Two Brazlians Top the Leaderboard After Day 2 of Event #65: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
An exhausting second day of Event #65: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed has drawn to an end at the 2023 World Series of Poker. Another massive field was recorded for this event with a total of 1,199 entries, creating a prizepool of $5,046,200. There will be 48 players that still have a chance at glory by capturing the first-place prize of $938,244 and the WSOP gold bracelet.
After a prolonged Day 2 to this event, caused by the long late registration lines, the tournament staff agreed with the players to push back the restart of Day 3 to 1 p.m. local time. That didn't seem to phase the Brazilian contingent down the stretch, as they finished in the top two spots of the leaderboard. Vitor Dzivielevski edged out his countrymate Pedro Garagnani for the top spot heading into Day 3.
End of Day Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitor Dzivielevski | Brazil | 3,425,000 | 137 |
| 2 | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | 3,220,000 | 129 |
| 3 | Cody Jones | United States | 2,855,000 | 114 |
| 4 | Chuanshu Chen | China | 2,520,000 | 101 |
| 5 | Norbert Szecsi | Hungary | 2,345,000 | 94 |
| 6 | Douglas Ferreira | Brazil | 2,135,000 | 85 |
| 7 | Tyler Cornell | United States | 2,125,000 | 85 |
| 8 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | Greece | 1,960,000 | 78 |
| 9 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 1,940,000 | 78 |
| 10 | Omar Lakhdari | Algeria | 1,845,000 | 74 |
Dzivielevski, the older brother of Yuri who has three WSOP titles to his name, is looking to make his first mark on the WSOP stage. The Brazilian had an upward trend throughout much of the day en route to bagging up a stack of 3,425,000 chips. Garagnani, on the other hand, came into the day with a sub-average stack but rallied late in the night to join the leaders. Garagnani can often be seen in the high-roller circuit throughout the year but is still looking for his breakout victory in his short career.
There were many former bracelet winners in the field and some of them were able to able to maneuver through the field and bag a healthy stack. Norbert Szecsi (2,345,000), Tyler Cornell (2,125,000), Danny Tang (1,940,000), Day 1 chip leader Yuliyan Kolev (1,540,000), Ryan Leng (1,425,000), and Scott Seiver (615,000) will all be looking to add to their collection over the next couple of days.
It was a delayed start to the afternoon as over 100 late entries showed up at the crack of noon which halted play for at least 40 minutes. When the cards finally went in the air on Day 2, there was a total of 1,199 entries and just shy of 500 players still remaining.
Many of the new entries were the first to hit the rail as a starting stack was only worth 20 big blinds at this point. The field was quickly thinning out through the opening couple of levels with only 180 players getting paid. That number would be reached just after the second break and it came in a hurry. As the dealers were told to finish the hand they were on and hold up, there were multiple eliminations that took place. No hand-for-hand was necessary as the field was trimmed to the necessary number to reach the money.
It was a mad dash to the payout desk following the bubble burst, as many of the short stacks were unable to spin it up. Some of the early notables bowing out of the event included Eric Wasserson, Stephen Song, Ryan Laplante, and a couple of Germans who have been absent from the poker scene as of late. Rainer Kempe and Steffen Sontheimer have been known to compete at the highest stakes in poker but have not been in the live tournament scene for some time. Both players managed to squeak into the money but were unable to make a deep run.
Phil Ivey was attempting to make another deep run and have a chance at adding to his WSOP bracelet collection as he quietly went about his business. Ivey was one of the players to take advantage of the late registration on Day 2 and managed to 10x his stack at one point. However, in one of the last levels of the night, Ivey's pocket jacks were defeated by a big blind special that flopped two pair, sending the 10-time bracelet winner to the rail.
The fast-paced action continued throughout the day right up until the final hands of the night. The field was dwindled down to just 48 players after another 10 levels were played on Day 2, and they will be returning with an average stack of around 50 big blinds.
The remaining 48 players will return to the felt at 1:00 p.m. local on June 30 and play down to the final table, where the winner will be crowned on Saturday afternoon. The action will be resuming on Level 21 with the blinds at 10,000/25,000 and a 25,000 big blind ante.
Each player has already locked up at least $16,261 thus far, but the pay jumps will become more significant as the tournament progresses.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the action as it unfolds en route to crowning a champion in the coming days.