David Prociak Secures Back-to-Back Chip Lead as 16 Players Survive Day 2 of $3,000 T.O.R.S.E.
Stud Games: 10,000 Ante, 10,000 Bring-In, 40,000 Completion, 40,000-80,000 Limits
After an uneventful Day 2, 16 players out of the field of 522 made it through the second day of Event #93: $3,000 T.O.R.S.E., a brand new format at the 2025 World Series of Poker. They will return to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas Sunday, July 13, to play out the rest of the tournament and divide the vast majority of the $1,393,740 prize pool.
David Prociak is in good shape to make his first final table of the summer after he bagged the chip lead for the second day in a row. Prociak will be looking to add the $273,386 first-place prize to his lifetime earnings of over $2,500,000, and capture his fourth bracelet by doing so.
The 2,440,000 chips he put in his bag will count for 24 big bets when play resumes on Day 3, which is three big bets more than Ryutaro Suzuki will sit down with as the young Japanese player took second place on the leaderboard with 2,110,000.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Prociak | United States | 2,440,000 | 24 |
| 2 | Ryutaro Suzuki | Japan | 2,110,000 | 21 |
| 3 | Scott Lake | United States | 2,055,000 | 21 |
| 4 | Toby Lewis | United Kingdom | 1,985,000 | 20 |
| 5 | Matthew Rosen | United States | 1,620,000 | 16 |
| 6 | James Obst | Australia | 1,565,000 | 16 |
| 7 | Ryan Miller | United States | 1,440,000 | 14 |
| 8 | Eddie Blumenthal | United States | 1,435,000 | 14 |
| 9 | Nikolay Fal | Russian Federation | 1,340,000 | 13 |
| 10 | Stephen Dauphinais | Canada | 1,115,000 | 11 |
Other notables in the top ten include 25K Fantasy picks Toby Lewis and James Obst, as well as their fellow bracelet winners Ryan Miller and Nikolay Fal.
Day 2 Action
The day started with 159 players returning, all hopeful to be among the 79 paid places. With over half the field needing to be eliminated before the bubble would be reached, many mixed game luminaries were forced to leave empty-handed. Ryan Hoenig and Philip Sternheimer could not capture their second bracelet of 2025 as they exited early. The legendary Mike Matusow finished just outside of the top 100, and Shaun Deeb's hunt for bracelet number eight came to an end on the soft bubble.
Eventually, the hand-for-hand portion of the tournament was reached. Only a few hands into the bubble, Dario Alioto was forced all-in in the big blind in Omaha Hi-Lo, and could not crack aces to become the official bubble boy.
Daniel Negreanu continued his impressive 2025 WSOP results by picking up another cash, being the first to make the pay jump to $6,312 for his 53rd place finish. Robert Rosengarten, who entered Day 2 with the shared chip lead, finished in 45th for $7,265, and Hall of Famer Todd Brunson was the first player to pick up a five-figure payout as he went out 23rd for $11,271.
Josh Arieh (20th - $11,271), and John Monnette (18th - $11,271), barely missed out on the three-table redraw. The final 17 players then played for 30 minutes longer, with Sokchheka Pho (17th - $13,819) being eliminated during the final few hands of the night.
The remaining 16 hopefuls will return at 1 p.m. local time to crown a winner. They have all guaranteed themselves a payday of $13,819, but the real big bucks are reserved for the top three finishers, who all secure a six-figure payout.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $273,386 | 7 | $29,921 | |
| 2 | $178,427 | 8 | $22,531 | |
| 3 | $119,108 | 9 | $22,531 | |
| 4 | $81,357 | 10-11 | $17,412 | |
| 5 | $56,892 | 12-13 | $13,819 | |
| 6 | $40,753 | 14-16 | $13,819 |
The tournament will restart in Level 23, with blinds of 25,000/50,000 in the button games, and limits of 50,000/100,000. The antes in the stud games will be 10,000, with a bring-in of the same amount. All levels will remain 60 minutes in length, with a short break planned after every two levels. Details regarding a dinner break have yet to be determined.
PokerNews will be back on the floor on Day 3 for what could prove to be a long road to the first-ever WSOP T.O.R.S.E. champion. Stay tuned so you don't miss any of the mixed-game coverage.