Yuan Li Bags the Lead Going Into Day 3; Multiple Big Names Still in the Hunt
Play has come to a close on Day 2 of Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold 'em at the 2023 World Series of Poker here at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. There were 321 returning players who started the day, but when the dust settled after ten 60-minute levels, only 28 players were able to find a bag for the final day. Those returning for Day 3 will battle it out for the remainder of the $3,492,360 prize pool with $524,777 and a coveted WSOP gold bracelet reserved for the eventual champion.
Yuan Li bagged the overnight chip lead with 5,350,000 in his stack, but will have no easy path to victory as he is closely followed by Patrick Truong (5,220,000) and Jeremy Joseph (3,930,000). All three will be gunning to win their first WSOP bracelet when the tournament plays to a winner.
Other notables to make it through to Day 3 include 2017 WSOP Main Event finalist Antoine Saout (3,615,000), Day 1 chip leader Lee Piniatoglou (2,610,000), bracelet winners Ankush Mandavia (1,240,000) and Carlos Chang (975,000), and the 2023 PSPC champion Aliaksandr Shylko (1,275,000).
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuan Li | China | 5,350,000 | 89 |
| 2 | Patrick Truong | United States | 5,220,000 | 87 |
| 3 | Jeremy Joseph | United States | 3,930,000 | 65 |
| 4 | Mark Seif | United States | 3,850,000 | 64 |
| 5 | Antoine Saout | France | 3,615,000 | 60 |
| 6 | Darryl Ronconi | United States | 3,585,000 | 60 |
| 7 | Daniel Le | Canada | 3,290,000 | 55 |
| 8 | Pavels Spirins | Latvia | 3,000,075 | 50 |
| 9 | Marc MacDonnell | Ireland | 2,970,000 | 50 |
| 10 | Lee Piniatoglou | United States | 2,610,000 | 44 |
Notables who made a deep run but fell short of making Day 3 include the 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada (43rd, $12,807), three-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy (40th, $12,807), PokerGO's Donnie Peters (47th, $10,753), and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche (172nd, $4,002).
Two-time bracelet winner Mark Seif started Day 2 second in chips and managed to steadily build throughout the day to bag 3,850,000 for Day 3 in his pursuit of his elusive third bracelet.
The action picks back up on Saturday, June 17th at 10:00 a.m. local time and will begin on Level 26 with 30,000/60,000 blinds and a big blind ante of 60,000, with play scheduled to play down to a winner.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for up-to-date coverage of this and all events here at the 2023 World Series of Poker!