World Series of Poker: Main Event Day 2A

Day 2A of the 2011 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em championship is in the books and from the 2,031 players who took their seats on Monday, about 990 remain. All the survivors will return on Thursday for day 3 — the first day when the entire field will be under one roof at the same time.

Mike Sowers, who has one final table this summer, ended the day as the well-established pro with the most chips. He will take approximately 350,000 into day three on Thursday. Pacing the day 2A survivors appears to be Russian Aleksandr Mozhnyakov, who ended the day with about 480,000 in ammunition.

Other notables near the top of the chip counts include Shaun Deeb (295,000), Sebastian Ruthenberg (290,000), Peter Feldman (275,000), and recent bracelet winner David Diaz (245,000). Card Player’s own Barry Shulman began the day with a healthy stack but couldn’t get anything going and was eliminated late in the day.

Last year’s champion Jonathan Duhamel was another casualty during the five levels of action. He grinded throughout the day but was unable to find any traction, as he eventually found himself short and all in with a dominated ace.

Another noteworthy story line from Monday at the Rio was 11-time WSOP champion Phil Hellmuth failing to remember that he was scheduled to compete on day 2A. For almost a full level he was absent from his seat and his short stack was being blinded off, until friend and fellow poker pro Mike Matusow came to Hellmuth’s aide, having security wake up the “poker brat” in his hotel room. Despite returning to a severe short stack of about 6,000, Hellmuth slowly rebuilt, and ended the day with about 65,000.

Here is a look at the unofficial top 10 chip counts:
Please stay tuned for a complete list on Tuesday morning.

1. Aleksandr Mozhnyakov — 478,600
2. Tuan Vo — 434,500
3. Guillaume Darcourt — 410,500
4. Stephane Albertini — 400,100
5. Massimiliano Martinez — 355,000
6. Mike Sowers — 347,700
7. John Ranzi — 314,700
8. Josh Gaytan — 313,700
9. Christopher McClung — 313,600
10. Brendan Taylor — 313,50

On Tuesday, the 2,490 players of day 2B will begin their scheduled five levels a noon local time. Stay tuned to Card Player for live reporting from poker’s richest annual tournament.

For all of the latest WSOP information, check out Card Player’s WSOP landing page.

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