There��s nothing quite like the opening days of the World Series of Poker Main Event, when thousands of home game heroes and online qualifiers mix together with seasoned pros in what for many is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Today when Day 2abc begins at noon local time, that initial excitement and energy changes into a race for survival and setting yourself up for a run at the championship bracelet.
That��s the task facing the 3,865 players who return to play today inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, having survived one of the initial three starting flights. Yehuda Dayan leads the pack after building up a stack of 389,900 back on the first flight of the Main Event, but there are plenty of notables trying to chase him down.
Among them is Doug Polk, who, beer in hand, rolled over his table to bag up a top-ten stack of 281,900. Polk will try to put himself in a position to do something he hasn��t done in more than a decade: cash in the Main Event. Other top players returning with big stacks include Julien Martini (286,000), Patrik Antonius (263,500), Connor Drinan (217,700), and Faraz Jaka (213,100). Daniel Negreanu spent most of his opening flight seated at the feature table and managed to hang on to a stack of 25,900.
Day 2abc Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yehuda Dayan | Israel | 389,900 | 487 |
| 2 | Christopher Brammer | United Kingdom | 386,100 | 483 |
| 3 | Shota Nakanishi | Japan | 360,100 | 450 |
| 4 | Hai-Chi Ho | China | 297,400 | 372 |
| 5 | Michael Banducci | United States | 292,600 | 366 |
| 6 | Jean-Pierre van der Spuy | South Africa | 287,000 | 359 |
| 7 | Julien Martini | France | 286,000 | 358 |
| 8 | Yuze Ding | United States | 284,500 | 356 |
| 9 | Doug Polk | United States | 281,900 | 352 |
| 10 | Gar Cheung | United States | 281,500 | 352 |
For the majority of the field, the Main Event is all about chasing the dream of having your banner raised inside the WSOP venue. Eleven players today have already experienced that. Johnny Chan (218,000) leads a host of past Main Event champions who are back for Day 2abc, including Greg Raymer (201,400), Jamie Gold (163,500), Martin Jacobson (154,600), Joe Cada (115,100), Joe McKeehen (111,500), Tom McEvoy (90,400), Scott Blumstein (71,900), Ryan Riess (68,100), and Damian Salas (56,200). Defending champion Espen Jorstad also made it to Day 2 with 62,000, a vast improvement from last year when he had only 17,600, but showed everyone that from this point on, anything is possible in the Main Event.
The action picks up on Level 6, with blinds of 400/800 and an 800 big blind ante. Day 2abc will consist of five two-hour levels, with a 20-minute break after every level. There will be a 75-minute dinner break at the end of Level 8, which should come at about 6:40 p.m. Late registration remains open for the first two levels of the day. More than 9,300 players have already entered the Main Event, smashing the record set in 2006, and the field will inch closer to eclipsing 10,000 by the time registration closes.
Thousands have already survived the carnival atmosphere of the opening flights. The Main Event, though, is a marathon, and the race to the world championship continues today at noon. PokerNews will be on hand providing live updates throughout the day for what is already a record-breaking Main Event.
