Day 2 in the Books; Cantu Leads Final 32 Going into Heads-Up Play
![[user153906]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Event 24: $3,000 Mix-Max No-Limit Hold’em resumed Saturday with 181 hopefuls gunning for the top prize of $372,387. Action shifted from nine-handed play to six-handed on Day 2, and the money bubble burst midway through the day with 68 players locking up a minimum cash of $4,694. The dynamic will shift again tomorrow when the remaining 32 players will face off in a heads up format until there is a winner.
The chip leader going into heads-up play was none other than Brandon Cantu, who bagged up 519,600. He was followed by Jeremy Ausmus with 471,400 and Isaac Hagerling with 453,500. Ausmus had the chip lead for much of the day despite only starting the day with 15,000. His rise to the top was propelled when he eliminated David Sands earlier in the day when he got his 
in against Sands' 
for a massive preflop pot. His kings held, and for the rest of the day he crushed everyone in his path.
Another big story was the emergence of Barry “Big Dog” Lang. He may have been an unknown coming into the day, but his relentless battling and big bark gave people a reason to remember him. He even tripled up with jack-deuce to keep him alive. He will enter Day 3 with 124,300.
Several notables fell short of advancing to the heads-up round, including Jason Mercier (63rd), Tommy Vedes (56th), Daniel Negreanu (49th), Martin Staszko (43rd), and Sean Jazayeri (33rd).
For a full look at tomorrow's heads-up bracket, check out the table below.
Play will resume at 1:00 p.m. PST tomorrow and they will play until at least the final four players. There is a lot of play left with many players still deepstacked. They will battle it out with 22:22 left in Level 15. Be sure to tune in to PokerNews to follow all the heads-up action in Event #27 as we get closer to crowing a champion.