Spiderman Toby Maguire Clings on in 2007 World Series of Poker

With 337 players still alive heading into Day 3 of the 2007 World Series of Poker, a few big name celebrities remain among them including Spiderman actor Toby Maguire, Simpsons producer Sam Simon and Godsmack singer Sully Erna.

Maguire was among the more visible celeb names entering the World Series of Poker arena this year.

In 2004, Maguire took up tournament poker. He has finished in the money in several events and has been tutored by poker professional Daniel Negreanu. Maguire can be seen on ESPN's coverage of the 2005 and 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship. Moreover, professional poker player Phil Hellmuth said during the June 28, 2007 episode of Poker After Dark that Tobey has won $10 million by playing poker in Hollywood.

Another big name celeb poker player still alive in this year's WSOP, Simpsons producer Sam Simon enjoys an active extra-curricular life.  He is the current manager of heavyweight boxer Lamon Brewster, the former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion, and was also named 2004 World Boxing Manager of the Year.

But poker appears to be his passion when Simon is not enveloped in the world of animation.  He has won just over $83,000 in tournament play.

As for Sully Erna, the vocalist and primary songwriter for the hard rock band, Godsmack,  participated in the 2006 World Series of Poker main event in which he made a brief appearance on the ESPN broadcast of the event; it was mentioned that he was the last of the celebrity entries. He finished in 713th out of 8,773 earning him $17,730.  

Sully takes poker very seriously and he looks to play in many more events in the coming year including World Poker Tour events and WSOP.

Sully almost didn't make this year's WSOP after being involved in a serious car accident where he admitted fault.  Another passenger fell into a coma but has since been discharged from the hospital.

Heading into this weekend, Gambling911.com's coverage of the 2007 World Series of Poker was expected to be exhaustive and - as one would expect - around the clock.

"We will be profiling chip leaders and reporting on other aspects of the game right down to the final seconds," said Gambling911.com Senior Editor, Payton O'Brien.  "One of the most well known WSOP forces, Phil Hellmuth, while he was eliminated early on, drove tremendous readership to the Gambling911.com website."

The entire Gambling911.com - while not all in Vegas - will be covering the 2007 World Series of Poker throughout this weekend.

Phil Hellmuth's crash of the Ultimate Bet promotional car  was among the most read pieces on the site this week.  Gambling911.com also features a 2007 World Series of Poker page containing all the latest updates.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com

Originally published July 13, 2007 10:27 am ET