Day 4 was bubble day at the 2010 World Series of Poker, as a little over 1,200 survivors from an original field of 7,319, sat down yesterday in hopes of finally being able to claim they cashed in the Main Event.  The money bubble at this year’s big dance sat at 747, meaning nearly 500 players despite making it to Day 4, were destined to walk away Tuesday with no more money than their comrades who busted on the first day of play over a week ago.

Busting after four days of play short of the money, could truly be a gut-wrenching experience for new players but luckily (depending on your perspective) many of those that went out early were well known professionals already painfully aware of the cruelties that often go with variance.  Some of the top pros eliminated before the bubble on Day 4 included Kathy Liebert, Matt Savage, Dewey Tomko, Blair Rodman, Barry Shulman, Vince Burgio, The Simpsons’ Hank Azaria, Raymond Rahme, Jon Aguiar, Annie Duke, Robert Varkonyi, Erica Schoenberg, Rolf Slotboom, Joe Awada, Dan Harrington, Kido Pham and PokerRoad’s Barry Greenstein.

Greenstein was not the only member of the PokerRoad family eliminated during Day 4, both Gavin Smith and Court Harrington also felt the sting, however in their cases at least they went out after the elimination of Tim McDonald, the unfortunate bubble boy of this year’s Main Event.  Other players to min cash yesterday included Patrik Antonius, Amit Makhija, Humberto Brenes, Jay Rosenkrantz, David Chiu,, Allen Cunningham and 2010 WSOP Player of the Year points leader Frank Kassela, who with this cash should have that title pretty much locked up unless Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, somehow is able to not only make it to the final table this year but also win it.

“The Grinder,” though short stacked, did survive the difficult tournament day as did his brothers Robert and Danny, but unfortunately Eric Mizrachi- the fourth brother to cash- did not, busting shortly after the bubble period had expired.

Michael Mizrachi ended Day 4 with around 241,000 in tournament chips, one of 574 players that survived the painful day, and as such has earned the right to continue to fight for poker’s most coveted prize.  Other notable Day 4 survivors included Jean-Robert Bellande (356,000), Vanessa Selbst (397,000), Jason Mercier (398,000), Will “The Thrill” Failla (435,000), Vince Van Patten (455,000), Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin (506,000), Hoyt Corkins (572,000), Scotty Nguyen (632,000), Johnny Lodden (766,000), Johnny Chan (1,159,000), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (1,392,000) and Tony Dunst, the current chip leader with over 1.5 million in chips.

Day 5 of the 2010 WSOP Main Event begins today (7/14) at noon.  To follow any of these surviving players, or for a more thorough list of all the players visit PokerNews.com, the official updates and chip counts provider for the 2010 World Series of Poker (www.wsop.com).