Axel Hallay Mounts a Miraculous Comeback to Dominate Day 2 of the $25,000 6-Max High Roller
The old poker saying is “a chip and a chair,” and it certainly rang true for Axel Hallay on Day 2 of Event #2: $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em.
Hallay was knocked down to just 40,000 early in the day. He ended it as the overwhelming chip leader with 7,980,000, nearly twice as much as his closest challenger. The French pro was already a top stack before he emerged victorious in the biggest pot of the day, winning with a set of aces to decimate the stack of Bin Weng.
Hallay would have finished with even more chips if not for a little luck from the player in second place on the chip leaderboard. Chris Moore was all in and down to two outs on the river against Hallay but hit his miracle card to double up. Another double-up near the night's end saw Moore finish up with 4,455,000.
A star-studded final nine players will return on June 1 at 1:30 p.m. inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to play down to a champion.
Joey Weissman (4,150,000), Jake Schindler (1,205,000), and 2017 PPC champion Elior Sion (1,202,500) are chasing their second WSOP bracelet, while Chance Kornuth (2,605,000) is seeking his fourth. Sean Winter (3,945,000) and the always-entertaining Ren Lin (1,500,000) are also still in the mix.
Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Axel Hallay | France | 7,980,000 | 80 |
| 2 | Chris Moore | United States | 4,455,000 | 45 |
| 3 | Joey Weissman | United States | 4,150,000 | 42 |
| 4 | Alexandre Vuilleumier | Switzerland | 3,975,000 | 40 |
| 5 | Sean Winter | United States | 3,945,000 | 39 |
| 6 | Chance Kornuth | United States | 2,605,000 | 26 |
| 7 | Ren Lin | China | 1,500,000 | 15 |
| 8 | Jake Schindler | United States | 1,205,000 | 12 |
| 9 | Elior Sion | United Kingdom | 1,202,500 | 12 |
Day 2 began shortly before 1 p.m. with 58 returning players joined by 20 new arrivals to create a total field of 207 entries. They were playing for a piece of the $4,864,500 prize pool, which would go to the top 32 finishers.
Phil Hellmuth, Shaun Deeb, Jason Koon, and Dan Smith fell short of the money, while Justin Saliba was the unfortunate bubble boy after being whittled down to less than a big blind.
Once the bubble burst, Ben Lamb (30th), Justin Bonomo (29th), and the last two Main Event champions, Koray Aldemir (26th) and Espen Jorstad (25th), all made their way to the payout desk. They were joined by Ethan “Rampage” Yau (23rd) and Daniel Negreanu, who was knocked out in 22nd place by the pocket queens of Weissman.
The remaining nine players are already guaranteed $104,733, but all eyes will be on the $1,215,864 top prize when play resumes. The final table will be streamed by PokerGO beginning at 4 p.m.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates from the 6-Max High Roller until a new WSOP champion is crowned tomorrow.