From a starting field of 1,308 entries, just 28 players remain in the $1,675 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event.
Zach Rieselman ended Day 2 as the chip leader, looking for not only his first ring, but his first-ever World Series of Poker cash. Rieselman entered the day in the middle of the pack and consistently built over the course of the ten levels of action. At the very end of the night, he knocked out Jeremy Joseph in a huge pot, aces against ace-king. That secured his end-of-day lead, just ahead of Arif Rahim (2,027,000) and Rusty Chizhevsky (2,011,000).
A full list of the survivors' chip counts is available on the event's live updates page.
Jonathan Hilton (1,135,000) is perhaps the most familiar name in the remaining field. Hilton won the WSOP National Championship in 2013, earning his first bracelet barely a month after winning his first ring. Hilton has more than $1 million in career tournament earnings, and he could add significantly to that number on Monday. Ravi Raghavan (570,000) is also still in the mix, as is Ben Keeline (620,000), who is seeking an appearance at a second-consecutive Circuit Main Event final table.
When play began on Day 2, there were 263 hopefuls still in the running for the Hammond Main Event Champion title. In the early levels of play, Nicholas Pupillo, Chino Rheem, Sean Small, Keven Stammen, Zo Karim, Brian Senie, DJ MacKinnon, and James Calderaro all exited the field before the money bubble burst.
Johanssy Joseph (740,000) was the first player to cross over the 500,000 chip mark, and he consistently maintained one of the largest stacks throughout the course of the day. Joseph knocked out Greg Radosh in 136th place to officially burst the money bubble, leaving the remaining 135 players in the money, all guaranteed $2,923.
A few notables that finished in the money but failed to survive the day included Robbie WazWaz, Marshall White, Larry Ormson, Mohsin Charania, Andy Spears, Aaron Massey, Kyle Julius, 2013 Main Event Champion Ryan Riess, and last female standing Mina Greco.
The final 28 players will return Monday at 12pm to play down to a new Champion, who will take home the diamond-studded ring, just under $350,000, and a seat into the 2017 Global Casino Championship.