Day 2 of the 2023 PokerNews Cup at the Golden Nugget has come to a close after the field of 292 was whittled down to its final nine players.
Leading the charge into Day 3 is Argentina's Felipe Olivieri, who had a blistering end to the day and knocked out a string of players following some friendly card distribution and runouts. He bagged a massive 30,825,000, which will be good for 103 big blinds when play resumes on Level 32 tomorrow.
Olivieri made trip deuces in consecutive hands to see off the likes of Rui Bouquet and John Adderley, which propelled him to the top of the counts.
Vid Zagar (12,275,000) also bagged the only other eight-figure stack while Forrest Raleigh rounds out the top three chip counts after he ousted Kurt Radinger on the final table bubble.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Forrest Raleigh | United States | 7,800,000 | 26 |
| 1 | 2 | Vid Zagar | Slovenia | 12,275,000 | 41 |
| 1 | 3 | Johnny Kelly | United Kingdom | 4,075,000 | 14 |
| 1 | 4 | Humberto Lopes Galindo | Portugal | 5,000,000 | 17 |
| 1 | 5 | Eduardo Amaral Silva | Brazil | 3,100,000 | 10 |
| 1 | 6 | Kyle Gross | United States | 1,750,000 | 6 |
| 1 | 7 | Tim Garles | United States | 2,925,000 | 10 |
| 1 | 8 | Kunal Patni | India | 2,675,000 | 9 |
| 1 | 9 | Felipe Olivieri | Argentina | 30,825,000 | 103 |
The finalists have all locked up $21,920 but all eyes will be on the $218,605 up top as well as the final $50,000 bounty.
Will the final big bounty affect the table dynamics tomorrow, or will laddering to the next pay jump be the goal? Olivieri's commanding stack will definitely set the pace and narrative when play resumes on Monday, July 3, at 2 p.m. local time.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $218,605 |
| 2 | $154,390 |
| 3 | $101,565 |
| 4 | $75,140 |
| 5 | $56,065 |
| 6 | $44,945 |
| 7 | $35,000 |
| 8 | $27,850 |
| 9 | $21,920 |
Day 2 Recap
As mentioned, 292 players made it through to Day 2, with all the players already in the money. The min-cash was set at $1,125, and a host of players exited in the early stages due to the mystery bounty element.
As the eliminated players left the tournament room, a host took their shot at pulling the mystery bounty elements. It was announced at the start of the day that there would be two $100,000, $75,000 and $50,000 bounty prizes, and it didn't take long for the four biggest envelopes to be pulled.
Finalist Zagar was the first player to pull the big one, and Michael Lo was the other player to get a six-figure payday. Clement Kerrien (15th - $12,360) snagged one of the $75,000 bounties while WSOP Circuit ring winner Norman Michalek helped himself to a $50,000 prize.
The final three tables were established around 9 p.m. and the players began to zoom out the door. Forrest Kollar, who finished in third place in last year's edition of the PokerNews Cup, bowed out in 25th place. He was followed out by the likes of Christopher Maguire (24th - $6,415), Michael Jagroo (20th - $7,775) and Brent Burrows ($9,795).
When 16 players remained, the action slowed down, and no eliminations followed for the best part of two hours until Olivier hit a three-outer to bust Karl Manouchakian. Olivieri then went on a rampage, knocking out three more players and collecting a host of other pots before the day closed.
At the end of the night, the staff had to get another bag for Olivieri as he had too many chips to fit in one!
Olivieri and Co. return to the Golden Nugget at 2 p.m. tomorrow to see out the end of the tournament. The live stream will also be up and running from the get-go and will feature cards-up coverage, so be sure to stick with PokerNews to find out the conclusion of this record-breaking event.
