From our Made Hand Poker blog by Mark Scalia.

As the $10,000 WSOP Main Event is well underway, many big name stars remain.

Jamie Gold was eliminated Monday, and as we entered Day 3, Gus Hansen was on top with over $600,000 in chips. Six former champions remained,

Chris Ferguson, one of the former champions, busted early in the day leaving five.

At the end of Day 3, the money bubble has burst and 337 players remain in contention for poker’s greatest prize. Atop the leader board is a familiar face to the online world, Italian sensation Dario Minieri with 2,398,000 in chips. Dario plays in the highest games on Pokerstars and recently purchased an Aston Martin using his Pokerstars Frequent Player Points…

Remarkably, five former champions made it through the day and are still left in the field: Huck Seed (544,000), Robert Varkonyi (424,00), Scotty Nguyen (321,000), Carlos Mortensen (284,000), and Berry Johnston (203,000).

Actor Tobey Maguire has survived the money bubble and is still in the hunt with 131,000 in chips, and numerous pros are also still left including Gus Hansen (currently 11th), Lee Watkinson, Chad Brown, Jason Lester, Daniel Alaei, Humberto Brenes and Mimi Tran among others.

Daniel Negreanu started out big in the tourney, winning pot after pot with his aggressive play, but he fell hard and busted late Wednesday.

With so many pros and former champions left, this Main Event is looking like a good one.

Television coverage of the smaller events started this week on ESPN. Tune in at 8 p.m.