JESSE JONES LEADS FINAL 8 IN TUNICA MAIN EVENT

Day 2 finds field trimmed from 62 to just eight survivors

May 6, 2019 (Tunica) - The second day of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at Tunica has concluded, and the 466-entry field has just eight runners remaining to fight it out for the title of Main Event champion. The person to start the final day as the chipleader will be Jesse James (pictured).

Day 3 will begin Monday at Noon, with the remaining players all returning for a shot at the $151,789 first-place prize. Each player returning tomorrow will be guaranteed at least $17,699 for his efforts. The eventual champion will also be adding a prestigious WSOP circuit ring to his resume and will automatically book a seat into the 2019 Global Casino Championship.

Jones came into the day second in chips and instantly starting stacking early on in the day. He would ride a heater all day, ending with an impressive 5,260,000. On three separate occasions he would bust an opponent with queen-ten. First he would river a ten against Travis Lutes, next he flopped a pair of queens against Kit Schafler and last but not least, Jones would call in all-in from Darren Martin, who was holding kings. He would turn a straight against Martin, sending him home first on the final table with what seems to be his new lucky hand.

Blake Whittington will be starting the day with the least distance between him and the chipleader of all the players remaining. Whittington is starting the day with 1,710,000 and has been on a heater all week, cashing three times already in this Tunica stop, adding one ring in the process. He will be looking to continue that heater tomorrow and add a main event title to his already stacked resume.

Three other players are starting the day with over a million and that list includes Roger Foley (1,450,000), Texas pro Schuyler Thornton (1,440,000), and Micheal Rossitto (1,405,000). Rossitto was best known for his online grinding prior to 2018, before he logged two live six-figure cashes. He is now looking to add a third here in Tunica.

The second day started with just 62 who advanced from the Day 1A (Friday) and Day 1B (Saturday) starting flights. Lakisha Slaughter started the day among the top 10 stacks but failed to retain her chips as she would bust just shy of the money. She ran her ace-nine into the pocket nines of Calvin Anderson and after that hand everyone in the room was guaranteed at least a min-cash of $2,711.

Many notable players made the money but fell short of a Day 3 birth and among them were Darren Martin (10th - $11,359), Stanislav Angelov (15th - $9,291), TK Miles (20th - $6,460), Eric Salazar (23rd - $5,493), Terry Moore (24th - $5,493), Robert Hankins (25th - $4,730), Jarod Minghini (27th - $4,730), Kevin Eyster (30th - $4,130), and Justin Harvell (31st - $3,650)

The final day of the tournament begins Monday at Noon, with play continuing until a new circuit main event champion has been crowned.

Click here for results so far, or here for live updates from the event.

Here are the chip counts heading into the final day:

1 - Jesse Jones - 5,260,000
2 - Blake Whittington - 1,710,000
3 - Roger Foley - 1,450,000
4 - Schuyler Thornton - 1,440,000
5 - Michael Rossitto - 1,405,000
6 - Asaf Shushan - 975,000
7 - Taylor Deane - 910,000
8 - Timothy Burt - 835,000