Welcome to Day 2 of Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino

Seventy-three players have survived the crucibles of two Day 1 flights and are set to fire up Day 2 here at Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino in Tama, Iowa. Mario Hudson has the chip lead with a monstrous 380,000, miles ahead of second-place Joe Matheson (282,000). Next on the leaderboard is the Minnesota tandem of Thao "Scratch" Thiem (246,000) and Rob Wazwaz (244,000), who bagged the Day 1a lead.

Plenty of dangerous players look a little ways down in the chip counts as well. Matt Kirby (176,000), Josh Reichard (155,000), Ben Keeline (114,500), Dan Sun (113,000), Lance Harris (93,000), and Mike Ross (66,500) would have to be on anyone's short list of favorites to win it all. Indeed, Kirby and Sun have already claimed two MSPT wins each.

Action resumes at 10:30 a.m., and 36 players will make the money. Day 2 will begin at Level 15 (1,500/3,000/500) and progress with 40-minute levels until a final table has been reached. At that point, levels will move to one hour apiece and the live stream will kick off for your viewing pleasure. Stay tuned to find out who takes down the latest MSPT.