Day 2 Belonged to Kyle Cartwright, the Final Table Chip Leader!
The World Series of Poker Circuit, Harrah’s St. Louis continued Monday with the remaining 92 players out of a 449-player field. Each was competing for their share of a $646,762 prizepool, including a first-place prize worth $142,290. It didn’t take long for players to get down to business as the eliminations quickly mounted. After twelve hours of play, the final table of nine was reached. Leading the way was Kyle Cartwright who emerged as the runaway chip leader with 2,875,000.
While Day 2 certainly belonged to Cartwright, there were still plenty of other players in action. Harris Paroya began the day as chip leader with 314,100 and he was poised to make a deep run. Unfortunately for him, he would have to settle with a small cash. Others looking to ensure a payday were recognizable names such as Mark “Pegasus” Smith (tied for the most WSOP-C rings with four), “Cowboy” John Land, Aaron Massey, and Nadya Magnus. The former two would be eliminated shy of the money while the latter pair went on to cash. By far the biggest names left in the field were St. Louis native Dennis Phillips and 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Raymer. Both began the day with decent chip stacks, but both found themselves out of favor with lady luck.
Phillips’ demise came on a flop of 
when he checked only to Paroya, who threw in a bet. Phillips opted for a check-raise, Paroya shoved, and Phillips called off his remaining stack:
Phillips: 
Paroya: 
It was a brutal set-over-set situation, and Phillips found himself on the raw end of the deal. He needed the last four in the deck to keep his hopes alive, but neither the 
turn nor 
river were it. Just like that, the well-liked St. Louis native was sent to the exit.
Not long after the elimination of Phillips, another big name in Raymer hit the rail. It happened when Raymer was left crippled after running a Broadway straight into a flush, and he committed his remaining chips preflop with 
only to be face the pocket kings of Mark Koeln. The board blanked and Raymer was eliminated from the Main Event.
When the money bubble was reached at 45 players, a flurry of eliminations ensued. Todd Bartlett (45th- $2,923), Gary Schaan (40th- $2,923), Steven (31st- $3,590), Brett Schwertley (29th- $4,049), Paroya (21st- $6,267), Matthew Thornton (13th- $8,938), and Scott Carlson (10th- $10,891) were just a few to hit the rail.
WSOP-Circuit Harrah’s St. Louis Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Cartwright | 2,875,000 |
| 2 | Mitch Franks | 460,000 |
| 3 | Nick Jivkov | 206,000 |
| 4 | Ron Segni | 983,000 |
| 5 | Asheesh Boyapati | 1,138,000 |
| 6 | Chris Viox | 346,000 |
| 7 | Troy Weber | 1,006,000 |
| 8 | Steve Goff | 1,270,000 |
| 9 | Phil Stelzer | 637,000 |
The final table is set to play out at 1 PM CDT (1700 GMT) on Tuesday when a winner will be determined. As always, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there to bring you all the action, eliminations, and stories straight from the tournament floor.