WSOP 2015 Main Event - Only 69 Remain

From the huge number of 6,400 and change, the Main Event of World Series of Poker 2015 has been reduced to just about 1% of that number. There are only 69 players still with chips in front of them and these 69 can now seriously start dreaming about the final table. After all, it is only 60 busts away!

The day started with 237 players yesterday and for 168 of them it was light out at one point or another during the day. There were quite a few big names still remaining in the field, but that number has now been seriously reduced to but a few.

Showers!

While it would be a real delight for the fans out there to see a number of well known names heading into the final days of the Main Event, that's simply not how the cookie crumbled this time around. One after another, pros were sent to the rail with their dreams postponed for at least another year.

Jim Bechtel was the only remaining ME champion in the crowd and he started yesterday with a decent stack, but that fact didn't do much for him as he was eliminated in 121st spot, making it official that there will be no new-old champion.

Others whose names were removed from the chip count lists and substituted with corresponding payouts included UK favorite Jake Cody, Vitaly Lunkin, Men 'The Master' Nguyen, Dan O'Brien, Brandon Adams, Antonio Esfandiari and Jarred Jaffe.

113th place. Guy played his hand really well I had pretty mandatory bluff spot but he had the nuts

— Jake Cody (@JakeCody) July 13, 2015

Game on

Showers are certainly painful for the players eliminated but on the other hand, at this point in the Main Event, everybody still in knows that every exit is one important step to the most coveted poker bracelet that has been crafted.

While there are no more Main Event winners in the field, there is still a handful of players bearing a banner for the pros. Leading that pack is Brian Hastings with 4.7 million chips, which is good for the 10th place on the overall leaderboard.

Joseph McKeehan, who started the chip leader yesterday, lost some traction but he is still in with a very healthy stack of almost 3.7 million. Hot on his heels is Daniel Negreanu, who bagged 3.6 million.

End day 5 of WSOP main event with 3,620,000 70 players left avg is 2.75 million. This is fun.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) July 13, 2015

Max Steinberg will be unloading 4.3 million on the table at the start of the play today, while Fedor 'CrownUpGuy' Holz has just shy of 2 million. All of these mentioned have a decent shot at making November Nine, but having 'KidPoker' at the final table would certainly make for a great TV.

Big stacks

Being a big name and having a lot of experience is a plus, but having a big stack of chips might be even better at this point in the Main. The man leading the way in that regard is Belgian player Pierre Neuville who ended yesterday with 7.1 million, which was good enough for an overall lead. Neauville has a total of 19 WSOP cashes so far and more than $500,000 in earnings from the Series alone, while his total live earning amount to $2.1 million. The man sitting in the second spot of the Belgium All Time Money list certainly knows how to play some poker, so he is a force to be reckoned with.

@pierre_neuville is writing history being the first #belgian chipleader at the wsop with less than 100 players still in the field #WSOP2015

— Bram Cops (@BramCops) July 13, 2015

Occupying second and third spot on the chip count leaderboard are two U.S. players with 6.5 and 6.1 million respectively. David Stefanski and Thomas Paul are not what you'd call big names, but should they survive just a couple of days more that is very likely to change.

With all players now guaranteed $96k and change the play will continue today until there are 27 players remaining. We are only two days away from finding out the names of the November Nine - who will make it and who will fall just short?