Day 2 of the $3,500 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship returned 643 players to action at noon. Ten levels of play cut the field down to 101 advancing players with Josh Reichard bagging up the lead with 3.1 million .
“My day went pretty smooth. Obviously, when you have all the chips throughout the day it’s a lot easier,” Reichard said. “I had one really big spot with ace queen versus king queen on a queen-high board. It was a three-bet pot that got massive.”
“Coming back from dinner break, that pot vaulted me from 1.5 million to 2.8,” he added. “I stayed at one table all day, which I like. I can get comfortable, get in the zone and get to know other opponents.”
The leader board is stacked with Matthew Higgins, Anthony Spinella, Scott Baumstein and Matt Waxman all in the top ten counts. Dylan Linde, Josh Arieh, Brad Owen, Chris Moorman, Jesse Lonis and Clint Tolbert all bagged up to return on Monday.
All eyes were on Landon Tice and Jeremy Becker earlier today when they were at the same table. Though, this event doesn’t count in the most talked about prop bet in recent years, it was the first apple-to-apple comparison for the pair.
Becker cashed in 120th place for $8,200, while Tice bagged up 1.59 million and is returning in the morning. “It was fun to be at the same table with him,” Tice said. “It’s nice to be home, play some poker and find a bag for Day 3.”
“There wasn’t anything too crazy at the table between us,” Tice added. “We’re both locked in at the moment.”
Erik Seidel had the shortest returning stack for Day 2 but the ten-time WSOP bracelet winner was optimistic about his chances. And he revealed he’s a Swiftie.
Jason Mercier reached the top of the poker world in the 2010s and walked away from it all to start a family. Now, with three boys under the age of six, he’s getting the chance to play the game again and netting results like he never stopped.
Play slowed as they approached the money bubble following the dinner break at 234 players and with 236 remaining, tournament supervisors instructed dealers to hold after the next hand. Stuart Young was eliminated holding ace high and at another table Brandon Hamlet was eliminated during that hand, but at later point in time, so he was awarded the min-cash.
Faraz Jaka, Brock Wilson, Keven Stammen, Will Failla, Eric Baldwin, Matt Stout and Javier Zarco cashed in the event but were eliminated before the end of play. Chance Kornuth, Aditya Prasetyo, Darryll Fish and Adam Hendrix returned on Day 2 but didn’t make the money.
Players returning for Day 3 have $9,600 locked up already, with the goal of playing down to 16 players at the end of play – good for $47,500. Cards hit the air promptly at noon with eight-handed play and levels increase to 90 minutes when they hit 40 remaining players.
Top Five Chip Counts
- Josh Reichard – 3,100,000
- Michael Rocco – 2,975,000
- Matthew Higgins – 2,765,000
- Jackob Datashvili – 2,730,000
- Dennis Cyr– 2,385,000
All photos courtesy of WPT - by Joe Giron
