Among them were Kevin Williams, Tristan McDonald, and James Mitchell, all of whom were proud members of the Vegas Prize Fund promotion in which 2% of any of their winnings would be spread equally among Black Belt Poker's Orange, Purple, and Green Belts.
It was of no surprise that the community were watching with the keenest of eyes.
Sadly, Tristan's venture was destined to go no further as he dropped before the close of play. A silent assassin of sorts, Tristan boasts two final tables at the Amsterdam Master Classics, and has cashed in the WSOP Main Event twice before - but on this day, it was close, but no cigar.
"I had 78K heading into the day," reported Tristan, "which rose to 90K when I knocked out a short stack with Q-Q versus K-J suited. It went downhill from there when Freddy Deeb joined my table.
"In one hand, I raised Q-Q, the button three-bet, and Freddy cold-called. I four-bet, the button folded, and Freddy called again. The A-K-J two-heart flop was checked down, as well as the 2h turn, before he bet me off the 9d river. It was too much for me to call.
"After that," he continued, "I lost a bit pot against Kelly Kim with A-T versus 5-5 with a T-5-2 flop, and then squeezed my final 15 big blinds with A-5. I was called by A-T which made the nut flush. It's the first time I've ever been out on Day 3."
Whilst Tristan's day witnessed more troughs than peaks, Kevin's stack was up and down like a kangaroo on a trampoline, before eventually settling on virtually the same figure he'd started the day with.
"I got rivered for a 90K pot early with a straight versus trips on flushing board," he revealed, "but I could have gone broke. I doubled up with A-A versus A-K to get back up to 90K, and then got some bets through to climb right up to 143K. I stationed my way to 196K, before dropping back down to 100K, and then recovering to 192,800.
"After dinner, I moved to the same table as the chip leader, which had lots of cameras hovering around it. It was a bit of a grind from here, and I ended up with 30 big blinds in the last level, before eventually ending the day on 95,000 - more chips than I started, just not by very much."
Despite his efforts, the star of the show, and the biggest hope for the Vegas Prize Fund is 2010 Irish Open Champion James Mitchell, who takes 260,000 into Day 4 after commencing the day with 213,000. Having failed to cash at this year's Series, James is odds on to break that duck as the money nears.
Just 720 bagged up chips at the final whistle, including poker phenoms Vanessa Selbst (814,000), Sorel Mizzi (738,000), and Marcel Luske (602,000), whilst Britain's young guns are also in with a shot with Daniel Rudd (834,500), Craig McCorkell (638,500), and Marc Wright (635,500) joining the chase.
The chip leader, however, is Dave D'Alesandro, who has 1,100,000 with the average stack at 274,917.
Play will recommence later today with blinds at 2,500/5,000 (500) and the top, and rather sinister, 666 players receiving a pay - let's hope the Black Belt Poker players make the cut.
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