After another 5 full levels day 3 play is complete, with a mere 24 players left with chips. The last level of the day saw some action, excitement and big pots. Some standard, some leaving eyebrows raised and heads shaking. At the end of play John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu and Justin “Boosted J” Smith (below left) had the biggest piles in front of them and will lead the way starting day 4 play tomorrow.

Brian “sbrugby” Townsend came out on the good end of one of the head shakers. In a pot where Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman was raised preflop by Townsend, and then Townsend was raised by Ivan Demidov things got whacky. Fischman decided to put in another raise, enough to commit him to the pot were either Townsend or Demidov willing to go all in.

Brian went into the tank for a long time before finally putting the rest of his chips in. Once Demidov passed it was back to Fischman who had to call the few more chips no matter his holding. He did, turning over the solid holding of T-2 offsuit. Townsend had one of the very few hands he could have in this spot with his pocket kings.

“I wasn’t trying to bluff you,” Fischman said after the hand. “I was trying to bluff him,” indicating Demidov. Townsend waking up with kings put a kink in Fischman’s plan and cost him 200k chips that ended up going to Townsend who finished the day with 424,500.

The top 3 all finished with over 600k, with John Juanda and his 657,500 just ahead of Negreanu’s 653,000. Smith is not far behind with 624,500. All three have had a lot of chips for most of the tournament and are playing really well with large stacks in front of them.

For Peter “#1Pen” Neff (right) his 213,500 is less than he would like to have, especially after spiking up to around 400k late in the day, but he is still in decent shape and has plenty of chips to work with relative to the blind levels for the first few levels tomorrow. The first level of play tomorrow will be at 2,500 / 5k with a 500 ante and the next level goes to 3k / 6k with a 1k ante.

While Neff has 42 big blinds to start the day Tim “Tmay420″ West is in a familiar spot. His 63,500 represents just over 12 big blinds. He has been hanging around with just over 10 big blinds for most of the tournament, his patience never waning. Tim will be looking for a quick start tomorrow to give him some room to work.

A full rundown of the players still in, their chip counts and tomorrows starting table and seat are listed below. Day 4 play will take the field down to the final 9.

• October 1, 2008 -- Boosted Busted, Townsend Gone Too
• September 29, 2008 -- Finish Strong, Day 2 Complete
• October 1, 2008 -- One Level, 6 Players Down
• October 1, 2008 -- WSOPE Day 4, West Out Early

With only 27 players left, the field is stacked with big names and great players.  The field has been consolidated to only 3 tables all under the scrutiny of ESPN’s producers and camera crews.  With the players left, the television coverage of the World Series of Poker Europe, presented by Betfair, should make for great ratings and exciting TV.

Justin “Boosted J” Smith continues to pace the field with his 600k in chips.  Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, and Johnny Lodden are all near the top of the pack as well.

Here are some of the notables at each table.  Tim “Tmay420″ West has Juanda, Peter “#1Pen” Neff and Andy Bloch to deal with among others.  The table with Negreanu and Mike Matusow would be sure to get a lot of attention and make for good TV no matter what, but throw Smith in with the chip lead to give the two talkers someone to shoot at and it could get very interesting. 

The third table hosts a slew of recognizable names.  Brandon Adams, Erik Seidel, Johnny Lodden, Fischman, Brian “sbrugby” Townsend and member of the November Nine Ivan Demidov are all at the table. 

The final 27 are in the last level of the day and all that remain will come back tomorrow to play down to the final table of nine players.

• September 30, 2008 -- Juanda, Negreanu, Boosted J Lead The Way into Day 4
• September 30, 2008 -- Garza Ousted, Moorman Doubles; 45 Left
• October 1, 2008 -- One Level, 6 Players Down
• September 29, 2008 -- Finish Strong, Day 2 Complete

After the money was reached the rest of the level saw a player drop out about every 10 mintes for the remaining time in the level.  Seven players busted before the end of the fourth level of the day, leaving only 29 players.  The final 29 are on break and will return to play one more level for the night.

