RYAN RINKER LEADS AFTER DAY 2 AT HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE

Day 2 of the Main Event at Harveys Lake Tahoe is complete. There are only five players remaining, and Ryan Rinker leads the field with 2,495,000 in chips. The Main Event attracted a total of 390 entries, forming a prize pool of $585,000, with $128,699 going to the winner.

The day started with 82 players, as the survivors from Day 1A and Day 1B played in a combined field for the first time. Action got off to a fast and furious start—by the end of the first level, only 63 players remained. By the end of the second level, 47 were left. The top 45 places were paid, and they reached the money shortly after the first break. The bubble burst when Adam Bishop of Reno, NV eliminated Craig Gold. Gold had had two top-ten finishes in preliminary events at Harveys, but would not add to his haul in the Main Event.

There were times when the bustouts slowed, but for the most part the fast action continued throughout the day, and the final 10 players formed the unofficial final table with almost two full levels remaining. They reached the final nine just a few minutes later when Daniel Evans’s    failed to catch up to Ryan Rinker’s   .

Rinker built much of his leading chip stack with a big double up at the final table. He got all his chips in the middle with a full house against Johnny Neckar’s top two pair. Neckar and Rinker were two of the chip leaders at the time, and after the double-up Rinker had the biggest stack at the table by far.

Three bracelet winners made it two Day 2. Trevor Pope made a deep run, bowing out just short of the final table in 12th place. Joey Weissman, who was the chip leader at the end of Day 1A, finished in 28th, and Howard “Tahoe” Andrew failed to make the money.

There were no bracelet winners or ring winners at the official final table, but Austin Buchanan, who finished the night in third place with 1,655,000 in chips, currently leads this year’s WSOP Circuit points leaderboard with 152.5 points. He will earn at least 37.5 more points for his final table finish at Harveys. Late in the last level of the night, Buchanan scored a key double up at the final table. He was all in preflop with    against Dan Harmetz’s   . To make matter worse, Harmetz flopped a king. The deck was kind to Buchanan, however, and he made the nut flush when the turn and river came running hearts. The hand brought Buchanan up to almost 1.7 million in chips.

The final five players will return on Monday at noon to play down to winner.

Here is the official list of chip counts for the remaining players:

1. Ryan Rinker – 2,495,000
2. Dan Harmetz – 1,900,000
3. Austin Buchanan – 1,655,000

4. Jorge Walker – 1,150,000
5. Kevin Fleming – 605,000