$3,500 Main Event Day 2 | 2022 BetMGM Poker Championship

06-24-2022 10:53 UTC-7

Joe McKeehen, Jake Daniels Among Big Names in Day 2 of the Inaugural BetMGM $3,500 Poker Championship

Connor Richards

Day 2 of the 2022 BetMGM Poker Championship $3,500 Main Event at ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas is slated to get underway today at noon PST. A total of 90 players survived Day 1 and more are certain to join the field as late registration remains open for the first level of Day 2.

The inaugural BetMGM Poker Championship has attracted many of the biggest names in poker, and some of those who made it to Day 2 include Jake Daniels, Anton Wigg, Nick Schulman, Kevin Rabichow, Isaac Kempton, Dejuante "DJ" Alexander, Matthew Wantman, James Romero and 2015 WSOP Main Event champion and Pennsylvania native Joe McKeehen.

End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

RANK	PLAYER	CHIP COUNT	BIG BLINDS
1	Graham Matthews	380,000	190
2	Michael McNicholas	346,000	173
3	Anthony Bruscia	306,000	153
4	Linus Richter	296,000	148
5	Edward Leonard	287,500	144
6	Iakov Onuchin	265,000	133
7	Jeremy Saderne	263,000	132
8	Albert Nguyen	262,000	131
9	David Botcowsky	250,000	125
10	Gediminas Uselis	233,000	117

There were also quite a few online qualifiers who made it to Day 2, including Michael McNicholas, Vincent Lestingi, Larry Lucci, Daniel Sewnig, Kevin Allebach and Val Arzunian. BetMGM Poker ambassador Darren Elias also found a bag as he looks for his next big tournament score.

Day 2 will kick off with blinds at 1,000/2,000/2,000. Like the previous day, Day 2 will play for nine 60-minute levels with players taking a 15-minute break every two levels.

The PokerNews live reporting team is on-site and ready to bring you continued coverage of this exciting inaugural event.

Tags: Anthony Bruscia Anton Wigg Graham Matthews Iakov Onuchin Isaac Kempton Jeremy Saderne Joe McKeehen Kevin Allebach Kevin Rabichow Larry Lucci Michael McNicholas Nick Schulman Val Arzunian Vincent Lestingi

06-24-2022 12:30 UTC-7

Yau Busts Then Reenters

Calum Grant

Level 10 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Ethan Yau and Jake Daniels limped in from the button and the small blind respectively before Kevin Rabichow made it 6,500 from the big blind. Yau called before Daniels folded.

Rabichow checked and Yau bet 5,500 on the flop. Rabichow then moved all in as the covering stack and Yau called off the rest of his stack.

Yau had the and was ahead of Rabichow's . However, the latter made trips on the turn and the completed the board.

Yau was felted but quickly reentered with a fresh starting stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin Rabichow	130,000 57,000	57,000
Ethan Yau	50,000

06-24-2022 13:01 UTC-7

Wigg Battles With Frasca

Connor Richards

Level 10 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Anton Wigg was in position in a heads-up pot against Brian Frasca on a board reading .

Frasca checked on the turn and called a bet of 7,000 from Wigg. Frasca checked again on the river and Wigg fired for 8,000. Frasca check-raised to around 30,000 and Wigg snap-folded.

The next hand, Wigg opened in middle position and Frasca defended from the blinds. Frasca checked on the flop of and Wigg checked back. Frasca checked again on the turn and Wigg bet 6,500. Frasca called.

Frasca checked once more on the river and Wigg sized up to 22,500. Frasca folded to send the pot to Wigg.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Frasca	140,000 -5,500	-5,500

Anton Wigg	130,000 34,500	34,500

06-24-2022 13:35 UTC-7

Late Registration Closes; Guarantee Hit

Calum Grant

Level 11 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Late registration for the inaugural BetMGM Poker Championship has now closed.

The tournament board is showing that there have been 343 entries with 160 players remaining.

The abundance of Day 2 entries means that the $1 million guarantee has been surpassed, with the final prize pool standing at $1,097,600.

06-24-2022 13:55 UTC-7

Payouts Confirmed

Calum Grant

Level 11 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

With the final prize pool confirmed at $1,097,600 - the top 44 players will make the money.

