Things are coming to a head at the World Series of Poker. Today, the play went on until there were only 27 players left in the tournament, otherwise corresponding to the final three tables. From this point it is going to be a sprint to the final table, which we should know about by the time play ends tomorrow.

Unfortunately for people that were hoping for a repeat of the 2008 magic, Peter Eastgate will not be around to fight for the WSOP title in 2009 any longer. The defending champion was actually eliminated from play soon after the last update was posted and in fact did not even make it to sit down at a table for the play today. Joining him as spectators over the course of today were some of the remaining big names such as Joe Sebok and Prahlad Friedman.

In spite of that, two big names remain in the tournament, much to the delight of people that would like nothing better than to see a professional hold the Main Event title once more. Phil Ivey has the fourth largest chip stack in the room at 11.35 million going into tomorrow’s play while Antonio Esfandiari is still alive and kicking with a chip stack worth 4.47 million. It seems as though the ESPN intro writes itself with these two players at the helm, so don’t be surprised if in a few months that is the cold open you see being narrated when the final three table day is broadcast over the network.

While Ivey is definitely a strong favourite at this point and Esfandiari is certainly still in the running with his poker expertise, all eyes are on the chip leader. Darvin Moon took over the chip lead yesterday and with a gigantic 5 million pot towards the end of the day managed to retake it from Billy Kopp, the man that held it for most of the day. Moon has over 20 million in chips and Kopp is second with nearly 16 million, making them the two stacks to keep your eye on when the action resumes tomorrow.