Two Canadians in the lead, 15 players left in Main Event

Two Canadians hold the top positions on the leader board at the World Series of Poker’s Main Event at the dinner break Saturday night.

Fifteen players remain in the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em World Championship event at the Rio.

Players were vying to become part of the Main Event’s final table of nine. They will return to the Rio on Nov. 6 to play for a top prize of more than $8.9 million. Some 7,319 players began play in the Main Event on July 5.

Jonathan Duhamel of Boucherville, Quebec has the lead with 29.4 million in chips. In second is Matthew Jarvis of Surrey, British Columbia with 29 million.

A third Canadian, Pascal LeFrancois of Rosemare, Quebec, who held the chip lead for part of the day, is now in 8th place with 14.5 million in chips.

Filippo Candio of Italy, who also held the lead for roughly an hour but took 8 million hit to his stack and fell into fifth place, battled back into fourth place with 21 million in chips.

The highest-ranking American player was John Racener of Port Richey, Fla., with 21.7 million. Still alive in the Main Event is Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, a 29-year-old professional poker player from North Miami Beach, Fla. He is in 14th place with 3.84 million.

Entering the Main Event, Mizrachi had four individual event cashes, in the 2010 World Series of Poker including a victory and two other final table appearances.

By winning the Main Event, Mizrachi would tie Frank Kassela for World Series of Poker Player of the Year title.

With the field at 15, players are assured a payday of at least $500,165.

Recent eliminations: Benjamin Statz of Madison, Wisc., finished in 16th place and David Baker of Katy, Texas took 17th place. Both players earned $396,967.