The final prize pool numbers topped $2.3 million and 734 entries tallied the first-ever WPT at Venetian field at the Venetian Resort. Day 2 ended with 73 players left in contention for the $431,655 first-place prize. Ami Alibay is the chip leader with 1.26 million and in the money for the fifth time on the World Poker Tour. Alibay chipped up throughout the day and managed to sneak past Mark Ioli (1.214 million) for the overnight chip lead.
The money bubble burst with 92 players left close to the end of the night. Spencer Champlin was the unfortunate player to bust and Dilip Das did the field a favor to bank them all a cash of at least $5,600. Following Champlin’s elimination, Ubaid Habib (88th), Clint Tolbert (85th), Joseph Cheong (83rd), WPT Champions Club member Dylan Wilkerson (80th), Loni Harwood (79th), Scott Blumstein (77th), and Season XVII WPT Montreal winner Patrick Serda (76th), all departed short of a Day 3 bag.
On the other side of the coin, there is a strong group of contenders who return to Venetian on Monday for Day 3. Brian Yoon (1.019 million) and Ankush Mandavia (948,000) have the biggest stacks at the top of the leaderboard. Not far below them is Season XVI WPT Tournament of Champions winner Matthew Waxman (821,000), Aaron Massey (797,000), WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open final tablist Brandon Hall (793,000), and WPT Champions Club member David Williams (743,000). Joseph Di Rosa Rojas took third at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open final table and brings 682,000 to play with tomorrow.
Iaron Lightbourne (641,000), Freddy Deeb (616,000), Matt Salsberg (424,000), the start of Day 2 chip leader Ravi Raghavan (304,000), Tony Tran (287,000), and Nam Le (199,000) are some of the other WPT Champions Club members to move forward.
WPT Commentator Tony Dunst’s quest for a second WPT title continues on Day 3 as he returns with 355,000. This cash is Dunst’s first of Season XVII and he’s looking to turn it into his sixth career WPT final table.
Season XV WPT Player of the Year Ben Zamani (295,000) is also in the money for the first time in Season XVII.
Tran and fellow Season XVII WPT Champions Club member Dylan Linde (151,000) have the best chance of surpassing Erkut Yilmaz for the Hublot WPT Player of the Year points lead. Linde (pictured) trails Yilmaz by 300 points and a top-nine finish would push him over the top. Tran needs at least fourth place to tie Yilmaz.
WPTDeepStacks champion Maria Ho (199,000) and WPT500 Las Vegas winner Sean Yu (501,000) both return for Day 3.
Day 3 starts at 12 p.m. and is expected to play down to the final two tables before a winner is reached on Day 4. WPT at Venetian is not being televised or live streamed.
Keep your browser queued on WPT.com tomorrow for another exciting day of poker from Venetian.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive
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