Day 2 Concludes; Mueller Leads, Schneider Looking For Second HORSE Bracelet of 2013
Day 2 of Event #29: $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. has officially come to close here in the tan section of the Amazon room. At the start of the day, 151 players returned out of the 261 total entrants. The players had the one goal in mind of surviving the second day and being among the top 32 players in order to cash. By the end of the evening, the bubble had burst and only 28 players remained. Leading the field at the end of Day 2 was Greg Mueller with a stack of 430,500.
Mueller, no stranger to mixed games is looking to add a third WSOP bracelet to his resume. Mueller came close in another mixed event when he finished runner-up to David "ODB" Baker at the 2012 WSOP in Event 37: $2,500 Eight-Game Mix . This year Mueller continued his mixed game domination and once again came close to a bracelet when he final tabled and ultimately finished third in the very same event: Event #8: $2,500 Eight-Game Mix. His top chip stack combined with his mixed game expertise puts Mueller as the easy favorite heading into the final day of play.
While Mueller sits on the top stack heading into Day 3, the field still remains stacked with many of poker's elite who will return for the final day. Notable names who will return include David Benyamine (373,500), David Bach (179,000), Marcel Luske (175,000) Chris Klodnicki (165,500), Todd Brunson (163,500) Adam Friedman (117,000), Brett Richey (74,000), and Gus Hansen (58,000).
Also returning for Day 3 is none other than recent bracelet winner Tom Schneider. Schneider is hunting for not only his second bracelet of 2013, but also his second H.O.R.S.E. bracelet. Just a mere few days ago, Schneider was able to best a field of 862 runners and claim gold upon his wrist in Event #15: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Now only 28 competitors stand between him and glory once more.
Dan Kelly will also return for Day 3. Kelly, who has been on quite the hot streak during this WSOP, scored his eighth cash of the series by making the money in this event. During the summer, Kelly has made two finals tables and is now looking to sit down at a third. Kelly won his first and only WSOP bracelet back in 2010 and his eyes are most definitely on the prize as he hunts for number two this year.
While these players were all able to rise to the top of the Day 2 field, many other notable names fell by the wayside. Players like Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Jonathan Duhamel, Vanessa Selbst, David "ODB" Baker, Michael Mizrachi, Erik Seidel, David Chiu, Alexander Kostritsyn, and Cyndy Violette all fizzled out before the day came to a close and were forced to head home without cash.
The money bubble burst at the end of the night when five-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu was eliminated in 33rd place. Negreanu was short-stacked heading into the bubble and lost a sizable pot to Gus Hansen that left him crippled. As hand for hand play continued, Negreanu was finally eliminated during the limit hold'em round when he fell to Benyamine.
Players will return to the Amazon room on Monday at 2:00 PM PST where the plan is to play down to a champion. As always, be sure to follow all of the latest developments from the tournament floor on PokerNews!