WPT World Championship Day 2 Ends with 399 Players Battling to the Money

A stunning day of action on Day 2 of the year’s most talked about poker tournament saw the WPT World Championship down to 399 players by the close of play. With only 370 of them due to make money, the money bubble will burst on Day 3 as the great and good gather again to play down to the business end of the event.

Yesterday Day 1c followed an incredible Day 1a and a record-breaking Day 1b in the event where over $29 million ended up in the prizepool following an initial guarantee of $15 million having been surpassed easily. With huge bust-outs, big names thriving and drama from the first card to the last, everything is up for grabs as the $4.1 million top prize looms ahead of all the remaining contenders.

The Numbers Add Up to Awesome

With just 399 players still in with a chance of winning the top prize of $4,146,400, competition is going to be fierce from here on in. Overall, a total of six players will become millionaires – if they aren’t already – when the dust settles on the final table. Sixth place earns $1,001,050, and with $429,000 up for grabs by making it to the final nine, there will be a bunfight to make those last six places that guarantee any final table seat on the World Poker Tour.

Currently, the leader is Romanian player Adrian State, whose stack of 2,400,000 represents a whopping 160 big blinds when he returns on Day 3. That’s ahead of Andriy Lyubovetskiy’s 2.2 million and a little more ahead of Lucas Foster’s stack of 2,135,000, but there are sharks in the water right behind those podium places too.

Isaac Kempton (pictured) is chief amongst them, with 2.1 million and more than enough experience to make it to the very top in the game. This WPT World Championship could be the signature major title that catapults him towards greatness, sponsorship and in the short term, simply an awful lot of money with which to attack the next phase of his career.

Other Big Names in Upper Limits

It’s not just in the top handful of places that big names are waiting to strike. The top 10 is packed with talent, as Adam Hendrix (2,055,000), erstwhile of several PokerGO screened high rollers this year, is one three-bet pot away from the lead, with Soheb Porbandarwala (2,035,000) close behind.

There are no Brits in the top 10, but Irishman Marc Mcdonnell (1,890,000) continues his seemingly perennial quest to run deep in virtually every live tournament he plays. Alex Keating (1,820,000), Ash Coniff (1,675,000) and Mike Del Vecchio (1,670,000) are all comfortably inside the top 20.

A little further back, Romain Lewis (1,590,000), Joni Jouhkimainen (1,560,000), Freddy Deeb (1,425,000) and WPT Champions Club member James Carroll (1,320,000) all enjoyed terrific days at the felt, while a deadly duo of female players in Arden Cho (1,300,000) and Lynn Gilmartin (930,000) hover in strong positions with 29 players needing to bust before the money is reached.

Gilmartin in particular will be desperate to survive the bubble period, having never cashed on the WPT herself… hardly surprising, given her experience is usually in front of the camera as the main WPT presenting anchor!

Survivors in the Hunt

Other luminaries of the poker sphere to make Day 3 in a healthy position to bully others into submission include the dangerous Jeremy Ausmus (1,255,000), mixed game specialist Benny Glaser (1,180,000), experienced poker reporter LoriAnn Persinger (1,155,000), WSOP bracelet winner Ron McMillen (1,005,000) and Kane Kalas (1,000,000), all of whom have seven-figure stacks with which to attack Day 3.

A little further back, Dan Smith (960,000) followed up a brilliant Day 1 with a great Day 2, while Natasha Mercier (945,000) did likewise. Kyna England (785,000) continues her breakout period with another deep run, while WPT DeepStacks champion and multiple WSOP bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva (735,000) will have no fear when play resumes.

Some other players are a little shorter, such as Brad Owen (485,000), Daniel Negreanu (440,000), GPI Female Player of the Year Kristen Foxen (275,000) and WPT co-host Tony Dunst (270,000), but they are all still in the hunt.

So many are not, with stars of the felt such as Brian Hastings, Byron Kaverman, Chad Eveslage, Chance Kornuth, Chris Moorman, Connor Drinan, Daniel Weinman, Chris Moneymaker, Darren Elias, David Peters, David Williams, Ebony Kenney, Jerry Wong, John Juanda, Justin Bonomo, Kitty Kuo, Maria Ho, Matt Berkey, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Hellmuth, Dara O’Kearney, Sam Soverel, Alex Foxen, Xuan Liu and Vanessa Kade among the eliminations on Day 2.