Jon "PearlJammer" Turner Headlines Strong Day 3 Field
Welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and the 2011 World Series of Poker for the third day of the Event #8: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
A massive starting field of 4,178 has been whittled down to just 59 players all with their eyes firmly set at that coveted piece of gold wrist-bling and its $611,185 first prize. However today - and most likely tomorrow - isn't going to be a cakewalk by any means as some highly-skilled and talented players still remain.
Known for his online prowess from when the first virtual card was dealt, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner kick-started early and ascended the leaderboard before eventually bagging an impressive 749,000 in chips - nearly 200,000 more then his nearest rival. Those rivals include Kyle Speake (573,000), Hunter Frey (535,000), Sadan Turker (487,000), Brandon Shane (482,000) and Christopher Goggin (464,000).
Poker tournament veteran Young Phan (268,000) sits with a healthy stack mainly courtesy of running 
into 
, while Albert Kim (246,000), John Eames (233,000), Jordan Young (221,000), Ricky Fohrenbach (174,000), David Peters (92,000), Eric Mizrachi (51,000) and females Valerie Cross (297,000) and Ana Marquez (197,000) all remain in contention to make a run at the eighth final table of the series.
However there is one name in the field that will definitely get some attention if he starts accumulating chips. That is reigning World Champion and PokerStars Team Canada Pro Jonathan Duhamel who sits just outside the top ten with 250,000 in chips. There is always a lot of pressure placed on the World Champion when they return to the location where their name was cast into spotlight, and although many have failed to meet the expectations people have placed on them, Duhamel is currently trying to defy the odds by proving that he has what it takes to be respected as one of the best the game has seen. And if he has any say in it - which he truly does - there is a good chance you'll see this Canadian in the final nine.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team have had their five-hour power sleep, grabbed a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice and are ready to provide some of the best live coverage in the business. Play is set to kick off at 2:30 pm PDT with the continuous live coverage being found here at PokerNews.com where every rivered flush, turned straight and flopped set will be blogged live from Day 3 of Event #8: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em and the 2011 World Series of Poker!