The 2012 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event is moving along briskly at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, as just 84 players remain after Day 2. Sunday’s play was the first with a combined field, with 303 survivors from the two Day 1 flights beginning the day. Only one player who began Day 2 in the top ten – Stephen Graner – made it to Day 3, though it is Ali Eslami leading all players with 618,500 chips.
It is a tight race at the top of the leader board right now, as four players – Joseph “subiime” Cheong (574,000), Jason Koon (567,000), Antonios Roungeris (551,000), and David Miscikowski (550,500) – have at least 550,000 chips. Our chip leader, Ali Eslami, has had his share of success on the live tournament circuit, though his resume is filled with a lot of “almost, but not quites” in major events. Just this summer at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), he made the top ten in two events, placing third and eighth. Last year, he had three top ten finishes – sixth, seventh, and eighth – and a final table appearance at the WPT Hollywood Poker Open. Eslami does have one big win: the 2011 WSOP Circuit Regional Championship at Harrah’s Rincon, a title which earned him $282,242.
The group at the top of the chip counts, on the whole, has experience making it deep into tournaments. Joseph Cheong made the November Nine in the 2012 WSOP Main Event, placing third, and had a runner-up finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max event this summer. Lee Markholt won the 2008 WPT World Poker Challenge in Reno as well as the Professional Poker Tour’s Five-Star World Poker Classic back in 2005. Jason Koon had a runner-up finish in a WSOP event this year and finished fourth in the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller event. And while he doesn’t have a long list of live tournament cashes, Max Steinberg won a WSOP bracelet this year in one of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em events and almost nabbed one in 2010, when he finished second in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event.
Sitting just outside the top ten are names such as Todd Terry, Greg “FBT” Mueller, Jesse Martin, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, and Jeff Madsen.
A total of 63 players will get paid, so expect to the see the money bubble burst in relatively short order on Monday. Day 3 run for either six 90-minute levels or until there are just 18 players still in the field. Play begins at noon PST, so those of you on the east coast of the United States or in Europe who wish to follow the action, have some caffeine at the ready.
World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker – End of Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Ali Eslami – 618,500
2. Joseph Cheong – 574,000
3. Jason Koon – 567,000
4. Antonios Roungeris – 551,000
5. David Miscikowski – 550,500
6. Max Steinberg – 511,500
7. Daniel Strelitz – 463,500
8. Lee Markholt – 449,500
9. Stephen Graner – 433,500
10. Jim Willerson – 431,500
