Dennis Phillips, the most prominent St. Louis poker player, was knocked out of the main event of the World Series of Poker on Friday, but three other players from the area were still in contention Saturday for the $8.7 million top prize at the event in Las Vegas.

Play began early in the afternoon with 378 players remaining from the starting field of 6,865 and by the dinner break nearly 61⁄2 hours later just 173 contestants were left.

Joseph Johno of O'Fallon, Ill., was in 127th place, with 675,000 chips. Thomas Oldcroft of O'Fallon, Mo., had 390,000 chips for 162nd place and James Hopkins of St. Louis was 166th, with 334,000 chips. The leader, Pius Heinz of Germany, had 4.04 million. (Chips have no cash value, they merely are used to keep score.)

Among the pros eliminated Saturday were Daniel Negreanu and Freddy Deeb. All remaining players are guaranteed at least $47,107 in the event that carried a $10,000 entry fee and runs through Tuesday, when the field is cut to the nine finalists who will compete in November. The top eight are guaranteed more than $1 million. Among the pros still in the running were Allen Cunningham (73rd place), Eli Elezra (151st) and Erick Lindgren (158th).

Phillips' finish in 557th place was worth $21,295, marking the third time in four years that he has finished in the money in the event and those combined paydays are $4,717,925, highlighted by just over $4.5 million for coming in third in 2008. A couple other players from the St. Louis area also cashed. Chris Viox of Glen Carbon was 617th, worth $21,295, and Gerald Paskert of Caseyville came in No. 632, with a payday of $19,359.