Sunday marked the second of two starting days for the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. The £10,350 buy-in event attracted 362 players and leading the pack as the tournament enters its second day is Justin Smith. Day 2 will see the 179 remaining players battle it out for their share of the £3.63 million prize pool. Play will begin with the survivors of Day 1A and Day 1B reconvening at 1:00pm local time on Monday.
Leading the field is Justin Smith, who holds 158,925 chips. Right behind him is Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu. He’s a four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner who took down a $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament this year for his latest victory. Negreanu is a poker veteran who captured his first bracelet way back in 1998. He holds 154,050 chips, in sight of Smith’s leading stack.
Here are the top 10 chip stacks at the Casino at the Empire heading into Day 2 of the WSOP Europe Main Event:
1. Justin Smith (Kissimmee, Florida, USA), 158,925
2. Daniel Negreanu (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA), 154,050
3. Jamie Rosen (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA), 139,225
4. David Benefield, (Ft. Worth, Texas, USA), 126,775
5. Sargon Ruya, (Linkoping, Sweden), 114,100
6. Eric Sagstrom, (Gothenburg, Sweden), 98,750
7. Jean Thorel, (98,675)
8. Andy Bloch, (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA), 97,100
9. Marco Traniello, (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA), 96,750
10. Mikael Norinder, (Stockholm, Sweden), 91,650
Rosen finished eighth in a $1,000 Rebuy No Limit Hold’em tournament during the 2008 WSOP, cashing for $79,587. He’s a well-versed online poker player and is someone to be feared when he has chips. Benefield made a deep run in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, finishing 73rd and taking home $77,200. He also finished 10th in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em (Event #50), pocketing $53,721 in the process.
Andy Bloch is a Full Tilt Poker pro and former MIT Blackjack Team member. Noticeably absent from his poker resume is a WSOP bracelet, something he’s coveted since day one of his career. The good news for Bloch is that he has over $2 million in career WSOP earnings. Traniello is the husband of poker pro Jennifer Harman. He made the final table and finished fifth in the Pot Limit Hold’em Championship during the 2007 WSOP, cashing for over $150,000.
Other notable players in the top 100 who still remain in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event include:
12. Roland De Wolfe (84,000)
15. Scott Montgomery (81,650)
23. Brian Townsend (71,950)
24. Mike Matusow (71,550)
25. Scott Fischman (70,650)
28. Nenad Medic (67,650)
32. Jennifer Tilly (64,975)
37. David “Devilfish” Ulliott (61,000)
51. Andrew Black (51,275)
52. David “Chino” Rheem (50,825)
56. John Juanda (48,675)
60. Barry Greenstein (46,500)
62. Erik Seidel (46,125)
65. Phil Laak (45,175)
68. Josh Arieh (44.050)
72. Juha Helppi (42,250)
75. Tom Dwan (41,025)
85. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (36,875)
87. Isaac Haxton (35,500)
91. Isaac Baron (34,550)
98. Steve Zolotow (30,900)
99. Ross Boatman (30,875)
The Main Event will crown a champion on Thursday, October 2nd. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for all of the details from London.
