Reard and Morgenstern Chase Lead on WSOP Europe Main Event Day 2

The second day of action in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event saw a thrilling conclusion to proceedings as Goncalo Peres led the remaining field of 166 players survived from 763 who started the day.

With other poker luminaries such as Barny Boatman, Shaun Deeb and Alexandre Reard all present in the chipcounts for Day 3, who rode high and who is sailing close to the exit?

Peres the Pacesetter

As registration ended on Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Europe’s Main Event, the prizepool was locked at an incredible $7.24 million, and the top prize of an amazing $1.38 million. Who’ll win that is not yet clear, but Portuguese player Goncalo Peres has the best shot of anyone remaining in the event, with a stack of 1,762,000 chips an impressive pace-setter.

With German player Marco Slacanac (1,615,000) closest behind, there are some other top players gathering pace in the rear-view of the chip leader too. Safwane Bahri (1,371,000), Alexandre Reard (1,295,000) and Anton Morgenstern (1,150,000) are all present in the top five, with others inside the top ten including Boris Kolev (1,055,000), Abd El Ghanim (1,047,000) and Vlada Stojanovic (1,037,000).

Other big names such as Shaun Deeb (806,000), Jessica Teusl (746,000), Nacho Barbero (651,000), Barny Boatman (569,000), Orpen Kisacikoglu (556,000), Aaron Mermelstein (450,000), Benny Glaser (396,000) and Mike Leah (240,000) all survived a frantic and fast-paced day.

Bubble Close to Bursting

With 166 players remaining, the WSOP Europe Main Event is not yet in the money places. Only 115 players will ‘get paid’, so with over a million dollars, a WSOP gold bracelet and entry into the 2023 WSOP Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas on the line, players will be desperate to survive.

With many more players busting than making it through to Day 3, several stars of the felt left the action, with Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreau, Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler and Paulina ‘Poker Bunny’ Loeliger all crashing out on the day.

Some players lost out in a crueller fashion than others, among them the Serbian Milan Aloric. He lost a sickening clash with the eventual second-placed Marco Slacanac when the latter had a straight on the river of a board showing Q-9-5-J-K with pocket tens. Aloric stormed away from the felt in the aftermath of the hand, leading one tablemate to quip: “He’s going to vomit.”

Reard the Real Deal

For some time, the Frenchman Alexandre Reard has been a much-feared player at the felt, and for good reason. Winning over $3.7 million at the live felt alone, Reard got the better of Aaron Duczak in a fascinating hand, as the latter had pocket kings. Reard had king-queen of diamonds and flopped the world as it came J-T-9. After the seven on the turn and nine on the river, Reard exacted expert value on the river, decimating his opponent’s stack.

Of the top ten, Reard in fourth is marginally behind Safwane Bahri in third place, and there is only one other country with two players inside the top ten – Germany. Anton Morgenstern is a touch behind the aforementioned Slacanac. Behnd the top ten were another two well-placed German players, however, with Matthias Nachtigal (982,000) in 11^th place, Jonas Kronwitter (854,000) in 17^th and Adrian Strobel (847,000) in 18^th.

Elsewhere in the upper echelons, Britain’s hopes seem pinned on Jack Sinclair (826,000), Barny Boatman (630,000) and Alex Peffly (308,000), with a busy Day 3 not only set to put the top 115 players into the money, but it will be building a big stack towards the next day that will be on most people’s minds when play begins.