Today, the continuation of the 2024 World Series of Poker saw the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas play host to the second installment of Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold 'em. This three-day event drew in an impressive 1,561 entrants, of which 235 returned to the felt to battle it out this morning. After an additional 10 levels of play, just 17 contenders remain in tomorrow’s race towards the first-place prize of $410,359 and the coveted gold WSOP bracelet.
When all was said and done, Javier Gomez bagged the all-important chip lead for the Day 3 restart tomorrow. Gomez amassed an impressive stack of 4,870,000 and is over 800,000 in front of his nearest competitor Nicholas Massey, the only other player to eclipse the four million chip mark.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Javier Gomez | Spain | 4,870,000 | 61 |
| 2 | Nicholas Massey | United States | 4,055,000 | 51 |
| 3 | Yasheel Doddanavar | India | 3,850,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Michael Berk | United States | 3,465,000 | 43 |
| 5 | Huihan Wu | United States | 3,450,000 | 43 |
| 6 | Damien Le Goff | United Kingdom | 3,445,000 | 43 |
| 7 | Kavin Shah | United States | 3,350,000 | 42 |
| 8 | Javier Zarco | Spain | 3,125,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Yunkyu Song | United States | 2,800,000 | 35 |
| 10 | Narcis Nedelcu | Romania | 2,700,000 | 34 |
Many notable names found their way to the felt this morning, including a plethora of previous bracelet winners. For a large portion of the day, a heavy focus remained on former Main Event champion, Koray Aldemir, as he navigated his deep run with several big swings. However, Aldemir’s campaign for a second bracelet fell short on Level 24 when Jonathan Glendinning became the beneficiary of Aldemir’s stack.
Aldemir wasn’t alone in falling short on his quest to add another piece of gold hardware to his trophy cabinet; former bracelet winners Yuliyan Kolev and Lou Garza crashed out in 23rd and 19th, respectively, falling short of their triumphs in 2022 and 2023.
However, the same fate has yet to befall tournament veteran Barry Shulman, who will be progressing to Day 3 with a short stack of 685,000. Shulman won his first bracelet over two decades ago in the 2001 $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better. However, that victory was more notably eclipsed by his £10,000 WSOP Europe Main Event win in 2009. Can Shulman spin his short stack into bracelet number three?
With Shulman being the only WSOP champion left in the field, the remaining 16 players will all be on the hunt for their maiden World Series win.
Play will recommence tomorrow, June 19, at 12 p.m. local time on Level 27. Blinds will be 40,000/80,000, with an 80,000 big blind ante. The remaining finalists will endure 60-minute levels until a winner is crowned.
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