WSOP Day 2 Headlines & CardRunners Chip Counts

Day 2 is complete at the World Series of Poker.  Here's a brief rundown of some of the major headlines heading into Day 3 on Thursday:

The Field: Despite fears of a Black Friday effect, 6,865 players ponied-up the $10,000 buy-in making this the 3^rd largest Main Event in history.  The champion will earn $8.711 million.

Ben Lamb: Currently in 2^nd of the Player of the Year race, he has kept his chiplead and bagged up 551,600 chips.  He’s currently only 50 points behind Phil Hellmuth on the P.O.Y. leaderboard.  Hellmuth advances to Day 3 with 64,900.

Phil Hellmuth: The Poker Brat deserves mention as well. He’s made headlines all  month with his heartbreaking close-calls.  Inspired with a seemingly more mature attitude and approach to the game, he had arguably one of the best WSOPs of his career, finishing runner-up in 3 events in three forms of poker. Hellmuth mistakenly skipped the beginning of his Day 2, nearly blinding out.  He nursed the shortstack and has managed to stay alive and advance to Day 3.

The Cards:  Card-marking seems to be a pervasive problem in the event and has resulted in some controversy.  At one point during Day 2B, eight cards were removed from a deck due to markings.  The cards were mistakenly replaced with the wrong color, resulting in one deck being eight cards light.  Several hands were played with this short-deck and players were outraged after realizing the error.

Famous Faces: Each year the WSOP Main Event attracts many celebrities from outside the poker world.  This year was no different.  Spotted in the field were 2008 NBA Finals MVP and All Star Paul Pierce, ex-NFL player Eric Stocz, Grammy Winner Nelly, and actors Jason Alexander, Ray Romano, and Brad Garrett.  Garrett, Stocz, and Alexander will all return for Day 3.

Advancing to Day 3 within the CardRunners community are eight of our pros and two members.  Leading the pack is CR member Justin “COOLRUNNINGS” Cereste.  A regular contributor in our strategy forums, he enters Day 3 with 211,500 chips.

Below are the chip counts of those in the CR Community playing Day 3:

Remember to follow our Twitter account for the latest news and updates on the progress of our pros as they near the money bubble.