Day 2 Ends with 20 Players in the Hunt for Event #29’s Bracelet; Jamie Armstrong Leads
At 1 p.m. PT on Saturday afternoon, 209 poker players returned to their seats in the Amazon Room of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino all sharing the common goal of making it into the money and then progressing to the tournament’s third day of action.
The dream of cashing was dashed for 92 players who fell by the wayside before the money was awarded. Some of those who fell short included Tristan Wade, Sunny Chattha, Brent Hanks, Gordon Vayo, and Nick Rampone.
When the money bubble did burst, it was thanks to Oleg Badmayev and his huge call with a pair of threes on an 
board, at it opened the floodgates for a surge of eliminations. Some of the big names earning some money from Event #29 included recent bracelet winner Kyle Cartwright, Amanda Musumeci, Tony Dunst, Griffin Benger, Will "The Thrill" Failla, Scotty Nguyen, Roberto Romanello, David "Doc" Sands, and former Main Event champion Jerry Yang.
When the tournament director called time on proceedings, after 10 hour-long levels, only 20 players remained in contention for the $536,768 first-place prize and the WSOP bracelet that comes with it. Leading those 20 back into battle at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday afternoon will be Jamie Armstrong, who ended the night with a tournament-leading stack of 765,000. Hot on Armstrong’s heels was Barry Hutter, who has been among the chip leaders since this tournament started. Hutter will begin Day 3 with 731,000 chips.
Other big stacks and notables included Chris Johnson (665,000), Sam Cohen (654,000), Rep Porter (463,000), Matt Salsberg (447,000), David Benefield, (355,000), Justin Oliver (284,000), and William Reynolds (223,000).
The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on the ground throughout Day 3 as the tournament plays down to a champion, and you won't want to miss any of the upcoming action.