Niall Farrell is the chip leader after Day 2 of the 2017 World Poker Tour (WPT) Rolling Thunder Main Event, finishing the day with 893,000 chips. Not only is he the only player above the 800,000 chip mark (nearly 900,000 at that), he is also the only one above 700,000. The closest competitor is Chuck Nguyen with 644,000; he’s the only other player that even has 600,000. Just 57 players remain of the original field of 421.
Registration was open until the beginning of Level 11 on Monday and those who were eliminated in either of the two starting flights were also allowed to re-enter one more time on Day 2, so tournament added 45 more players yesterday to get to that 421 total.
With the final numbers in, the prize pool added up to $1,347,200. The winner will take home $284,638. Just 53 players will make the money, so some near the bottom of the chip counts might not have gotten the best night’s sleep last night, as the beginning of Day 3 should be tense.
The chip leader, Farrell, has been one of the most successful players on the live tournament tour in the past year. Among other accomplishments, he won the partypoker WPT Caribbean Main Event in November, finished eighth in the 2016 High Roller for One Drop, and finished second at the 2016 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout Event. All told, he has more than $3.3 million in live tournament earnings and currently sits thirteenth in the Global Poker Index.
Farrell made his leap to the top of the leader board very late on Day 2 when he eliminated fellow WPT champ and good friend, Chris Moorman. Farrell raised pre-flop, Moorman re-raised, and then Farrell four-bet to 59,000 before Moorman decided to just call. On the flop of K-J-3, Farrell bet 52,000 and Moorman called. The turn was a Queen and Farrell checked this time, Moorman then bet 50,000, and Farrell called after some thought. On the river Deuce, Farrell checked again, Moorman pondered his decision for a bit before he decided to go all-in for 130,000. Farrell had baited him, instantly calling with A-T for the nut-straight. Moorman turned over pocket Tens and that was it for him.
Tweeting afterward, Moorman wrote, “Had heaps then bluffed it all off to @Firaldo87poker when he had the nuts and I had the blockers #howgooddoesherun.”
The tournament will get back underway at noon Pacific Time at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort.
2017 World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Niall Farrell – 893,000
2. Chuck Nguyen – 644,000
3. Alex Foxen – 568,000
4. John Hadley – 471,000
5. Sorel Mizzi – 466,000
6. Steven Tabb – 462,000
7. Brian Altman – 358,000
8. Dan Harmetz – 332,000
9. Mohsin Charania – 321,000
10. Kevin Eyster – 314,000
