No more starting flights, no more re-entry. We’re officially on to Day 2 of the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas and 1.375 of the original 3,835 total entries have returned in hopes to build a stack worthy enough to compete for the $5,678,000 first-place prize.
There are six seven-figure scores up top, and so the entire final table will become instant millionaires. A min-cash is worth $18,700, and in order to get there nearly 2/3rds of the remaining field are going to have to hit the rail.
As one might expect, there are big names and tough tables everywhere you look. Past WPT champions are noted up and down the chip counts – 68 in total. Nearly 5% of the Day 2 field already has their name inscribed on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.
That includes WPT Choctaw champ Chance Kornuth who is sitting second in chips, just behind Day 1C chip leader Kyle Ho (1,211,000) headed into the day. Kornuth busted level one on Day 1B and came back to bag just one of three stacks over 1 million in chips. 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan is in third (1,100,000), showing up with just a few big blinds less than Kornuth.
Perhaps a surprise name sitting top 10 in chips is high-stakes cash game star Alan Keating, who showed up late on Day 1A and rocketed up the chip counts. Popular tournament coach Matt Hunt also cracked the Day 2 top 10.
Defending champ Eliot Hudon made it through to Day 2, as did last year’s runner-up Benny Glaser and third-place finisher Jean-Claude Moussa. Another storyline to keep an eye on is the race for WPT All-Time title, currently topped by Darren Elias, who has a healthy stack, with four WPT wins. Both Brian Altman and Anthony Zinno, each with three titles, have also advanced to Day 2, as did Gus Hansen, the three-time WPT champ who is returning to a WPT event after more than a decade away.
Four of the six players who made the WPT Prime Championship final table are still in including chip leader Jay Lu, Calvin Anderson, Bob Buckenmayer, and Aaron Pinson. The possibility of a double final could have effects on the WPT Player of the Year race. Also, still in the hunt for this season’s POY are WPT Choctaw champ Jared Jaffee, WPT Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll winner Istvan Briski, WPT Rolling Thunder winner Scott Eskenazi and WPT Gardens Poker Championship victor Ky Nguyen.
There’s also a concentration of superstars, as some of the biggest names in the game are back in their seats looking to add to their poker resumes. Erik Seidel, Scott Seiver, Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen, Maria Ho, Ryan Reiss, Joe Hachem, Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi, Angel Guillen, Jesse Lonis, Chris Brewer, David Peters, David Williams, Nick Petrangelo, Connor Drinan, Andrew Moreno, and Brian Rast, just to name a few.
World Poker Tour talent and ambassadors are also well represented with Lynn Gilmartin looking to repeat her incredible run from last year, joined by WPT commentator Tony Dunst and WPT ambassadors Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme.
It’s a big day, with five 90-minute levels for the players and non-stop action. Visit the WPT Live Updates to keep up with all the biggest hands of the day.