button in Safari341 Players in the Mix on Day 2 of $800 Summer Celebration
Far from the $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship spotlight, another World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet will be awarded today on Day 2 of Event #81: $800 Summer Celebration No-Limit Hold'em.
The event attracted a massive 6,803 entries across its two starting flights, creating a total prize pool of $4,762,100. However, just 341 players remain in the hunt for the $500,000 first-place prize and the coveted gold bracelet.
One of those players will be crowned champion by the end of the night, and it could be Nino Papava (3,095,000), who is the only player to have crossed the three-million-chip mark after bagging the overall chip lead on Day 1a. He is followed by Frederick Robitaille (2,745,000), Sander Ressler (2,365,000), and Kamran Jamal (2,200,000). Also returning with big stacks are Vladyslav Shovkovyi (2,180,000), Fabian Niederreiter (2,150,000), and Yi Klassen (2,070,000).
Start of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nino Papava | Georgia | 3,095,000 | 77 |
| 2 | Frederick Robitaille | Canada | 2,745,000 | 69 |
| 3 | Sander Ressler | United States | 2,365,000 | 59 |
| 4 | Kamran Jamal | United States | 2,200,000 | 55 |
| 5 | Vladyslav Shovkovyi | Ukraine | 2,180,000 | 55 |
| 6 | Fabian Niederreiter | Germany | 2,150,000 | 54 |
| 7 | Yi Klassen | United States | 2,070,000 | 52 |
| 8 | Naushad Ali | United States | 1,895,000 | 47 |
| 9 | Eric Ladny | United States | 1,830,000 | 46 |
| 10 | Joseph Cutler | United States | 1,820,000 | 46 |
Among a field filled with recreational players in one of the lowest buy-in bracelet events of the summer, several well-known pros also found a bag for Day 2, including Andreas Frohli (1,440,000), Michael Moncek (1,410,000), Tom Fuchs (1,350,000), and recent $50,000 Poker Players Championship runner-up Josh Arieh (1,295,000).
Also returning are Matthew Beinner (730,000), EPT champion Lucien Cohen (725,000), Allan Le (700,000), Hugues “Chotec” Mazerolle (570,000), Nils Pudel (470,000), and Ilija Savevski (285,000).
Bringing up the rear is veteran French player Ange Besnainou with just 34,000. Despite being the shortest stack, Besnainou has plenty of WSOP pedigree, highlighted by a 14th-place finish in the 2000 Main Event.
Day 2 starts on July 4 at 11 a.m. local time with the remaining 341 players returning to Level 23, featuring blinds of 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante. Play will continue in 30-minute levels until a winner is crowned and all returning players have already locked up a minimum payout of $2,550 after reaching the money on Day 1.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide updates until a winner is crowned!