15 September 2018 (Lincoln, Calif.) – After two action-packed days of poker the Day 2 field is set in the Main Event of the WSOP Circuit at Thunder Valley Resort. The chip leader heading into Day 2 will be Thu Tran, who finished Saturday night with 314,000 in chips.
Tran is just barely ahead of the second-place player, Ian Steinman, who finished with 313,000, and they’ll be the top two stacks when play resumes Sunday at noon.
On Saturday, 309 entries joined the field, and 71 survived to advance to Day 2. The previous day, Day 1A drew 155 entries, and 33 advanced. There are a total of 104 players remaining.
The 464-player field created a prizepool of $702,960, and the top 54 players will make the money. The eventual winner will earn $151,145.
The Day 1A chip leader was Marlon Nonales, who bagged up 306,000. He’ll be in third place behind Thu Tran and Ian Steinman when Day 2 begins.
Also bagging chips on Day 1B were JC Tran and Brett Murray. JC Tran, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and 2013 November Niner, was in the middle of the pack most of the day, but went on a hot streak near the end of the night to finish with 249,000. Murray is a two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner, one of which he earned here at Thunder Valley. Like Tran, he went on a run near the end of the night, propelling himself from about 70,000 in chips up to 275,000.
Several other bracelet winners played today, including another former November Niner, Amir Lehavot. Lehavot and JC Tran both made the WSOP Main Event final table in November 2013, with Tran finishing fifth and Lehavot finishing third. Tran is better positioned in this weekend’s event, though, as Lehavot doubled up at the end of the night to finish with 89,500. Dutch Boyd – a three-time bracelet winner – and two-time bracelet winner Howard “Tahoe” Andrew both entered today. But neither advanced to Day 2.
Other players advancing include Alex Greenblatt, Michael Pearson, and Hafiz Khan, who won the Circuit Main Event here in January. Players who entered Day 1B but didn’t advance include David Diiorio, Kindal Sakkal, Jordan Meltzer, Candace Collins.
Day 2 begins Sunday at noon, and is scheduled for 10 hour-long levels, and the event will conclude Monday.
Here are the top 10 counts heading into Day 2. For full counts, click here.
1 – Thu Tran – 314,000
2 – Ian Steinman – 313,000
3 – Marlon Nonales – 306,000
4 – Howard Wheeler – 289,000
5 – Brett Murray – 275,000
6 – Paul Kuchta - 273,500
7 – Steven Tabb - 269,000
8 – Jason Warner - 264,000
9 – Harley Wilmot - 255,500
10 – Pedro Rodriguez 250,000