Juan Gonzalez Leads Final 22 Players in First-Ever WPT Uruguay Main Event, Presented by Brasil Poker Live

Day 2 of the WPT Uruguay $1,500 Main Event, presented by Brasil Poker Live, has come and gone, and now just 22 players remain in contention for the $109,860 first-place prize. Leading the final 22 after Day 2 was Argentina’s Juan Gonzalez (pictured above) after he bagged up an impressive 1.312 million in chips.

Gonzalez is one of three players to finish with a seven-figure chip stack. The other two were Uruguay’s Brian Kaufman with 1.21 million and Chile’s Tomás Carvallo with 1.013 million.

Kaufman is the most celebrated player remaining in the field in terms of live tournament earnings. According to his HendonMob.com profile, Kaufman boasts more than $560,000 in earnings. The very majority of those earnings came from two big results for Kaufman during the recent PokerStars Championship Barcelona series. Kaufman placed eighth in the €1,100 buy-in PokerStars National Championship Barcelona event for €66,370 ($77,966). He then quickly followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the PokerStars Championship Barcelona €5,300 Main Event for €402,000 ($472,557).

Sitting in fourth place overall at the end of Day 2 was Martín Vega with 955,000. Vega entered Day 2 as the chip leader above the returning 198 players from the 410-entry field, and he only bettered his position throughout the day.

Brazil’s Fabio Colonese, who bagged 520,000 at the end of Day 2, is another notable to reach Day 3, and he had nearly $270,000 in live tournament earnings entering the WPT Uruguay $1,500 Main Event.

Mario Bonanata of Uruguay finished Day 2 with 395,000. Bonanata boasts a career with more than $350,000 in live tournament winnings, including two big scores right here at Enjoy Punta del Este in Uruguay — one for $101,900 in 2014 and another for $51,105 in 2017. Both of those scores were first-place results.

One of the key moments of the tournament took place on Friday’s Day 2, with the money bubble bursting in the WPT Uruguay $1,500 Main Event.

Although 198 players advanced to Day 2, only 52 would reach the money, and with 53 players left in the field it was Brazil’s Ericson Antines (pictured above) who was sent packing. Antines was all in with the against the for Mathias Duarte on the flop. After the turn card and river card, Antines was eliminated.

Following the bust out of Antines, the eliminations began to mount. Included in the in-the-money eliminations were Jose “Nacho” Barbero (pictured below) in 29th for $3,005 and Day 1a chip leader Matias Scaffo in 45th place for $2,685. The final player to bust on Day 2 was Gustavo Koundhadjian in 23rd place, taking home $4,465.

The final 22 players will recommence at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday from Enjoy Punta del Este. Each player is guaranteed a minimum of $4,465, and Day 3 will be all about playing for a spot at the televised World Poker Tour final table that will be played out on Sunday. The final six players will reach Day 4 and the televised WPT final table, and they’ll be guaranteed at least $21,075 for sixth place with the $109,860 still within reach.

Be sure to follow along with the event on Day 3, with coverage from our friends at CodigoPoker.com. Upon the conclusion of play, you’ll be able to find a recap right here on WPT.com.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com