NIPUN JAVA LEADS FINAL 13 AT THE BIKE
Day 2 of the Main Event at the Bicycle Casino Circuit stop is complete. It was an action-packed day of poker, filled with thrills and disappointments. Many players saw hours of effort amount to nothing, others positioned themselves for a massive payout, and one of the biggest personalities in poker just barely missed out on the making the money.

After two full days of tournament poker, 13 players are still in contention, and Nipun Java sits atop the leaderboard with a massive stack of chips. His 3,155,000 is more twice his closest competitor (David Chase, with 1,575,000). Also making it to Day 3 are Shane “Shaniac” Schleger (980,000) and Circuit ring winner Everett Carlton (1,150,000). They will all, along with the other players who survived Day 2, return at noon on Wednesday to play down to a winner.

Late registration was open until play started today, and an additional 10 players joined the field. They brought the total number of entries to 756, and increased the prize pool to $1,134,000, easily surpassing the guarantee of $1,000,000. The top 81 players finish in the money. The winner will earn $226,785, along with a World Series of Poker Circuit ring and a free entry into the National Championship in Atlantic City in May.

Bustouts were frequent during the first few levels. Several recognizable players took to the felt today but were eliminated out of the money. They include WSOP bracelet winners Dan Heimiller and Arkadiy Tsinis, as well as Circuit regulars Ralph Massey, Cord Garcia, and Joe Kuether.

With players being eliminated so quickly, the field reached the money bubble less than 10 minutes into the third level of the day. As the tournament staff prepared tables for the bubble, one last player was eliminated, making hand-for-hand play unnecessary. It turns out the unfortunate bubble boy was Will “The Thrill” Failla, whose boisterous personality makes him one of the most entertaining characters in any tournament. Unfortunately for Failla, his 82nd-place finish just barely missed out on making the money.

After another flurry of activity following the bubble, the story of today’s event was the Tale of Two Tournaments. For several hours, the pace of the tournament slowed considerably. Play was marked by cautious and strategic decision-making as players tried to position themselves for a deep run. At one point there was a ninety-minute stretch with only one elimination. Then during the last two levels of the night, everything changed. As if someone flipped a switch, the style of play became fast and frenetic. Nine of the last 27 players were eliminated in a 45-minute span. Throughout that time, Nipun Java continually dominated his table, and he’ll enter Day 3 with a huge chip lead as a result. With 13 players left, Java has roughly 20% of all the chips in play.

A number of notable players finished in the money today, but failed to advance to Day 3. They include Tim West (33rd place), and WSOP ring winners Nancy Birnbaum (75th), Woody Moore (49th), and Shahin Edalatdju (45th). The chip leaders from all three Day 1 flights also cashed, but none of them survived the day. Day 1C leader Allen Hodjat finished 46th, Day 1B leader Kody Muir was knocked out in 21st, and Day 1A leader Tom Greiner was the last elimination of the day, 14th place.

Here are the chip counts for the 13 remaining players. You can find a full list of finishers and payouts in the “Results” tab.

1. Nipun Java – 3,155,000
2. David Chase – 1,575,000
3. Danny Illingworth – 1,370,000
4. Chris Hyden – 1,265,000
5. Everett Carlton – 1,150,000
6. Zewdie “Woody” Wondim – 1,040,000
7. Shane Schleger – 980,000
8. Bao Dao – 900,000
9. Joshua Thai – 880,000
10. James Buckley – 855,000
11. Javid Javani – 730,000
12. Jack Duong – 550,000
13. Piotr Brodzik – 425,000