The goal was to play ten levels or get down to 27 players on Day 2 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Maryland Live! Main Event on Monday and it turned out to be the former that occurred. After ten levels, just 40 of the 554 original entrants remain with Jake Schwartz the head of the pack with 875,000 chips.
Currently ranked 103rd in the Global Poker Index, Schwartz has $1.16 million in live tournament earnings, according to TheHendonMob.com. He cashed eight times at the World Series of Poker this summer, though the size of those cashes was not particularly noteworthy. More than half of his lifetime winnings comes from two tournaments: fourth place in the 2015 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event ($412,187) and second place in the 2013 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Shootout Event ($202,035).
Also above 800,000 chips is Phong Vip Nguyen, who has 831,000. Two players finished Day 2 with more than 700,000 chips: Mike Liang (785,000) and Brian Altman (769,000).
As mentioned in previous articles, the WPT Maryland Live! Main Event is a re-entry tournament. Players were able to try one extra time each starting flight as well as once more before the start of Day 2 (or register for the first time before Day 2). Thus, the final player counts were unknown until yesterday afternoon. Once registration officially closed, there were 554 entries, creating a prize pool of $1,772,800. A total of 63 players – the final seven tables – will make the money. First place is $356,536 and the min-case amount is $6,504.
Schwartz jumped up into the chip lead during the final level of the night. According to the WPT.com live report, the board was 6-4-3-A and Schwartz called a 140,000 chip all-in by Glenn Cole. Cole had a really nice hand – pocket Treys for bottom set – but Schwartz was just a bit better, holding pocket Sixes for a better set. Cole was unable to hit his one-outer on the river and was eliminated from the tournament.
Also eliminated was defending champ Aaron Mermelstein, who was knocked out in 46th place.
Today’s action will see the field whittled all the way to the final six players, the half dozen that will compose the televised final table. Amongst those still remaining are four previous World Poker Tour champs: Brian Altman, Andjelko Andrejevic, Darren Elias, and Taylor von Kriegenbergh. Other notable names include Kate Hall, Benjamin Zamani, and 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Ryan Reiss.
2016 World Poker Tour Maryland Live! Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Jake Schwartz – 875,000
2. Phong Vip Nguyen – 831,000
3. Mike Liang – 785,000
4. Brian Altman – 769,000
5. Zachary Smiley – 692,000
6. Ryan Belz – 666,000
7. Andjelko Andrejevic – 660,000
8. John McCoy – 649,000
9. Samuel Ganzfried – 622,000
10. Mike O’Brien – 595,000