For two of the starting flights in the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event, today was Day 2. Appropriately named Day 2a/b, the survivors from the first two starting days continued action inside the Rio, but in separate rooms from one another. Day 2a took place inside the famed Amazon Room, while Day 2b took place spread across the Pavilion Room and Brasilia Room.
Nick Schwarmann bagged up the most, finishing on 413,600 in chips. Schwarmann has already had some success at the 2013 WSOP already, finishing in second place in Event #38: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em (Four Handed) for $191,434 and 48th in Event #11: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em (Six Handed) for $7,126. Schwarmann also won the 2011 Heartland Poker Tour Daytona Beach event for a hefty $167,944, and has live lifetime tournament earnings of over $400,000.
The biggest story of the day was the continued success of two former champions of this event, Doyle Brunson and Greg Merson. Brunson, the 10-time gold bracelet winner and two-time winner of the Main Event, began his Day 2 with 81,025 in chips. Merson started with 81,650. Both built and built throughout the five levels of play endured and finished very, very healthy. Brunson bagged up 224,000 in chips, while Merson grew to 275,600 to finish out the day. Following a day off tomorrow while Day 2c plays out, they'll be back in action on Thursday.
Other notables returning to action today were Chris Moneymaker, Gaelle Baumann, Johnny Lodden, Joe Cada, Eugene Katchalov, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Jonathan Karamalikis, Matt Salsberg, Jason Lester, Josh Brikis, Lee Markholt and Joe Tehan. Unfortunately for that group of players, their 2013 World Series of Poker is now over as they were all eliminated.
Moneymaker was eliminated during the first level of play today at the hands of Ivan Mamuzic. On the 10th anniversary of his Main Event win in 2003, Moneymaker was all in with 
against Mamuzic's . Moneymaker couldn't find a miracle, and his run was over.
Baumann, who finished in 10th place in last year's Main Event, fell in the third level of the day, Level 8. Wielding a relatively short stack, Baumann reportedly moved all in with 
and failed to improve against an opponent's 
.
While there were bunches of notable eliminations throughout the day, plenty of players thrived. Jason DeWitt, Sergio Castelluccio, Kenny Tran, Rupert Elder, Raj Vohra, Ravi Raghavan, Brandon Meyers, Ludovic Lacay, Annette Obrestad, Ronnie Bardah and Cliff Josephy all finished strong and will be moving to Day 3 with plenty of chips in their arsenal.
As mentioned, the Day 2a/b survivors will have a day off tomorrow to rest, relax and recover, but that doesn't mean the poker will stop. Day 2c will be taking place starting at 12 p.m. Las Vegas time, and you won't want to miss the action. PokerNews will have you covered all day long, so be sure to return right back here to these pages for another day from the WSOP Main Event tournament floor.
