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Event #45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors
Day 2 Completed
2025 World Series of Poker
Event #45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors
Day: 2
Event Info
2025 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
$500
Prize Pool
$1,614,170
Total Entries
3,937
Level
41
Blinds
1,500,000 / 3,000,000
Ante
3,000,000
Entries
625
Players Left
32
Players Left 1 / 3,937
Filter
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Day 2 action has come to a close here in Event #45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em at the 2025 World Series of Poker, hosted by the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. Of the 625 runners who started the day, only 32 players will return for the third and final day on Tuesday. The remaining competitors will be battling it out for a piece of the $1,614,170 prize pool, with the first-place prize of $187,937 going to the winner.
The chip leader heading into Day 3 is Joey Couden (14,375,000), who is the only bracelet winner and 25K Fantasy player left in the field. Couden began the day with a top five stack and never looked back. He was able to leverage his experience to steadily climb throughout the day and end up as the player sitting atop the counts.
Sitting in second, not far behind Couden, is Sebastian Medina, who ended the day with 11,650,000 and rounding out the podium is Luciano Melo with 10,800,000.
Day 1 chip leader Ofer Saha (5,700,000) is still in the mix and will return for Day 3 in the middle of the pack.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Couden | United States | 14,375,000 | 36 |
| 2 | Sebastian Medina | Colombia | 11,650,000 | 29 |
| 3 | Luciano Melo | Brazil | 10,800,000 | 27 |
| 4 | Richard Buckingham | United States | 10,150,000 | 25 |
| 5 | Joseph Hernon | United States | 10,150,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Yu Hsiang Huang | Taiwan | 9,600,000 | 24 |
| 7 | Kimon Fountoukidis | Poland | 9,400,000 | 24 |
| 8 | Alexander Savchenko | Cyprus | 8,350,000 | 21 |
| 9 | Abraham Barbarian | United States | 8,150,000 | 20 |
| 10 | Jaehyun Park | Korea, Republic of | 7,775,000 | 19 |
Notable Eliminations
Kareef Nahid earned the unfortunate title of bubble boy when his pocket aces were cracked by Mitchell Tsang's pocket nines.
Several well known players exited on Day 2 including Christina Gollins (459th - $1,000) Jason Young (349th - $1,050) and Barry Shulman (225th - $1,336).
Victoria Livschitz was involved in a three-way all in holding ace-king suited but exited in 215th and cashed for $1,336.
Tony Ma was eliminated in 172nd, good for a payday of $1,479. Veterans Glenn Stout (103rd - $1,654) and Joseph Reyes (101st - $1,654) both made deep runs. Pete Chen (91st - $1,871) entered the day with a top ten stack but couldn't find a bag for Day 3.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize (USD) | Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $187,937 | 8 | $22,998 |
| 2 | $125,034 | 9 | $17,901 |
| 3 | $92,221 | 10-11 | $14,063 |
| 4 | $68,619 | 12-13 | $11,152 |
| 5 | $51,511 | 14-17 | $8,927 |
| 6 | $39,015 | 18-26 | $7,214 |
| 7 | $29,818 | 27-32 | $5,887 |
Action will begin on Day 3 at 11:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, June 17, at the Horseshoe, where the event will play down to a winner. The tournament will resume in Level 33 with blinds at 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 big blind ante. Levels will be 40-minutes in length and there will be a 15-minute break every three levels.
Be sure to follow PokerNews for the remainder of this event, as well as future coverage throughout the summer.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Here are the end-of-Day 2 $500 SALUTE to Warriors event chip counts according to the WSOP+ app.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The remaining 32 players have bagged for Day 3.
The full recap will be posted shortly.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Zach Daly was all in from under the gun for around 6,800,000 and got a single call from Luciano Melo in the big blind who had around 5,400,000. Daly covered Melo by around 1,400,000.
Luciano Melo: Q♣Q♠
Zach Daly: 10♠10♣
Daly was behind and didn't improve on the A♣8♥9♠3♣Q♥ runout.
Melo chipped up and Daly was left with around 5 big blinds. He was seen walking away from the table just a few hands later after being eliminated, just a few minutes before the end of the day.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The tournament director has paused the clock and announced that players will play three more hands before bagging their chips for the night.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Patricia Herron was all in for her remaining 2,100,000 stack in middle position. Abraham Barbarian made the call from the cutoff and had her well covered.
Patricia Herron: Q♣Q♥
Abraham Barbarian: A♥A♠
Herron couldn't be saved on the 10♠9♣4♣3♠5♠ runout.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Matthew Naylor opted to push in his final 1,300,000 from under the gun. Action folded to Kimon Fountoukidis in the hijack, who also jammed for 5,910,000 to clear out the rest of the table and go to showdown against Naylor.
Matthew Naylor: 9♠9♥
Kimon Fountoukidis: A♣Q♣
It was a race of a pair versus overcards, and the pair was ahead when the flop came 5♥4♠6♥, but the A♦ river was just what Fountoukidis was looking for, flipping the script on Naylor. The 3♣ peeled off to end the hand.
