Day 2-C of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event championship was filled with plenty of highlights, letdowns, and moments of high drama.
Mark Kroon, who began Day 2C as the chip leader, maintained his rule as the reigning king of the Main Event kingdom, as he continues to lead all remaining survivors, for at least another day. Following a day off, Kroon's success continued over into Day 2C. Kroon finished the day not only as chip leader from his 2C group, but first overall as we enter Day Three. He's the only player in the Main Event currently with more than 500,000 in chips.
Other players who made major moves on Day 2C included Victor Figueroa, who is currently ranked in second place with 460,600. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi also continued to dominate, once again bagging up one of the biggest stacks in the room. At one point, Mizrachi was well over 500,000 chips during Day 2C, but he fell back as play wound down and ended with 394,600. Several other notable players survived - including a mix of poker pros and amateurs. Among the biggest names to move into serious contention was Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 World Champion, who now stands at 295,400 in chips.
Other notables who made the cut who currently have an above-average stack include Bertrand Grospellier (246,600), bracelet winner Grant Hinkle (249,100), Marcel Luske (226,100), Phil Ivey (198,800), Theo Jorgensen (187,900), Johnny Chan (169,900), bracelet winner Chris Tryba (178,000), and Freddy Deeb (175,500).
Notable players who made it to the end of Day 2C but have some work to do include these players with below-average chip counts include Phill Hellmuth, Tom McEvoy, Humberto Brenes, Tony Cousineau, Ted Lawson, John Racener, “Miami John” Cernuto, Max Steinberg, Barry Shulman, David Benyamine, and Robert Mizrachi.
Here's a look at the top-ten finishers from the end of Day 2C:
1. Mark Kroon - 507,300
2. Victor Figueroa - 460,600
3. Dick Van Luijk - 435,000
4. William Reymond - 405,000
5. Michael Mizrachi - 394,600
6. Ryan Olson - 364,700
7. Leonardo Martins - 359,300
8. Peter Kamaras - 354,400
9/ Yann Dion - 348,200
10. Martin Tonnesen - 322,300
Getting back to what happened on Day 2C, let's now look at the disappointments. Two fpast World Champions had their 2013 WSOP come to an abrupt end. Joe Hachem, the 2005 Main Event winner, exited in mid-day, followed 2006 champion Jamie Gold a short time later.
Another recognicable name who didn't end up making the cut was five-time gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu. While he continues to lead the 2013 WSOP Player of the Year race, it appears Negreanu may need a little help from the events at WSOP Europe in order to make history as the first repeat WSOP Player of the YEar. He won that honor back in 2004.
There was plenty of company out in the hallway, including several gold bracelet winners who were eliminated. Some of the more well-known names who did not survive the carnage of Day 2C included Nick Schulman, Ben Lamb, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, David Sands, Barbara Enright, Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman, Perry Friedman, Frank Kassela, Vanessa Selbst, Matt Waxman, Jason Mercier, Eric Baldwin, and Nick Jivkov.
A few celebrities were also eliminated on Day 2C. The most notable were Gerard Pique, the international soccer superstar, and Roberto Loungo, the NHL goaltender.
This day began with 2,350 Day 1C survivors. After five two-hour levels of play, there were only 953 who bagged up and will be back in action Thursday for Day 3. That group will join the 800 players who made it through Days 2A/2B yesterday at 12pm Thursday for Day 3 and five more levels of play. The total number of players returning for Day 3 comes to 1,753.
Here's a look at the top ten overall chip counts headed into Day 3 of play:
1. Mark Kroon - 507,300
2. Victor Figueroa - 460,600
3. Dick Van Luijk - 435,000
4. Nick Schwarmann - 413,600
5. William Reymond - 405,000
6. Michael Mizrachi - 394,600
7. Jason DeWitt - 382,900
8. Age Ravn - 370,900
9. Ryan Olson - 364,700
10. Sergio Castelluccio - 360,500
A full list of Day 3 counts can be found here.