Everyone loves an underdog story.
There are plenty of Goliaths in the field returning for Day 2 here at the WPT Choctaw Main Event. But, many eyes are on the two Davids as well. Both ClubWPT qualifiers put their chips in bags and return today to continue their quest for satellite-infused glory.
Both Day 1 flights are finished, and Day 2 is set to begin today. Exactly 300 more entrants took part in Day 1b here at the Choctaw Casino and Hotel, bringing the total number of entries for the marquee event to 612. The prize pool grew to $2,142,000, and first place will take home $400,740 and a seat in the WPT World Championship in December.
On top of the field is Jesse Jones from Springfield, Missouri with 631,000. Jones has several tournament scores in Choctaw, and now he's in a good position to add a big one to the list.
WPT Choctaw Day 2 top ten chip counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Jesse Jones | 631,000 | 252 big blinds |
| 2 | Bryan Campanello | 611,000 | 244 big blinds |
| 3 | John Reynolds | 518,000 | 207 big blinds |
| 4 | Andrew Moreno | 510,500 | 204 big blinds |
| 5 | Paul Gunness | 496,000 | 198 big blinds |
| 6 | Bin Weng | 435,000 | 174 big blinds |
| 7 | Lou Barlow | 428,000 | 171 big blinds |
| 8 | Phu Vo | 402,000 | 161 big blinds |
| 9 | Rusty Farrin | 391,000 | 156 big blinds |
| 10 | David Uvaydov | 383,000 | 153 big blinds |
You won't see either ClubWPT qualifier on that list, but they both bagged above-average stacks heading into today's play. Jonathan Powers bagged 190,500, while Felipe Diaz locked up 168,000. Like a Hollywood script you'd see Vince McMahon in, both qualifiers drew seats right next to each other on table 25 today. We'll see if they battle each other or if they go after other chips at the table.
"Getting to Day 2 is part of the process," said Diaz. "Tomorrow, I'm going to sleep in late, have a good breakfast, and try to play my A game. Tonight, three fingers of bourbon and a bite to eat." Near the end of the day, Diaz was moved to a table with the boisterous Steven "Cuz" Buckner, and he handled it well. "It was great! It didn't affect me at all. He took a shine to me, he was a lot of fun. I like having people like that at the table, it's so much fun."
The remaining 191 players will come back to Level 11 and play 10 more levels today. It's expected that the money bubble will burst today sometime around the scheduled dinner break. The field will pay the top 77 players with a min-cash worth $6,980.
The action gets underway at 12:00 pm local time with blinds of 1,500/2,500/2,500. Surviving players will return right here for Day 3 tomorrow, while Day 4's final table will be held in Las Vegas on May 26th.
