Day 2 of the WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event returned to action at noon on Sunday with 199 players. Most were eyeing the 108 spots that earned a cash and after ten levels 19 players remain. Jong Kim holds the lead heading into the final day where a winner earns $279,722 and a seat in the Global Casino Championship.
Cory Bierria sits in second with 2,245,000, then Hamid Izadi, Karthik Ramakrishnan and Jesus Cabrera all bagged up 1.6 million and Leif Force returns with 1.5 million. Chip Ervin, Spencer Champlin and Alex Moore also return, but at the bottom half of the counts.
But the biggest storyline heading into the final day of play is Maurice Hawkins. He is in the midst of a heater that's lasted a month. He won two WSOPC rings in Council Bluffs, including the Main Event, for his fifth and sixth career rings. Hawkins looks to be the first player in WSOPC history to win back-to-back Main Events.
More than half the Day 2 field earned a cash, but defending champ Daniel Weinman, Allen Kessler, Cord Garcia and Aaron Massey are a few that hit the rail with nothing to show for it.
Justin Liberto, NFL standout Richard Seymour, BJ McBrayer, Aditya Prasetyo, Orlando Romero and Virgil Beddingfield all did not last the day, but did make a stop at the cashier's cage before leaving the casino.
The money bubble only lasted three rounds of hand-for-hand play before Ezekiel Shelton was eliminated. He had a very short stack and was all in preflop while Ralph Massey and another player formed a side pot. The board ran out , Massey bet the river, the third player mucked and Massey held for a king-high flush. Shelton showed , left the stage and everyone left in the field locked up a minimum of $2,783.
Mike Gracz had a roller coaster day on the felt -- before the money bubble he was down to a single big blind. He manged to stave of elimination holding with a chopped pot against an opponent's and made a deep run into the money. He managed a five-figure score, but fell short in 21st place when his pocket queens ran into pocket kings.
Day 3 has cards in the air at noon and they won't stop until a winner is crowned.
Click here for the full list of chip counts for the remaining field.