Leonardo Rizzo Leads the Way, 75 Players Advance to Day 3 of BSOP Championship

On a glorious day in São Paulo, 246 players returned to the WTC Sheraton for Day 2 of the 2025 BSOP Championship, having successfully navigated their opening flights.

The first step of the mission was clear from the outset: reach the top 103 and make the money. For those who dared to dream beyond that point, an $800,000 payday awaited the eventual champion.

Once the bubble had burst, the focus shifted immediately, with players turning their attention to building stacks and positioning themselves for a deep run.

In pole position, Leonardo Rizzo picked up exactly where he left off. The BSOP Ambassador, who ended Day 1a in third place, hit the ground running from the moment cards were in the air. Maintaining that momentum throughout the day, Rizzo claimed the honour of bursting the bubble before bagging an impressive 3,100,000 to finish as the chip leader.

Marcelo Aziz also enjoyed a highly productive day. Starting in the middle of the pack, he steadily climbed the counts throughout the day and finished with 2,805,000.

Rounding out the podium—and ensuring an all-Brazilian top three—Day 1a chip leader Alen Fillipi continued the theme of early standouts maintaining their dominance. He wrapped up Day 2 with 2,580,000.

Just behind them, Martin Kabrhel (2,410,000) and Diones Lopes (2,200,000) complete the top five, both well within striking distance heading into Day 3.

Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Leonardo Rizzo	Brazil	3,100,000	155
2	Marcelo Aziz	Brazil	2,805,000	140
3	Alen Fillipi	Brazil	2,580,000	129
4	Martin Kabrhel	Czechia	2,410,000	121
5	Diones Lopes	Brazil	2,200,000	110
6	Caio Kopke	Brazil	2,065,000	103
7	Francisco Junior	Brazil	2,000,000	100
8	Vinicius Goncalves	Brazil	1,925,000	96
9	Igor Perez	Bolivia	1,780,000	89
10	Vitor Dzivielevski	Brazil	1,765,000	88

Day 2 Action

The field thinned steadily in the lead-up to the money bubble, with several big names falling before they could gain any real traction. Zdenek Zizka, Ivan Luca, Kelvin Kerber, Rafael Mota, Dennys Ramos and Mehdi Chaoui were among those who saw their Day 2 cut short.

After around five hours of play, the tournament was down to the final two eliminations before the money, and hand-for-hand play began.

The first elimination came from the feature table, where Felipe Boianovsky found himself flipping for his tournament life. His ace-jack failed to outrun the pocket nines of Caoi Silva, leaving the field one elimination away from the cash.

Giorgi Silva then looked poised to burst the bubble when he got his chips in preflop with pocket queens against the pocket kings of Isabella Costa. The entire room watched in anticipation as the hand was broadcast on the big screen, only for Silva to spike a queen on the turn and survive in dramatic fashion.

From there, hand-for-hand play stretched on for a further 90 minutes before the bubble finally burst—and once again, the decisive moment unfolded on the feature table. Enio Bozzano was forced all in from the big blind, and end-of-day chip leader Rizzo put him at risk. Bozzano’s five-three was drawing dead once Rizzo hit a flush on the turn, leaving Bozzano as the unfortunate bubble, and guaranteeing the remaining players a spot in the money.

Once the bubble had burst, it was announced that play would finish one level earlier than planned, due to the duration of hand-for-hand play.

Another 28 players fell before the day ended, including Ariel Celestino (79th), Ori Hasson (86th), Dietrich Fast (88th), and Allan Mello (92nd), all of whom cashed for $11,000, meaning that 75 had survived the day.

The remaining players have now progressed to Day 3, which will take place on Thursday, November 27, at 2:00 p.m. local time.   

The plan for Day 3 is to play another six levels, with play resuming on Level 16. Blinds will recommence at 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante.  

BSOP Championship Remaining Payouts

Place	Prize (USD)	Place	Prize (USD)
1	$800,000	14-15	$36,000
2	$504,000	16-17	$32,000
3	$322,000	18-20	$29,000
4	$230,000	21-23	$24,000
5	$170,000	24-27	$20,000
6	$124,000	28-31	$18,200
7	$95,000	32-39	$16,400
8	$70,000	40-55	$14,000
9	$55,000	56-71	$12,000
10-11	$44,000	72-75	$11,000
12-13	$40,000