Updated on 22 Feb 26 by
Robbie Verspui
Poker Expert

WSOP Event #54: Men Nguyen Makes His 65th WSOP Cash

A total of 2,818 players signed up for the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event and after two play days, the field has been narrowed to just 28 players.

WSOP Event #54The $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event attracted 2,818 players with the
$675,000 first prize waiting only one of them. The first play day saw
many notables being eliminated, such as Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth and
jonathanlittle. Hellmuth was late as usual, though when he did finally
arrive, he played for about 20minutes and then left again. With so much
time spent away from the table, he was naturally busted before Day 1
came to an end.

Jonathan Little nearly made it into the second play day, but had to
pack his bags not long before the play was concluded for the day. On a
board of 7sAc9h9d, Gary Tang check-called Little's bet for 3,500. The river came Jc and Tang check-raised Little all-in. Little made the call and Tang tabled AhAd for the nut house and Little was out of the tournament.

Only 384 players made it through Day 1, with Jon Christensen leading
the survivors pack with a stack of 159,800 in chips. Theo Tran, Carlos
Mortensen and Hevad Khan were some of the notable names still in the
race for the title.

hellmuth's record in danger 

Men NguyenThe bubble was burst on Day 2, as only 297 players found their way into the money, including Men "The Master" Nguyen who has thus made his 65th WSOP cash - which still leaves him in second place since he is eight short of Phil Hellmuth.

Besides Nguyen edging close to Hellmuth, the second play day was also filled with plenty of other interesting encounters and table talk. On a flop of Jd6cJc, Jon Christensen check-raised David Woo's bet and then he open-shoved on the turn card Js. David Woo thought for several minutes before he mucked and commented, "Man, I just don't think you'd make the same dumb play again, or I would've called." The dealer warned Woo, "You can't call the player dumb," and Woo replied, "Oh, no, I was saying the play he made was dumb."

By the end of Day 2, Men Nguyen, Hevad Khan, Anthony Harb and Carlos Mortensen were all eliminated from the tournament, though they managed to slip into the top 297 and grab a share of the prize pool. Only 28 players remain in the field, as they will return for Day 3 of the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event.

Here are the top 10 chip stacks after Day 2:

World Series Of Poker
Event #54 Standings
Rank Name Chips
1st Sergey Konkin 1,400,000
2nd Chistopher DeMaci 1,332,000
3rd Joseph Chaplin 1,095,000
4th Mike Ratcliff 745,000
5th Jon Christensen 672,000
6th Jason Wheeler 608,000
7th Arkadiy Tsinis 574,000
8th John Spagnuolo 553,000
9th Eric Hayes 550,000
10th Andrew Malott 540,000

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