Hand #1: Brett Shaffer raised to 50,000 and won the blinds and antes.
Hand #2: Aleksandr Gofman raised to 50,000 and Jim Jakobsen three-bet to 155,000 and won the pot.
Hand #3: Matt Stout raised to 56,000 and Jason Vanstrom pushed all in. Stout made the call and we had a race.
Stout:
Vanstrom:
Stout's pair were better by a small margin, and when the board fell , his pair held as the best hand. Vanstrom was eliminated in ninth place and earned himself $29,658.
RJ Sullivan raised it up to 50,000 from middle position and Steven McNally took a minute before pushing his stack all in from the big blind. Sullivan made the call with the bigger stand and McNally's tournament was at risk, though he was way ahead preflop.
Sullivan:
McNally:
McNally was safe and looking to double on the flop of as well as the turn of and his rail was excitedly anticipating his big double. Then Sullivan spiked the on the river and McNally's supporters erupted with a loud, "Oh!"
McNally was eliminated in 10th place and earned $23,317 for his run.
Steven McNally pushed all in from middle position and Michael Souza came over the top from the cutoff before all other players folded their hands.
McNally:
Souza:
Souza was in need of some help if he were to survive the hand, as he had the shorter stack. The board ran out and he didn't find any of the cards he needed. Souza was eliminated in 11th place for $36,975.
As we are now 10-handed, players have been combined and are taking seats on the feature table. We'll have a seating chart with chip stacks shortly.
Eric Spitzer was all in preflop and Aleksandr Gofman had made the call, putting Spitzer at risk.
Spitzer:
Gofman:
Spitzer was way behind and in trouble, needing one of the two remaining fours or running cards. The dealer fanned out a board of and Spitzer was busted in 12th place.
Matt Stout had Kyle Weir all in preflop and Weir's tournament life was on the line.
Stout:
Weir:
Weir was slightly ahead as the dealer fanned out a board of . Weir had paired his ace but unfortunately for him it was the fourth spade on the board and Stout's flush eliminated Weir in 13th place.
Jonnie Kedj is our first elimination of the day. He pushed his stack in from the hijack seat and was called by Aleksandr Gofman in the small blind.
Kedj:
Gofman:
Kedj was looking good for an early double, and the flop of kept him in the lead, though it added the gutshot straight draw to Gofman's outs. The turn was the and changed nothing. But the river delivered the and Gofman hit his straight, knocking out Kedj in 15th place for $18,583.
Day 3, the last day of this WSOP Event #31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, will get started at 1 p.m. today with 15 players returning to play for the $418,435 first-place prize and the WSOP gold bracelet that will mark the eventual champion's achievement.
When players rip open their bags today, Matt Stout will be pouring out the most chips. He is the only player who has crossed the million-chip mark this tournament, and he did so in the final hand of play on Day 2. He flopped top set on a board of and stacked Alessandro Bardaro who had jacks for an overpair. Stout will be sitting behind a tower of 1,130,000 when play begins today.
Aleksander Gofman isn't too far behind and will have the second-largest stack with 951,000, followed by Brett Shaffer with 812,000. Everyone else has less than 700K and will be looking to catch up.
Follow along here at PokerNews to stay updated on all the action as this event will award a bracelet today.
, his pair held as the best hand. Vanstrom was eliminated in ninth place and earned himself $29,658.
as well as the turn of 
and his rail was excitedly anticipating his big double. Then Sullivan spiked the 
on the river and McNally's supporters erupted with a loud, "Oh!"
and he didn't find any of the cards he needed. Souza was eliminated in 11th place for $36,975.
and Spitzer was busted in 12th place.
kept him in the lead, though it added the gutshot straight draw to Gofman's outs. The turn was the 
and changed nothing. But the river delivered the 
and stacked Alessandro Bardaro who had jacks for an overpair. Stout will be sitting behind a tower of 1,130,000 when play begins today.