Bethyo Bags the Lead After Day 2 of the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event
From a starting field of 989 players over two starting flights, only 184 returned to the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond $1,700 Main Event for Day 2 action in the conference center. After ten one-hour levels of play, only 17 remained in contention, with Evan Bethyo holding a commanding chip lead over the rest of the field with a 5,165,000 stack coming back for Day 3.
Bethyo, who started the day in 31st place, spent the latter levels of the day ramping up the aggression, taking out Chris Karambinis (23rd - $9,592) and Josh Yoo (20th - $11,472) to contend for the chip lead. Bethyo then scored the last elimination of the day, when his ace-four found a four on the flop to stop Ala Aqel (18th - $13,862) from returning for the final day.
Nearly two million chips separate Bethyo from his closest opponent, as Patrick Steele (3,350,000) and Firas Sadou (2,695,000) round out the top three stacks. Other notables left in the pack include 12-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Josh Reichard (1,985,000), Jake Bazeley (1,355,000), Giedrius Bagdonas (825,000) and David Jackson (255,000).
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Name | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | 1 | Sachin Bhargava | 2,250,000 | 56 |
| 87 | 3 | David Jackson | 255,000 | 6 |
| 87 | 4 | Bryan Skreens | 415,000 | 10 |
| 87 | 5 | Jake Bazeley | 1,355,000 | 34 |
| 87 | 6 | Patrick Steele | 3,350,000 | 84 |
| 87 | 7 | Casey Carroll | 1,725,000 | 43 |
| 87 | 8 | Nicola Ditrapani | 935,000 | 23 |
| 87 | 9 | Evan Bethyo | 5,165,000 | 129 |
| 81 | 1 | Hussain Sajwani | 2,260,000 | 57 |
| 81 | 2 | Gregory Wilson | 2,480,000 | 62 |
| 81 | 3 | Giedrius Bagdonas | 825,000 | 21 |
| 81 | 4 | Shiva Dudani | 835,000 | 21 |
| 81 | 5 | Tom Bouziden | 1,025,000 | 26 |
| 81 | 6 | William Webb | 425,000 | 11 |
| 81 | 7 | Voytek Glab | 1,690,000 | 42 |
| 81 | 8 | Firas Sadou | 2,695,000 | 67 |
| 81 | 9 | Josh Reichard | 1,985,000 | 50 |
Day 2 Action
34 players would walk away empty-handed from the 184 that started the day, and Mike Shin, Tim Vance, and Paul Elfelt all found themselves on the outside looking in of a payday. Ralph Massey ended up being the unfortunate bubble boy, the result of his pocket kings being cracked on the flop by the Big Slick of Ryan Jones, and the remaining 149 players were all in the money.
Notable players that walked home with a chunk of the prize pool include Jamey Kramer (19th - $11,472), John Sun (31st - $5,976), Alex Ziskin (38th - $4,601), Craig Trost (48th - $4,105), Nadya Magnus (55th - $3,704), Chad Holloway (90th - $2,914), and defending champ Ravi Raghavan (97th - $2,753).
Day 3 will kick off at Noon local time on Monday, March 2nd, at the start of Level 26 (20,000/40,000/40,000). Play will continue until a winner is crowned. Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews as we determine which of the 17 remaining players will walk out of Horseshoe Hammond with $258,078 a coveted WSOPC ring, and a seat at the 2020 WSOPC Global Championship!