Kenny Hsiung Leads After Day 2 of Event #44: $3,000 6-Handed Limit Hold'em, 10 Players Remain
The second day of Event #44: $3,000 6-Handed Limit Hold'em has wrapped up after another ten levels and there are just ten players remaining. Kenny Hsiung ended the day with the biggest chip stack, bagging up 1,171,000, a narrow lead over a couple of his competitors.
Hsiung already knows what it's like to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, doing so back in 2012 in a very similar format. Hsiung won the $3,000 Limit Hold'em event that was played as a full ring compared to the six-handed version this year. Another WSOP final table appears to be on the horizon for Hsiung but he would love nothing more than to capture a second gold bracelet.
Not far behind him is Kevin Erickson who had a successful day, bagging up 1,139,000 chips. Erickson already has a runner-up finish at the 2021 WSOP in Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold'em where he fell just short against Yuval Bronshtein. Erickson was heard saying to some of his tablemates that it was a tough pill to swallow, so a win in this event would certainly make up for it.
Rounding out the top three stacks is Ryan Hansen with 1,115,000 chips. Hansen is the only other player with a seven-figure stack heading into the final day of competition. Here is a look at the seat draw for Day 3:
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 406 | 1 | Kevin Erickson | 1,139,000 | 46 |
| 406 | 2 | Empty | ||
| 406 | 3 | Kosei Ichinose | 499,000 | 20 |
| 406 | 4 | Ray Henson | 151,000 | 6 |
| 406 | 5 | Ryan Hansen | 1,115,000 | 45 |
| 406 | 6 | John Hoang | 783,000 | 31 |
| 414 | 1 | Kenny Hsiung | 1,171,000 | 47 |
| 414 | 2 | Justin Moeller | 378,000 | 15 |
| 414 | 3 | Ken Deng | 321,000 | 13 |
| 414 | 4 | John Cavanagh | 207,000 | 8 |
| 414 | 5 | Empty | ||
| 414 | 6 | Steve Chanthabouasy | 744,000 | 30 |
The day began with 78 players returning to the felt but it was short-lived for some of them. Eli Elezra, Koray Aldemir, and Justin Somerville were among the first casualties in the opening level. Some other notables falling short of the money include Ari Engel, Julien Martini, Terrence Chan, and defending champion Tu Dao.
The money bubble burst just minutes before the dinner break. Evan Melgaard was the unfortunate victim but on the flip side, Dmitry Shunikov snuck into the money with just one big blind. Some of the notables to find a cash include JJ Liu (24th Place), Joe McKeehen (23rd Place), Nick Schulman (21st Place), and Mike Matusow (16th Place).
The action is slated to resume at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow with the hopes of reaching the final five players before the PokerGO stream begins at 4 p.m. The blinds will resume on level 21 at 13,000/25,000 and limits of 25,000/50,000. The players have locked up at least $8,162 thus far but will be aiming for that first-place prize of $109,692.
Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team for all of the updates on the way to crowning a new WSOP champion.