Peter “breeth” Turmezey was one of the eliminations, falling out when his A5 lost to KQ.  Both players flopped a pair but Turmezey’s pair of fives was no good against his opponent’s flopped pair of queens.  When Turmezey moved in on the river his opponent called with his top pair to send Turmezey off to collect the 31st place prize of £25,340.  One pound is roughly worth 2 US dollars.

Josh Arieh was also sidelined, ending up in 33rd place for the same payout as Turmezey.  Mike Matusow took a hit when he ran pocket kings into pocket aces, but is still in with around 150k after doubling up Robin Ketson.

Who is atop the chip counts?  None other than the super steady Justin “Boosted J” Smith (right).  Justin was able to pad his stack after flopping a set against Erik Seidel.  Erik paid off a river bet to the tune of 68,900, helping t boost Boosted J’s stack to over 600k.  Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman is over 500k now, only trailing Smith in the chip counts.

Peter “#1Pen” Neff and Tim “Tmay420″ West are both still holding steady as the players around them continue to fall from the action. 

• October 1, 2008 -- Boosted Busted, Townsend Gone Too
• September 30, 2008 -- Juanda, Negreanu, Boosted J Lead The Way into Day 4
• September 30, 2008 -- Stacked 27
• September 30, 2008 -- Moorman Misses The Money

After losing with kings to aces it wasn’t long before Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman (left) had the rest of his chips in the middle.  With the field still sitting on 38 players Moorman moved in for just under 40k and Andy Bloch called with AK.  Moorman had a fighting chance with his pocket fives until an ace hit on the flop to bust Chris in 38th place.

Before official hand for hand play could begin there was another elimination right behind Moorman’s over at the feature table where Stephen Ladowsky was also all in against AK.  Ladowsky had queens, but a king on the flop did the trick for Peter “breeth” Turmezey to eliminate Ladowsky in 37th place and put all the remaining players into the money. 

Turmezey had recently lost a pot after flopping a set of deuces on an all club board.  The fourth club hit on the river and when both players checked his opponents ten of clubs was good enough to beat Peter’s set.

In the money:
Brian “sbrugby” Townsend
Tim “Tmay420″ West
Peter “#1Pen” Neff
Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman
Justin “Boosted J” Smith
Peter “breeth” Turmezey

• September 30, 2008 -- Dropping Fast
• September 30, 2008 -- West Cracks 100k, Moorman Coolered
• September 30, 2008 -- Peter Prospers, Townsend Tumbles
• September 30, 2008 -- Garza Ousted, Moorman Doubles; 45 Left

Aces agaist kings, what can you do?  The debate of whether you can ever fold kings preflop floats around and some come up with ways to get off the hand, but not many people can find a way to dump kings preflop in a pot played only 2 ways.  Add to that being on the money bubble of a major tournament and the fold becomes all but impossible (unless you are folding to cash and not playing to win). 

Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman ran his pocket kings head on into the pocket aces of Johnny Lodden, making Lodden the new chip leader of the tournament and leaving Moorman with under 100k.  After the double up Lodden has around 550k, taking over 200k off of Moorman in the hand.  Chris isn’t out of it yet, though he has some work to do with the 70k or so chips left in his stack and the demoralizing blow of running kings into aces in such a crucial situation.

After playing for over 2 and a half days as a short stack, Tim “Tmay420″ West (right) has cracked the 100k mark after doubling through Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman.  West had A-J all in preflop against the pocket queens of Fischman, but an ace on the flop gave him the lead and ultimately the pot worth about 120k.  He is better off than he was, but West is still below the chip average of 190k at this point.

The after dinner money bubble play rolls on, 2 players short of making the money.

• September 27, 2008 -- All Day For A Quarter, Day 1A Complete
• September 30, 2008 -- Peter Prospers, Townsend Tumbles
• September 30, 2008 -- Garza Ousted, Moorman Doubles; 45 Left
• September 30, 2008 -- Haxton Axed