$224,236 is up top for the winner while the min-cash is set at $6,256.

BetMGM Poker Championship Payouts

place	prize	place	prize	place	prize
1	$224,236	7	$34,026	19-21	$12,074
2	$159,152	8	$28,538	22-24	$10,208
3	$104,272	9	$24,147	25-27	$8,781
4	$65,856	10-12	$19,757	28-35	$7,683
5	$51,587	13-15	$16,464	36-40	$6,586
6	$41,709	16-18	$14,269	41-44	$6,256

06-24-2022 14:25 UTC-7

Uselis Spikes River to Double

Calum Grant

Level 11 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Gediminas Uselis opened to 5,500 from middle position and was called by Vladimir Alexandrov from the cutoff. Ludovic Geilich three-bet to 23,000 from the button before Uselis moved all in for 95,000. Alexandrov mucked but Geilich called.

Gediminas Uselis:
Ludovic Geilich:

Geilich made a set and had Uselis just drawing to Broadway following the flop. The was a brick but the river saved the at risk player.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ludovic Geilich	380,000 172,000	172,000
Gediminas Uselis	215,000 -18,500	-18,500

Vladimir Alexandrov	125,000 26,000	26,000

06-24-2022 14:36 UTC-7

Sena Binks Gutshot to Crack McKeehen's Aces

Connor Richards

Level 12 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Joe McKeehen was in the big blind in a heads-up pot against the under-the-gun player, Nick Sena.

McKeehen checked on the flop of and Sena bet 7,000. McKeehen check-raised to 22,000 and Sena took about a minute before calling.

The turn brought the and McKeehen bet 36,000. Sena raised all in and McKeehen snap-called with the effective stack.

Joe McKeehen:
Nick Sena:

McKeehen's aces were drawing dead against the turned straight of Sena, and the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion pushed his stack to Sena before the dealer could put out the meaningless river.

Sena has heaps in front of him and appears to have the chip lead.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nick Sena-Hopkins	560,000 560,000	560,000
Joe McKeehen	Busted

06-24-2022 15:17 UTC-7

Yau Scores a Triple to Stay Afloat

Connor Richards

Level 12 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

A late position player limped in and Ethan Yau completed in the small blind after losing most of his stack the previous hand. The big blind then raised all-in and the late position player called, while Yau moved in with less.

Ethan Yau:
Big Blind:
Late Position:

Yau was dominated and it looked like it would be shower time for the popular poker vlogger. However, the board ran out and "Rampage Poker" made a straight to scoop the main pot for a triple-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ethan Yau	40,000 28,000	28,000

06-24-2022 16:26 UTC-7

Leonard Wakes Up With Aces

Connor Richards

Level 13 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Joseph Cheong opened to 8,000 from the lojack and the cutoff three-bet to 24,000. The button then four-bet jammed a stack of 126,000 and the action folded to BetMGM Poker qualifier Edward Leonard from the big blind, who cold-five-bet jammed with the biggest stack at the table. Cheong and the cutoff both quickly folded.

Button:
Edward Leonard:

It was a good time for Leonard to wake up with aces and his hand held up to eliminate the opponent when the board ran out .

Player	Chips	Progress
Edward Leonard	390,000 90,000	90,000

Joseph Cheong	120,000 70,000	70,000

06-24-2022 17:05 UTC-7

Ivens Extends Gap

Calum Grant

Level 14 : 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante

Action was caught on the flop in a hand between Todd Ivens and Linus Richter.

Ivens, from under the gun, check-called a bet of 25,000 from Richter, who was in middle position.

Ivens did the same for 90,000 on the turn.

On the river, Ivens bet out 175,000 and sent Richter into the tank. The latter threw his hands up in the air on a few occasions before deciding to return his cards to the dealer.

Player	Chips	Progress
Todd Ivens	770,000 200,000	200,000
Linus Richter	400,000 10,000	10,000
Nick Schulman	355,000 105,000	105,000

Isaac Kempton	330,000 85,000	85,000
George Rakitzis	180,000 107,000	107,000
Rafael Moraes	170,000 40,000	40,000

Maxwell Young	130,000 10,000	10,000
Joey Weissman	101,500 51,500	51,500

Kenny Hallaert	Busted