WPT World Championship Reaches the Money on Final Hand of Day 2

Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

Dec 17, 2024 2 min read

Political polling guru Nate Silver and 2023 WPT Prime Championship winner Calvin Anderson are among the 299 players who bagged chips on Day 2 of the $10,400 buy-in World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship Tuesday night.

Malcolm Trayner bagged the chip lead. Ernest Bush went out in 300th place, otherwise known as the bubble.

The tournament at Wynn Las Vegas, which saw 2,392 entrants register, all vying for the $3,138,900 first place prize, attracted some of the biggest names in the game. World Poker Tour champions, WPT Prime Tour winners, poker legends, recreational players, and WPT commentators Tony Dunst, Lynn Gilmartin, and Vince Van Patten, were among the returning crowd on Day 2.

Recapping the Day's Action

Play began at 11 a.m. PT in Las Vegas on Tuesday with 821 players still standing. Some big name players such as Dunst and Poker Hall of Famer John Hennigan were eliminated well before the money bubble burst. Van Patten, co-host of the World Poker Tour on television since its inception in 2002, was the only member of the broadcast trio to reach the money.

As the bubble began to approach late in the session, the pressure was on the short stacks. A min-cash is worth $19,600. Mike Leah is perhaps the most fortunate player to have cashed.

The WPT Champions Club member, with 302 players remaining, was down to less than a full big blind and was all in automatically in the big blind with 8x3x. His opponent turned over Kx3x, but an 8x appeared on the river to keep the Canadian poker pro alive. He would sneak into the money one hand away from again being in the big blind.

Bush, however, wasn't quite so fortunate. He moved all in with Qx10x and ran into pocket queens, and was out one spot shy of the money. The remaining 299 players all breathed a sigh of relief and will come back at noon on Wednesday for Day 3. There won't be another pay jump until 240th place, and it's a minimal one ($2,000 more). The serious pay jumps won't occur until Days 4 and 5,

Trayner bagged 3,275,000 chips, giving him a slight edge over David "ODB" Baker (2,830,000) and Scott Stewart (2,790,000).

WPT Prime champions Lorenz Schollhorn (1,755,000), Anderson (1,675,000), and Fabian Gumz (1,300,000) all bagged above average stacks.

Mikita Badziakouski, former PokerNews editor Mo Nuwwarah, Chino Rheem and Maria Konnikova all found bags. Igor Kurganov, in his return to poker, has also cashed, and for the third straight year.

The WPT will livestream Day 3 action on the tour's YouTube channel.

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*Images courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

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