Joao Simao Looking for Another Bracelet Heading to Day 3 of Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em
After another 10 levels of poker, Day 2 has drawn to a close in Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2023 World Series of Poker. It was another record-setting field where the players continue to show up and play for record prize pools. A total of 1,735 entries were recorded for this event and the winner will be looking forward to $717,879 along with the WSOP gold bracelet.
When the dust settled at the end of the day, it was Yang Zhang who squeaked his way into the chip lead with a stack of 1,880,000 chips. Zhang was an early candidate for the chip lead on Day 2 but started to slip in the last couple of levels. However, a late-night push in the final hands of the night vaulted the WSOP regular to the top of the leaderboard. Zhang only has one WSOP final table to his name, but that came in a field of over 6,700 entries and earned him over $75,000.
Just a couple of big blinds behind him was Brazilian poker pro Joao Simao with a stack of 1,830,000 chips. Simao was consistently rising up the leaderboard throughout the day and managed to bag up one of the biggest stacks in the room. The two-time bracelet winner will be looking to add some more jewelry to his trophy case along with another six-figure payday.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yang Zhang | China | 1,880,000 | 94 |
| 2 | Joao Simao | Brazil | 1,830,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Aleks Dimitrov | Bulgaria | 1,655,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Eliot Hudon | Canada | 1,340,000 | 67 |
| 5 | Kartik Ved | India | 1,335,000 | 67 |
| 6 | [Removed:435] | Greece | 1,270,000 | 64 |
| 7 | John Marino | United States | 1,255,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Frederic Normand | Canada | 1,225,000 | 61 |
| 9 | Andrei Stoenescu | Romania | 1,225,000 | 61 |
| 10 | Christian Roberts | Venezuela | 1,205,000 | 60 |
The day was also highlighted by a trio of French Canadians who each took turns being among the leaders at some point throughout the 10 levels. Eliot Hudon (1,340,000), Frederic Normand (1,225,000), and Santiago Plante (695,000) all advanced to Day 3 with healthy stacks. All three players are close friends in the poker community back in their home province of Quebec.
Two more big names to keep an eye on entering the third day of this event is the reigning WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad along with fan-favorite and six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu. Jorstad will return to a stack of 505,000 chips while Negreanu will be coming back with 375,000 chips. Both will be looking to make a deep run and reach their first final table of the summer.
There were nearly 600 players who returned for Day 2 at 10 a.m. local time and an additional 224 entries joined them through the opening two levels. It was a streamline from the tournament area to the registration desk and back again as the eliminations turned into reentries for the first two hours of the day. Once registration was closed, a total of 1,735 entries were tallied for this event, creating a prizepool of $4,632,450.
The field was littered with notable players at each and every table but many of them were cut down before the money bubble could be reached. The dinner break came with just four players off the money which interrupted the continuous stalling at many of the tables from the short stacks. While tournament staff intervened and tried to speed up play, it still took nearly 30 more minutes after the dinner break to reach the hand-for-hand process.
Once hand-for-hand started, it only took one hand for two players to find themselves at risk. Daniel Navarrete managed to double-up with pocket aces but the other player was not as lucky with a set of kings. Luis Faria turned a flush to burst the bubble and the remaining 261 players each earned a piece of the prizepool.
It became a mad rush to the payout desk as many of the short stacks were eliminated in a timely manner. Some of those that were able to squeak into the money include Punnat Punsri, Joshua Faris, Kane Kalas, Lexy Gavin, and Brian Yoon. Over the next four hours, the field was dwindled down to just 109 players who advanced to Day 3.
The action will get underway at 11 a.m. on Wednesday with the blinds resuming on level 21 at 10,000/20,000 and a big blind ante of 20,000. Another 10 levels of 60 minutes will be on the schedule unless the tournament reaches five players prior to that mark. Each player has locked up at least $6,939 thus far but the lion's share of the prizepool is yet to be given away.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the highlights and updates en route to reaching the final table.