button in SafariThree-Time Bracelet Winner Ryan Leng Among 501 Returning Players on Day 2a of The COLOSSUS
Welcome to Day 2a of Event #34: $500 The COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold'em here at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP). At 11 a.m. local time, the 501 players who navigated through 15 levels on Day 1a will return to their seats for Day 2a.
The returning players will face another 12 levels. Some will thrive, others will merely survive, but having a single chip in their stack when play concludes means they go through to Day 3 on June 15.
Joseph Ozimok (1,065,000) is likely to be one of those players who thrives, not least because he sits down with 133 big blinds at his disposal. John Hardie (1,046,000) is equally as deep; he returns to the battlefield with a 130 big blind war chest.
Start of Day 2a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Ozimok | United States | 1,065,000 | 133 |
| 2 | John Hardie | United States | 1,046,000 | 130 |
| 3 | Arash Vaziri | United States | 996,000 | 125 |
| 4 | Giuseppe Lomuscio | United States | 852,000 | 107 |
| 5 | Kennii Nguyen | United States | 818,000 | 102 |
| 6 | Xingwei Chen | China | 808,000 | 101 |
| 7 | Serhii Koreniev | United States | 782,000 | 98 |
| 8 | Vitaliy Gordeychuk | United States | 779,000 | 97 |
| 9 | Andreas Frohli | Austria | 735,000 | 92 |
| 10 | Michael Byers | United States | 730,000 | 91 |
Eighteen of the Day 2a players are either 25K Fantasy Draft picks or already own a WSOP bracelet. They include Ryan Leng (568,000), who has three gold bracelets, Justin Fawcett (545,000), "Captain" Tom Franklin (327,000), Darius Samual (200,000), Kartik Ved (199,000), and Alex Keating (180,000).
The plan for today is to complete 12 levels, with a 15-minute break every three levels; there is no provision for a dinner break on the WSOP structure sheet.
Players return to Level 16, meaning blinds are 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 big blind ante. Ninety-eight players will bust empty-handed, with 403 places paid, a min-cash weighing in at $1,007.
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