Over the weekend, during the World Poker Tour's North American Poker Championship, all three Day 1's were completed in beautiful Niagara Falls, Ontario. Each Day 1 attracted at least 125 players, and by Sunday, 454 players had sat down for a shot at a total prize pool expected to be worth more than $4.4 million dollars.

By Monday morning only 275 players remained, and despite losing such marquee names as Gus Hansen, Robert Mizrachi, Nenad Medic, Isaac Baron and Annette Obrestad, quite a few top pros are still in it. A short list of the poker talent ready to assemble on Day 2 includes Daniel Negreanu, J.C. Tran, Erik Seidel, Steve Sung, Vivek "Psyduck/FLOG" Rajkumar, Vanessa Rousso, Bill Edler, Lee Markholt, Kathy Liebert, and quite a few PokerRoaders including Gavin Smith, Joe Sebok, and Barry Greenstein.

Also still in the hunt, and at the top of the leader board, is Darus Suharto one of the so-called "November Nine," soon to be competing at the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

With so many top players still competing, the North American Poker Championship is shaping up to be one serious must watch event. Check out worldpokertour.com worldpokertour.com for live tournament updates, chip counts and exclusive videos from PokerRoad's own Ms. Amanda Leatherman.

Story by Mark Anderson