Money bubble reached and 378 players still playing at the WSOP Main Event

We’re at the countdown phase at the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.
 
As the field moves toward determining the final nine players in the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em World Championship, 378 participants return to the Rio Saturday.
 
Reza Kashani of Irvine, Calif., won’t be one of them.
 
He was eliminated Friday in 694th place at the tournament, the last player sent home as the money bubble was reached. A total of 693 players out of a starting field of 6,865 are being paid for their efforts, dividing up a prize pool of more than $64.5 million.
 
The 693rd player earned $19,359 in prize money.
 
Kashani was eliminated by Joseph Cheong of La Mirada, Calif., who happens to be the last remaining member of the 2010 Main Event final table still in the running for a seat in 2011.
 
But don’t feel too bad for Kashani. World Series of Poker officials announced they would pay his $10,000 entry fee into next year’s Main Event.
 
When play begins Saturday in Day 5, the chip leader is Manoj Viswanathan, who has more than 2.115 million in chips. Sam Barnhart, with 1.925 million and Pius Heinz, with 1.887 million, follow Viswanathan.
 
Ben Lamb, who is in the running for World Series of Poker’s Player of the Year and was Day 3’s chip leader, staged a rebound Friday and has a respectable 1.268 million in tournament chips.
 
Cheong, who finished third in last year’s Main Event, winning $4.13 million, has 862,000 in chips going into Saturday.
 
Day 4 with began Friday with 852 players and many notables were eliminated, including 1989 champion Phil Hellmuth Jr., who was seeking his 12th World Series of Poker individual event championship bracelet.
 
Also knocked out of the competition were 2002 champion Robert Varkonyi, former Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro and popular fan favorites Humberto Brenes, Jeff Madsen, Berry Johnston, Dennis Phillips and Vanessa Rousso.
 
Several notable players are still in running, including Jean Robert-Bellande (1.134 million in chips), former Players of the Year Daniel Negreanu (619,000), Allen Cunningham (582,000) and Erick Lindgren (492,000), and Darus Suharto (425,000).
 
Sometime in the early morning hours Wednesday, the nine-player final table will be determined with the participants returning to the Rio in November to play for the top prize of $8.7 million. Eight of the nine final players will win in excess of $1 million.