Watanabe Leading the Pack on Day 2 of $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack
Welcome back to the PokerNews coverage of Event #31: $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack at the 2025 World Series of Poker, held at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
Day 1 generated a field of 4,481 entries who came to the WSOP in quest of a gold bracelet and the lion's share of a total prize pool of $3,136,700 to the tune of $352,610 for the eventual first-place winner.
Among the 258 players left, many notables are in the field, including elite pro player Stephen Song, who carries a lengthy list of achievements himself coming off a recent massive score. Leading the chip counts, Hajime Watanabe bagged 3,235,000 ending Day 1. He also totes a decorated history of results with total live earnings of $103,612.
Others in the field still battling include bracelet winner Nick Guagenti, who won a bracelet Sunday night, returns to Day 2 seeking a fourth bracelet. Competition is not exactly an easy bunch with elite tournament crusher Michael Moncek, three-time bracelet winner David "ODB" Baker, WSOP Champion Nicholas Seward, and two-time bracelet winner Loni Hui among a murderer's row of players hungry to add to their jewelry collection.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hajime Watanabe | Japan | 3,235,000 | 108 |
| 2 | Daniel Cosner | United States | 2,505,000 | 84 |
| 3 | Robert Gittelman | United States | 2,500,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Stephen Song | United States | 2,105,000 | 70 |
| 5 | Lukas Hafner | Austria | 2,100,000 | 70 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Farnes | United States | 1,990,000 | 66 |
| 7 | Jun Li | United Kingdom | 1,985,000 | 66 |
| 8 | Jeremy Wien | United States | 1,945,000 | 65 |
| 9 | Davor Bojovic | Slovenia | 1,900,000 | 63 |
| 10 | Sebastian Crema | Canada | 1,720,000 | 57 |
Players will return to their seats and commence another day of action at 11 a.m. local time, playing down to an eventual winner tonight. Players will return to 15,000/30,000 blinds with a 30,000 big blind ante.
Make sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for more World Series of Poker action all summer!