If you want to have a better understanding of why the Players Championship is such a prestigious tournament, the reason is that you are sure to get everyone’s ‘A’-Game, and here is why.

With a $50,000 buy-in squeaking into the money in the Players Championship at the World Series of Poker is quite different than making the money in a $1,500 or even $5k tournament. Think of it this way; if Phil Hellmuth or Daniel Negreanu bubble the $5k NLHE tournament their bankroll takes about a $15k hit, but if they bubble the $50k Players Championship the swing is $150,000, considering a min-cash pays $108,503!

With three full days of play in the books the 2011 version of the $50k Players Championship is still 13 spots from bursting that money bubble as 29 players remain, with only 16 of those players able to make the money.

Among the players in contention are WSOP POY leader Ben Lamb; 2011 bracelet winner Brian Rast; and the big name firepower of Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Barry Greenstein, and a short-stacked Phil Galfond.

Here is a look at the top 10 chip counts in the tournament:

1. Josh Arieh – 1,819,000

2. Brian Rast – 1,633,000

3. George Lind – 1,304,000

4. Vladimir Shchemelev – 1,181,000

5. Phil Hellmuth – 1,174,000

6. Scott Seiver – 1,137,000

7. Jon Turner – 948,000

8. Jason Lester – 948,000

9. Yan Chen – 887,000

10. Gus Hansen – 774,000

Results courtesy of wsop.com

Tags: Arieh, Barry Greenstein, Contention, Daniel Negreanu, Firepower, Gus, Gus Hansen, Jon Turner, Lamb, Lind, Phil Galfond, phil hellmuth, Players Championship, Prestigious Tournament, Series Of Poker, Swing, Vladimir, world series, World Series of Poker, Yan Chen

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