Day 2 of the Season XV World Poker Tour® Legends of Poker Main Event took place on Monday. When play finished around midnight local time, the money bubble had burst, 67 players remained, and Jeremy Kottler (pictured above) bagged up the lead.
With late registration open until the start of Day 2, the field swelled to 687 entries. With 73 left, the field was on the money bubble after Andy Philachack went out in 74th. Philachack was busted by Gary Sewell, and Sewell also sent the “bubble boy” packing when he eliminated JC Tran (pictured below) next.
Sewell had opened to 16,000 during Level 17 with the blinds at 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante, and Tran called in position to see the 
flop. Sewell checked, Tran bet 17,000, Sewell check-raised to 40,000, and then Tran reraised all in for a little over 260,000. Sewell called with the 
, and Tran was on the ropes with the 
. The turn and river bricked in favor of Sewell, and Tran was out in 73rd place.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
1. Jeremy Kottler – 1,048,000
2. Jamie Rosen – 780,000
3. Gary Sewell – 774,000
4. Ray Qartomy – 660,000
5. Mike Del Vecchio – 620,000
6. David Pham – 599,000
7. Upeshka De Silva – 578,000
8. Ben Zamani – 560,000
9. Andrew Dean – 528,000
10. Will Givens – 524,000
Kottler bagged 1.048 million and was 268,000 chips clear of his closest challenger, Jamie Rosen with 780,000.
Kottler moved over 700,000 in Level 16 with the blinds at 2,000/4,000 with an ante of 500 when his 
won a flip against an opponent’s 
. He continued to pad his stack from there and soon moved into seven-figure territory thanks to a couple of aces.
With the blinds at 2,500/5,000 with an ante of 500 in Level 17, Kottler raised to 12,000 from middle position, and the player in the hijack seat called. Adam Geyer moved all in for 82,500 from the cutoff position, Kottler called, and the player in the hijack seat called. On the 
flop, the two active players checked. The turn was the , and Kottler bet 65,000. His opponent called, and the river was the 
. Kottler bet 110,000, and his opponent called again. Kottler tabled the 
to beat the active player’s 
Geyer, who was all in preflop and forced to watch the action play out with his tournament life on the line, showed the other two aces — the 
— and chopped the main pot with Kottler.
Not too far outside of the top 10 are WPT® Champions Club members Olivier Busquet with 452,000, Seth Davies with 430,000, and Andy Frankenberger with 385,000. Frankenberger won the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event back in Season IX and went on to win WPT Player of the Year that season.
Another WPT Champions Club member advancing to Day 3 was Mike Shariati. Shariati is the defending champion of the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event and reigning Hublot WPT Player of the Year. He finished Day 2 with 240,000 in chips.
Day 3 will begin at 12 p.m. PT on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at The Bicycle Hotel & Casino. Although Kottler has the lead, it’s still anyone’s game with 67 players left and a $615,346 top prize up for grabs. Click here to follow continued coverage of the event.