Fueled by a whopping 1,939 returning players from the huge Day 1D field at the WSOP Main Event, Day 2ABD started the day on Tuesday with 2,898 players. That number climbed to over 3,000 as 145 players bought directly into the Day 2 field instead of joining the Day 1F action that was taking place at the same time. After 10 hours of play concluded on Tuesday night, over half of those 3,043 players had been eliminated. Poker Hall-of-Famer Doyle Brunson was among the group that hit the rail on Day 2ABD.
Doyle Brunson and Jason Koon highlighted in featured table coverage
Poker fans on Twitter lit up with joy when GGPoker Ambassador Jason Koon announced on Monday morning that he had drawn a seat at the same table as 10-time WSOP bracelet winner and former WSOP Main Event Champion Doyle Brunson. Fans were quick to point out that this was one of the biggest slam-dunk selections for PokerGO’s featured table coverage ever. Koon is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world today while Brunson is one of the best of all time and a true legend of the game.
The two didn’t tango often during their time together at the featured table, but Brunson held his own in the two big pots they did meet in. “Texas Dolly” made an excellent check-fold on the river with a straight holding A♠J❤️ on a K♣Q❤️2❤️10❤️3♣ board, correctly deducing that Koon had made his flush (Koon bet 41,000 into 58,700 with 8❤️7❤️). Brunson also won a 51,800 pot after drawing a call from Koon’s pocket eights with a flush on a 5♣5♠4♣9♣6♦️ board.
But by the end of the day, a string of bad cards and tough luck led to the 88-year-old Doyle Brunson's elimination. Jason Koon survived the final table and moved on to Day 3 with a stack of 361,200 chips.
Notable Advances and Exits
Koon was one of the many big names advance on to Day 3 from this crowded field. Nick Petrangelo (580,000 chips), Greg Mueller (456,500), Day 1A chip leader Mustapha Kanit (473,300), Chance Kornuth (312,200), Anthony Zinno (309,400), Ben Yu (304,800), Steven Chidwick (296,200), Yuri Dzivielevski (291,300), Chris Moorman (259,700), Kevin Gerhart (238,900), Justin Bonomo (236,200), Brian Yoon (204,600), Kitty Kuo (203,100) and Maria Ho (199,000) were among the notables to survive Day 2ABD with healthy chip stacks.
Brunson was joined by some other former champions on the rail in Tom McEvoy, Ryan Riess and Jerry Yang. Other notable exits include Adam Friedman, Jeff Gross, Maria Konnikova, Kevin Martin, Kelly Minkin, Rep Porter and Melanie Weisner.
End of Day 2ABD top ten chip counts
1. Rameez Shahid: 731,700
2. David Mock: 679,700
3. Damien Steel: 649,000
4. Farhad Jamasi: 635,000
5. Raul Martinez: 628,100
6. Steve Foutty: 620,000
7. Mitchell Halverson: 617,600
8. Scott Davies: 615,100
9. David Coleman: 613,500
10. Kayvon Shahbaz: 599,200
Featured Image Credit: Haley Hintze
