button in SafariRalph Perry Bags a Top 3 Stack on Day 1a of the Monster Stack
Day 2a of Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack is in the bag, and what a day it was. The original Day 2a field consisted of the 538 players who survived Day 1a's shenanigans, but they were then joined by 293 late entrants.
By the time 10 more levels were completed, Ralph Perry (3,320,000) had bagged up the third-largest stack in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, trailing only Hayden Hetland (4,075,000) and Dustin Harrelson (3,850,000).
Perry is a poker veteran with cashes dating back to 1994. He was the third-place finisher in the 2002 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, and captured a bracelet in 2006 when he took down the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 2a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayden Hetland | United States | 4,075,000 | 163 |
| 2 | Dustin Harrelson | United States | 3,850,000 | 154 |
| 3 | Ralph Perry | United States | 3,320,000 | 133 |
| 4 | John Ripnick | United States | 3,205,000 | 128 |
| 5 | Zhijian Zhang | China | 3,010,000 | 120 |
| 6 | Paris Sitzoukis | Australia | 3,010,000 | 120 |
| 7 | Andreas Boelling | Germany | 2,895,000 | 116 |
| 8 | Drake Kemper | United States | 2,665,000 | 107 |
| 9 | James Rowe | United Kingdom | 2,500,000 | 100 |
| 10 | Uri Reichenstein | Israel | 2,140,000 | 86 |
The list of Day 2a surviving players is littered with household names. Such luminaries as Tyler Phillips (1,765,000), Kyle Julius (1,560,000), Ronnie Day (1,400,000), Michael Casella (1,385,000), five-time bracelet winner Martin Kabrhel (1,350,000), John Wasnock (1,075,000), Daniel Rezaei (1,065,000), Poker Hall of Famer John Juanda (945,000), Belgian superstar Michael Gathy (860,000), Jonathan Glendinning (600,000), David Benyamine (575,000), and Allyn Shulman (520,000) all punched their Day 3 tickets.
Day 3 of the Monster Stack starts at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 8, which is also when PokerNews' traditional coverage of this tournament begins. All the players who navigate through their respective Day 2s will combine on Day 3 to play another 10 levels, with blinds starting at 10,000/25,000 and a 25,000 big blind ante.