Money Bubble Bursts on Day 4 of WSOP, Over 300 Collect Paychecks

During the second level of Day 4 of 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, 693 players realized that they had made the money and were due a minimum of $19,359. A roar went up in the Amazon room as Reza Kashani was announced as the tournament bubble boy, but given a free entry into the 2012 WSOP as a consolation prize for not making the money. Once the pressure was off, the bustouts came fast and furious the rest of the day as short stacks that were nursing to get into the money had nothing to lose. The goal now was to accumulate chips and fast.

Over the next three hours of play another 315 players bust out to end the day with 378 players after Day 4.

Manoj Viswanathan, a 32-year-old New Yorker playing in his first WSOP main event, had a tremendous day, more than quadrupling his starting stack to end with over two million chips. Not only had he accomplished his main goal of cashing, but he had soared up the leaderboard all day. Previous chip leader, Sam Barnhart, winner of the first WSOPC National Championship which earned him a gold bracelet as close behind in second with 1.9 million in chips.

Other notable players near the top of the chip counts include Lars Bonding, Max Heinzelmann, Bryan Devonshire, Ben Lamb, Fred Berger, Mark Newhouse, Amanda Musumeci, David Bach, Jean-Robert Bellande, Peter Feldman and J.P. Kelly who all have over a million chips going into Day 5. Players will face blinds of 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante to start Day 5 with the average at roughly 545k.

All the players will need to play several more days if they plan to be a member of the November 9 who will each earn a minimum of $782,115 and keep their sights on the title and $8.7 million.


Official Top 10 Chip Counts

1. Manoj Viswanathan - 2,115,000
2. Sam Barnhart - 1,925,000
3. Heinz Pius - 1,887,000
4. Stephane Albertini - 1,867,000
5. Daryl Jace - 1,849,000
6. Lars Bonding - 1,813,000
7. Kyle Johnson - 1,761,000
8. Matt Kay - 1,756,000
9. Mazin Khoury - 1,707,000
10. Max Heinzelmann - 1,672,000

The most notable bustout before the money was clearly 11-time WSOP champion Phil Hellmuth who had nursed a small stack masterfully before misplaying pocket 3's. Fellow WSOP champions Berry Johnston and Robert Varkonyi (514th) also bust on the day.

Some notable players that bust after the money bubble burst include David Diaz (379th), Todd Brunson (394th), Jordan Smith (418th), Ronnie Bardah (453rd), Chris Bjorin (460th, his fourth consecutive main event cash), Blair Hinkle (498th), Sam Simon (500th), Vanessa Rousso (511th), Dennis Phillips (557th), Russell Rosenblum (588th), Steve Gross (593rd), Lee Childs (616th), Adam Junglen (623rd), Steve O'Dwyer, Shannon Shorr (633rd) and $25,000 heads-up champion Jake Cody (647th).

Popular player Daniel Negreanu had a see-saw day, but ended on a high of over 600k. Negreanu will be on the "mothership" featured table on Day 5 with Jean-Robert Bellande who has over a million.

Negreanu and Bellande aren't the only poker pros or stars that might challenge for the title as Erick Lindgren (492,000 in chips), Joe Tehan (893,000), 2010 main event third-place finisher Joseph Cheong (862,000), Eli Elezra (779,000), Matt Stout (750,000), Sami Kelopuro (845,000), Kevin Saul (739,000), Allen Cunningham (582,000), David Sands (457,000) and Jon Turner (490,000) are all battling into Day 5.

Established players who are on the featured tables have already admitted to using that additional information from the 30 minute delayed streaming ESPN3.com and ESPN2 coverage offers.