Benjamin Foster Leads Field Going Into Day 2 of Event #11: $2,700 Main Event
After 15 levels of play on the two starting flights of Event #11: $2,700 Main Event at the Potomac Winter Poker Open, 99 players remain from a combined starting field of 533. At the head of those 99 players is day 1b chipleader Benjamin Foster with 723,500. Sung Lee sits in second on 645,500 while day 1a chipleader Jonathan Gilliam rounds out the top three on 538,000.
The tournament boasted a healthy guarantee of $500,000 which was surpassed early on day 1a. By the time late registration closed on day 1b, the total prizepool had grown to a massive $1,274,400. That money will be spit amongst the top 54 finishers so players entering day 2 have not locked up a return on their investment just yet. Those who are able to navigate their way past the money bubble are all guaranteed a minimum of $5,098 with a juicy $277,053 awaiting the winner.
Those numbers are larger than when this event was last held back in 2020 despite the fact that the buyin was reduced from $3,000 to $2,700, a testament to how strongly live poker has rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benjamin Foster | United States | 723,500 |
| 2 | Sung Lee | United States | 645,500 |
| 3 | Jonathan Gilliam | United States | 538,000 |
| 4 | Bin Weng | United States | 521,500 |
| 5 | Hal Rotholz | United States | 516,000 |
| 6 | Jacob Hershey | United States | 477,500 |
| 7 | David Tiller | United States | 467,000 |
| 8 | Vincent Pahuja | United States | 461,000 |
| 9 | Boris Kravets | United States | 454,000 |
| 10 | Chris Blackmore | United States | 450,000 |
Many notable players will retake their seat today, including BetMGM Ambassador Darren Elias (388,500), well known poker pro Bin Weng (521,500) and 2022 GPI POY Stephen Song (320,000). They will not be joined by defending champion Matthew Sesso or the 2020 runner-up, Joe McKeehen.
Day 2 resumes at 12 p.m. on Sunday, February 5th and will play down to the final six. Levels will increase to 60-minutes from this point on and play commences at blinds of 4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 big blind ante. Be sure to stay tuned as the Pokernews live reporting team provides coverage through to the conclusion of Event #11: $2,700 Main Event at the Potomac Winter Poker Open.