Another day, another session in the WPT Championship at the Bellagio. Well, on this particular day only 17 players out of the original 545 get to come back and unpack chips out of a sealed up plastic bag in preparation for a day of play. Over the last four days of play the field has been cut to the sweet sixteen +1 and after today it will just be the final 6.

Here are the chip counts going into today’s play:
Final 17 Chip Counts:
Amir Vahedi - 3,907,000
Gus Hansen - 2,929,000
Tom “durrrr” Dwan - 2,874,000
David Tran - 2,543,000
Nhan Le - 1,950,000
Jeff King - 1,903,000
David Chiu - 1,742,000
Mike Gracz - 1,674,000
Karga Holt - 1,500,000
Kenny Tran - 1,442,000
Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll - 1,346,000
Robert Mizrachi - 1,079,000
Bryan Devonshire - 984,000
Nick Binger - 701,000
John Roveto - 556,000
Jeff Shulman - 473,000
Andy Black - 411,000

• April 24, 2008 -- Down to 10
• April 23, 2008 -- Stalled at 19
• April 24, 2008 -- WPT Championship Day 5 Gallery
• April 23, 2008 -- Billirakis Busted

After a long session of being one off the final 2 tables play has finally concluded for the night with the elimination of Mark Newhouse. The schedule for today was 5 levels or down to the final 18, whichever came first. Throughout the day it looked like 18 would be reached pretty early in the day, but it ended up taking all but the last 45 minutes of the 5th level to cut the field down to two tables.

Amir Vahedi did the dirty work, eliminating Newhouse and ending play. Vahedi’s pocket deuces held up against Mark’s AT all in preflop. Scott Epstein was also eliminated at another table in a hand going on at the same time as Newhouse’s elimination hand. They will finish in 19th and 18th place and both will get $105,525.

Final 17 Chip Counts:
Amir Vahedi - 3,907,000
Gus Hansen - 2,929,000
Tom “durrrr” Dwan - 2,874,000 (right)
David Tran - 2,543,000
Nhan Le - 1,950,000
Jeff King - 1,903,000
David Chiu - 1,742,000
Mike Gracz - 1,674,000
Karga Holt - 1,500,000
Kenny Tran - 1,442,000
Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll - 1,346,000
Robert Mizrachi - 1,079,000
Bryan Devonshire - 984,000
Nick Binger - 701,000
John Roveto - 556,000
Jeff Shulman - 473,000
Andy Black - 411,000

• April 23, 2008 -- Stalled at 19
• April 23, 2008 -- Billirakis Busted
• April 24, 2008 -- WPT Championship Day 5
• April 23, 2008 -- Redraw at 27

The field got down to the final 19 pretty quickly, but with only one more elimination needed to end play for the day the action has stalled. Or at least the bustouts have. Andy Black was the short stack on the verge of elimination but each time he was involved in a hand he was able to win the pot and has built back up to a more playable stack.

Gus Hansen, Amir Vahedi, Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll, and Tom “durrrr” Dwan are still leading the pack at this point, though one of Black’s double ups was through Carroll.

• April 24, 2008 -- WPT Championship Day 5
• April 23, 2008 -- Billirakis Busted
• April 23, 2008 -- Final 18
• April 23, 2008 -- Redraw at 27

Steve “MrSmokey1″ Billirakis (left) moved all in for his last 314k from late position and Kenny Tran made the call. Tran had pocket tens which left Billirakis looking for an ace on the board to pair his overcard. Steve’s A9 did not improve though and he was eliminated in 23rd place for $79,145.

With only 22 players left Gus Hansen continues to pull away from the pack and is nearing the 4 million chip mark. Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll is his closest competition with 2.7 million and Tom durrrr” Dwan is still right around 2 million along with Amir Vahedi, David Tran and David Chiu.

• April 23, 2008 -- Redraw at 27
• April 23, 2008 -- Gus Still At The Top
• April 23, 2008 -- Stalled at 19
• April 23, 2008 -- Day 3 Complete, Late Eliminations

The World Poker Tour Championship is down to the final 3 tables. The last 27 players redrew for new seats after the elimination of Vadim Trincher in 28th place and are now back at the tables to play down to the final 18. Once the field is reduced to two tables play will break for today and players will come back tomorrow to play down to the final 6.

Gus Hansen still leads the pack with Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and David Chiu trailing along behind him but still at the top of the pack.

Steve “MrSmokey1″ Billirakis is also still in, but at around 500k will have to make something happen pretty soon to maintain a viable stack in the tournament.

• April 23, 2008 -- Billirakis Busted
• April 23, 2008 -- Gus Still At The Top
• April 23, 2008 -- Day 3 Complete, Late Eliminations
• April 23, 2008 -- Stalled at 19