Metalidi Wins the Day; Several Big Names Still in Contention
Aaaand just like that – another action-packed day of six-handed No Limit Hold’em is in the books. Out of the original 141 who began Day 2 in hopes of landing a World Series of Poker gold bracelet – only 18 will return for a third and final Day 3. Artem Metalidi will come into tomorrow as chip leader with a monstrous 1,523,000 stack. Behind him is the only other player to break a milly during Day 2, Luis Rodriguez, who bagged up 1,005,000.
As is always true in poker, where there are winners, there must be losers. Among those who didn’t survive into Day 3 include Jason Mercier, David Benyamine, Dan O’Brien, Galen Hall, Liv Boeree, Will Failla, Brad Booth and Gavin Smith. William Reynolds also fell by the wayside, but in notably brutal fashion as he was outdone by one of No Limit Hold’em’s prominent cooler situations.
As noted, our remaining players will be chasing after Artem Metalidi, who found himself with a massive chip late into Day 2 after winning a couple of key pots. There is still plenty of notable talent still in contention, however, including bracelet winner and 2008 November Niner Scott Montgomery, World Poker Tour champion and bracelet-winner Eugene Katchalov, online tournament phenom Andrew Lichtenberger and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – whose live tournament earnings exceed $8,400,000.
Here are the final chip counts going into tomorrow:
| Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Artem Metalidi | 1,523,000 |
| Luis Rodriguez Cruz | 1,005,000 |
| Foster Hays | 679,000 |
| Joseph Urgo | 572,000 |
| Damien Lhommeau | 511,000 |
| Bertrand Grospellier | 487,000 |
| Freddy Deeb | 425,000 |
| Taylor Paur | 424,000 |
| Simon Charette | 405,000 |
| Eddie Blumenthal | 395,000 |
| Craig Bergeron | 375,000 |
| Scott Montgomery | 288,000 |
| Thiago Nishijima | 272,000 |
| Andrew Lichtenberger | 246,000 |
| Alexander Nudin | 245,000 |
| Toan Trinh | 224,000 |
| Ryan Fair | 199,000 |
| Eugene Katchalov | 84,000 |
Join us here tomorrow at 1:00 PM local time as our final 18 combatants return to battle down to an eventual champion. Until then, we wish you a good night!