World Series of Poker Day 2 Recap

Day 2 of the 2010 World Series of Poker is when the tournament series gets into full swing; with tournament players returning for day 2 of their events as well as a new batch of tournaments underway, this is when poker fans can witness it all, from deep-stack play to final tables.

Players returning to the felt on day 2 included the Casino Employees as well as the ultra-high rollers in the $50k Players Championship; they were joined by a slew of players who registered for the $1,000 buy-in No Limit Holdem tournament –the first of several of its kind.
So without further adieu here is how things shook out on Day 2 of the WSOP.

Event 1: Casino Employees Tournament

The Casino Employees event was won by Hoai Pham, who fittingly captured the title with Pocket Aces! A dealer at the Village Club Poker Room in San Diego, California, Pham’s win will see him add $71,000 to his bank account, and he will be presented with the first bracelet of the 2010 WSOP on Sunday. Congratulations ot Hoai Pham, 2010’s first WSOP Champion!

Jack McClelland was able to cash in the event finishing in 13th place.

Event 2: $50k Players Championship

As I warned yesterday, you could expect half the field in the $50k event to be eliminated on day 2, and with 110 players returning to action, and 54 surviving, I look a little Nostradamus-like in my prediction!

However, my second prediction of a few players pulling away didn’t come to pass. The field is led by Kirk Mossison and his 741,000 chips, but Kirk has Andy Bloch nipping at his heels with 719,000, and 7 other players over 500,000.

A number of huge names were eliminated on day 2 including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Galfond, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Mike Matusow, and Jason Mercier. With an event of this caliber it’s hard to list who has been eliminated since every player is a poker superstar!

Event 3: $1,000 No Limit Holdem

And their off!!! A monster field turned out for day 1a of the first $1,000 tournament –which was a huge success at the 2009 WSOP—with 2,601 players taking a seat at the poker tables in the Rio Pavilion. It was a slaughter-fest from the get-go, and when the dust settled only 290 players still had poker chips in front of them.

The lucky players who survived will have a day off while day 1b gets underway today, and twill then join the other survivors as the two flights are combined. The event is scheduled to be played over 4 days (5 total with the two Day 1’s) with the Champion walking away with the Lion’s Share of the estimated $5.5 million prize-pool.