The third day of the 2008 WSOP saw the star-studded field of the $10k Pot-Limit Hold'Em event telescoped into a final table that was equally glittering. Meanwhile, in the $1,500 event, the final number of players fell just short of the headline-grabbing 4,000 figure that Harrah's must have wanted. Even so, they'll be more than delighted at having created the biggest-ever field for a non-Main Event tournament.

And while the $1,500 event provided a real spectacle, all eyes were focused firmly on the first final table of the WSOP.

Anyone expecting a slow start was shown to be barking up the wrong tree as Patrik Antonius ended up all-in first hand with kings against Phil Laak's jacks. The Unabomber spiked a knave, but the newest Full Tilt pro managed the always-favorable re-suck, catching his king on the river.

Laak was crippled and went out soon after, still holding his unwanted membership in the club of well-known pros who've yet to win a bracelet. Mike Sowers then went out in spectacular style, running 9♥ 4♠ into Mike Sexton's queens.

Antonius also remains a member of the "No Bracelet" club. He came close last year in the $10k PLO that Robert Mizrachi won, but yesterday the Flying Finn ran kings into Kathy Liebert's aces and hence he will have to wait that little bit longer.

Antonius in the $10k PLO final last year.

Chris Bell and Amit Makhija went out soon after to leave three Americans and one Canadian vying for the opening bracelet. At this point, Andy Bloch had a huge chip lead, and all signs pointed to him finally picking up his first bracelet on this, his birthday.

Nenad Medic won a crucial double-up to leave Mike Sexton, now better known for his WPT commentary, calling for a stretcher.

With nothing but shrapnel left, Kathy Liebert put him out of his misery, before she herself was eliminated in a huge coup involving all three players. Medic had raised from the button; Liebert moved in with sixes from the small blind, and Bloch reraised to isolate with a pair of nines.

The Canadian was more than happy to call all-in for his stack with queens, though, and hit a third queen on the flop, leaving the others drawing dead on the turn.

The heads-up luckily didn't go on as long as the last time Andy Bloch was competing for a bracelet, when he lost after eight grueling hours to Chip Reese in the $50k H.O.R.S.E two years ago. Eventually Medic's more aggressive style coupled with his dominating chip lead paid off, as the two got it all-in on a 8♥ 5♠ 4♥ board, Bloch holding 9♥ 9♦ for the overpair while Medic showed 7♥ 5♥ for the "everything" draw.

Aaargh, second again!

The J♥ hit the turn, and Medic managed to avoid Bloch's redraw to a better flush on the 5♣ river, making him the first bracelet winner of 2008 and grossing him almost $800,000 in cash, while Bloch was forced to be the bridesmaid once more.

In the other event, yesterday's 2,000+ field had melted away quickly enough that play was stopped a few minutes into Level 9. Players of 1b were afforded an equally short day, ensuring that only a minority of those playing tomorrow won't make the money.

The last two Main Event Winners, Jerry Yang and Jamie Gold, were early casualties on this day, while another former Champion, Scotty Nguyen, joined them soon after. Meanwhile, it was yet another ME winner, Carlos Mortensen, who took the lead in the early running, though he too would not survive past the end of the day.

The superaggressive styles of John Phan and Kenny Tran appeared to be optimal as both players accumulated big stacks, though the latter was fortunate in eliminating Rolf Slotboom with jacks against queens for most of his stack late in the day.

Day 1b's chip leader.

By the end of the day, David Bach was leading the way with over $110k, having won a huge pot with a turned ace-high flush against a king-high flush made at the same time. Elsewhere, EPT Prague Winner Arnaud Mattern finished the day with a healthy $60k stack, with FullTilt PokerPro Mark Vos also in the running.

The day however belongs to the winner of the opening event, Nenad Medic, who'll no doubt be looking to add more bracelets later on in the series. If you want to take your shot at joining him at the WSOP then click here.