WSOP 2007 down to 337 players

Varkonyi, world champion 2002, still in the match after three days

The alternative cost of busting out was constantly rising as 800 players fought it out on Day 3 of the 2007 WSOP Main Event. After 13 hours of play, more than half of them had paid the price and gone for an unlimited break.

The show must go on, and so it did. The 796 survivors from Day 2A and 2B gathered at the Rio and put all their chips at stake, once again.

After about six hours of play, the much feared bubble was burst by this year's most unhappy player, John Sigan from Strongsville, Ohio. At least he can play for a new shot next year in the Bubble Playoff this afternoon.

Many big names have been eliminated, but a few remain. Ted Forrest, Todd Brunson and Chris Ferguson will have to wait another year to win the WSOP title (again, for Ferguson).

Robert Varkonyi, Carlos Mortensen and Scotty Nguyen are still playing, and Gus Hansen remains a major threat in ninth place with just above one million in chips.

Chip leader Dario Minieri started the day with 340,000 in chips and worked his way up in a patented lose-aggressive fashion to a sizeable chip stack of 2.4 million.