6 - James Trenholm - 745,000 Seat 7 - Greg Ostrander - 235,000 Seat 8 - Bosko Basaric - 399,000 Seat 9 - Vivek "Flog" Rajkumar - 1,080,000 TABLE 3 Seat 1 - Gavin Smith - 979,000 Seat 2 - Ryan Fisler - 392,000 Seat 3 - Joe Zappia - 187,000 Seat 4 - Spiro Mikrogianakis - 225,000 Seat 5 - Miami John Cernuto - 92,000 Seat 6 - Erik Seidel - 851,000 Seat 7 - Martin Raus - 405,000 Seat 8 - Kathy Liebert - 879,000 Seat 9 - Todd Sisley - 143,000

Vivek Rajkumar Aims For Back-to-Back WPT Titles

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

WPT North American Poker Championship, Day 3 Recap By BJ Nemeth |:img:6172,R:|Twenty-six days ago, Vivek Rajkumar won the WPT Borgata Poker Open at the age of 22. Now he finds himself with the chip lead at the final three tables of the WPT North American Poker Championship. No player in history has ever won back-to-back WPT titles, but Rajkumar is poised to do just that. It won't be an easy path, as the next four players on the leaderboard are also accomplished pros: 1. Vivek "Flog" Rajkumar - 1,080,000 2. Gavin Smith - 979,000 3. Matt Matros - 943,000 4. Kathy Liebert - 879,000 5. Erik Seidel - 851,000 |:img:6213,R:|While Rajkumar is going for his piece of history, former WPT Player of the Year Gavin Smith is aiming for his first major poker victory on his native Canadian soil. Smith won the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown in Season IV, on his way to winning POY honors that year. Matt Matros is a columnist for Card Player Magazine, and finished third in the 2004 WPT World Championship. |:img:6209,L:|Kathy Liebert has won more money in live poker tournaments than any other woman in history. That includes Annie Duke (who won $2 million in the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions) and Annette Obrestad (who won a little more than $2 million in the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event). Liebert tops them both with more than $4.5 million in earnings. Liebert was the first woman to make a WPT final table (back in Season I), and she's hoping to become the first woman to win an open WPT event. |:img:6203,R:|Erik Seidel has earned more than $9 million in his live tournament career, including eight WSOP bracelets and his first WPT title in Foxwoods back in April. A definite future poker Hall of Famer, there's not much more that needs to be said about Seidel. Yes, there are 22 other players still in the hunt for the final table, and the odds are good that more than one of them will make it. But right now the path to this WPT title goes through the top five. Day 3 started with 99 players, and a little less than half (45) finished in the money. Two players busted on the verge of the money bubble (Mike "Timex" McDonald in 47th and Steve Sung in 46th), so there was no need for hand-to-hand play -- effectively, there was no money bubble. The close finish was particularly painful for Sung, who is less than $2,000 away from reaching the coveted $1 million mark in career WPT earnings. Day 4 begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 12:00 noon ET, and play will continue until they reach the final six players, who will return Thursday for the televised WPT final table. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for complete live coverage, with hand-by-hand coverage starting with the final two tables, along with chip counts, photos, and video interviews with Amanda Leatherman.

Star-Studded Top Five

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

We gathered chip counts from the final 27 players at the end of the day, and take a look at the names in the top five: |:img:6201,R:| 1. Vivek "Flog" Rajkumar - 1,080,000 2. Gavin Smith - 979,000 3. Matt Matros - 943,000 4. Kathy Liebert - 879,000 5. Erik Seidel - 851,000 Rajkumar is going for an unprecedented two WPT titles in a row, while Gavin Smith is going for his second WPT title, and his first on his home turf in Canada. Kathy Liebert is striving to become the first woman to win an open WPT event, and Erik Seidel just wants to add another WPT title to his long list of poker accomplishments. We'll post seating assignments for Day 4 as soon as they are released from the casino, along with a recap later tonight. Day 4 begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 12:00 noon ET, and we'll be providing complete live coverage, including every single hand from the final two tables, chip counts, photos, and video interviews with Amanda Leatherman.

Jimmy Fricke Senior Online Correspondent

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

Jason Potter On and Upswing

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

Play Ends

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

With the elimination of Yuksel Karayigit, the tournament is down to it's final 27 players. They will return tommorow at noon to play down to the final six.

Yuksel Karayigit Eliminated in 28th Place ($30,621 CAD / US $26,627)

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

|:img:6193,R:|Vivek Rajkumar raises to 30,000 from late position and Marc Karam moves all-in from the cut off. Yuksel Karayigit, small blind thinks for a while and calls for his tournament life. Vivek gets out of the way mucking an ace. Karam shows 99. Yuksel Karayigit shows AQ. The board comes 66577 giving Karam the pot and eliminating Yuksel Karayigit in 28th place.

Day 3 Will End With One More Bustout

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

With 28 players remaining and less than an hour left in Level 14, it is announced that play will end for the day as soon as the next player is eliminated. They are currently playing hand-for-hand, because there is also a jump in the prize money.

Survivor

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

Former Survivor contestant Jean-Robert Belland has made an appearance on the rail to support his friend Gavin Smith.

Mark Guthridge Eliminated in 29st Place ($30,621 CAD / US $26,627)

Level 40: 2,000,000-4,000,000, 300,000 ante

Mark Guthridge has been eliminated from todays action.