UNDER 100 PLAYERS LEFT IN WSOP MAIN EVENT MIDWAY THROUGH DAY 6
Players are busting out fast!
 
The 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship continued today with Day Six of the world’s biggest and richest poker tournament.  As of Sunday at mid-day, less than 100 players currently remain alive in the world championship.
 
The day began with 148 players who had survived five grueling days of tournament competition.  But two full levels and four hours later, one-third of the field has now been carved away, leaving less than 100 aspiring champions with their eyes on the ultimate poker prize – poker’s world championship, a gold and diamond bracelet, and $8,711,956 in prize money.
 
As of 4 pm (PST) on Sunday, the chip leader is Phil Collins (no relation to the pop singer).  Shortly before the mid-day break, he became the first player in the tournament to cross the 10,000,000-chip mark.  By contrast, the second-ranked player at the time had about 6,500,000 in chips.  Collins, a 26-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas (originally from Rockford, IL) is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.
 
Other notable Day Six developments so far include the continuing success of two notable players, who have made names for themselves in other arenas outside of poker.  Chamath Palihapitiya (Palo Alto, CA) just finished in 101st place in the tournament.  He is a former venture capitalist who was an original executive with Facebook until earlier this year.  Another notable player still in the hunt is Matt Salsberg, Executive Producer of the Showtime TV series, “Weeds.”  He was also a producer of the HBO series, “Entourage.”

Some notable names that remain very much alive in the Main Event include – Ben Lamb (Tulsa, OK), David Bach (Athens, GA), Bryan Devonshire (Henderson, NV), Tyler Bonkowski (Regina, Canada), Sam Barnhart (Little Rock, AR), J.P. Kelly (Aylesbury, UK), John Esposito (Las Vegas, NV), Peter Gelencser (Budapest, Hungary), Tony Hachem (Northcote, Australia), Sorel Mizzi (Toronto, Canada), Steve Brecher (Reno, NV), Fred Berger (Baton Rouge, LA), Erick Lindgren (Las Vegas, NV), Allen Cunningham (Newport Beach, CA)and others.

However, several well-known players were not so fortunate during the first half of Day Six.  Among those who busted out and hit the rail was Joseph Cheong (La Mirada, CA) -- who finished third in last year’s Main Event.  He ended up in 114th place, which is still a remarkable two-year run.  Another notable player eliminated was Peter Feldman (Las Vegas, NV), the local poker pro, as well as well known poker personality Eli Elezra who finished in 107th place.  At press time, players from 17 different countries hit the rail in the first four hours of Day Six.
 
Every player that remains in the tournament is now guaranteed to receive at least $64,531 in prize money.  A complete list of PAYOUTS can be seen here.
 
ESPN2 will coverage the last four hours of play tonight from 7-11 pm Las Vegas time. 

Day Six will include two more full levels of play, which is four total hours of competition.  Play is expected to conclude at 10:45 pm (PST).  Players who survive will then come back on Monday for Day Seven, which leaves just two more days remaining before the 2011 “November Nine” are known.

RESULTS, LIVE UPDATES, and CHIP COUNTS for all remaining players can be seen here.