07 Nov 09

WPT Foxwoods Day 2: Only 68 survive

After two exciting days of poker, 2006 champ Nenad Medic is among the more notable survivors as less than 20% of the original starting field progress into Day 3.

Nenad MedicAnother two thirds of the 206 runners who started Day 2 were shed from the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals today. Nenad Medic (pictured right) who won this event in 2006 and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi are among the more notable names in the surviving pool.

The chip average is currently at 155,735 and Medic is just about average with 151,300 chips. "The Grinder" meanwhile fought it out among the chip leaders for most of the day but saw himself fall behind towards the end. Mizrachi ended Day 2 with just 216,000 chips, less than half of the stack of the current chip leader.

Big stacks battle for the chip lead

With the biggest stacks in the card room not being separated by too many chips, they battled it out for the bragging rights of the chip lead in the final level. Christian Harder, Todd Terry, Terrence Chan and Soheil Shamseddin all took at stab at the chip lead but it was Steven Merrifield who took the honour in the end.

Michael MizrachiMerrifield's lead came courtesy of a late confrontation with "The Grinder" (pictured right). Merrifield made fours full of queens to take a big chunk out of Mizrachi's chip stack. After that big pot, he ended the day with 465,100 chips while Mizrachi fell further down the pecking order to stake his claim on the $910,058 winner's purse.

Just 32 eliminations on Day 3 will see the money bubble pop and give the 36 remaining players a guaranteed payout of $21,588. Only 6 players will make it into the televised WPT final table and an appearance there is worth at least $166,06.

Here are the 10 biggest chip stacks at the close of the Day 2:

WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals
Day 2 Standings
Place Name Chips
1st
Steven Merrifield
465,100
2nd
Soheil Shamseddin 401,000
3rd
Todd Terry
396,500
4th
Terrence Chan
394,200
5th
Curt Kohlberg
370,000
6th
Frank Calo
361,200
7th
Christian Harder
330,400
8th
Jesse Martin
329,800
9th
Joe Serock
277,000
10th
Adam Gerber
270,000