Event #66: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em drew a total of 1,351 entries and after two days of play, just 26 players remain. Leading the way is Longsheng Tan with 993,000, and Heng Zhang, who vaulted to the top of the counts in the last level, is right on his heels with 938,000.
Stephen Bierman rounds out the top three Day 2 chips stacks with 744,000 and Timur Margolin will return with a healthy stack of 513,000 as he inches closer to his second WSOP bracelet of the series.
Margolin bested the stacked 1,248-entry field in the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em (Event #43) to earn over $500,000 and his first WSOP bracelet less than two weeks ago.
John Pannucci, who bagged the overall chip lead on Day 1, held strong near the top of the counts and bagged one of the biggest stacks on Day 2 with 512,000.
It was a roller coaster Day 2 for Rex Clinkscales who managed to battle back after doubling up Jason Song and put chips in the bag.
There was no shortage of Day 2 action and plenty of big name pros hit the rail along the way. WSOP bracelet winners Ben Yu, Arkadiy Tsinis, and Ryan Bambrick were eliminated early on.
Two more WSOP bracelet winners were eliminated with less than two hours of play left in the night as Kenny Hallaert and Brock Parker fell in back-to-back hands.
Gaelle Baumann grinded a short stack for much of the night but she fell by the wayside in the very last hand of the night.
The final 26 will return on Saturday, July 7 at 2 p.m. to resume Day 3 play and PokerNews will be bringing you all of the live updates. The players are all guaranteed at least $9,657 and they will battle it out to a winner who will take home $323,472 and the most coveted jewelry in poker.
Day 3 seating and chip counts
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|
| Miranda | 602 | 1 | Jayaram Kovoorchathoth | United States | 286,000 | 29 |
| Miranda | 602 | 2 | Jorge Aristizabal | United States | 197,000 | 20 |
| Miranda | 602 | 3 | Shyam Srinivasan | Canada | 241,000 | 24 |
| Miranda | 602 | 4 | Rex Clinkscales | United States | 420,000 | 42 |
| Miranda | 602 | 5 | Stephen Bierman | United States | 744,000 | 74 |
| Miranda | 602 | 6 | Jason Paradis | United States | 251,000 | 25 |
| Miranda | 602 | 7 | Juan Testoni | Brazil | 219,000 | 22 |
| Miranda | 602 | 8 | Heng Zhang | United States | 938,000 | 94 |
| Miranda | 602 | 9 | Austin Hughes | United States | 320,000 | 32 |
| | | | | | | |
| Miranda | 603 | 1 | John Pannucci | United States | 512,000 | 51 |
| Miranda | 603 | 2 | Johnson Liu | United States | 264,000 | 26 |
| Miranda | 603 | 3 | Vladimir Fomine | United States | 107,000 | 11 |
| Miranda | 603 | 4 | Kfir Nahum | United States | 323,000 | 32 |
| Miranda | 603 | 5 | Michael Wasserman | United States | 594,000 | 59 |
| Miranda | 603 | 6 | Xiaoqiong Liu | United States | 135,000 | 14 |
| Miranda | 603 | 7 | Timur Margolin | Israel | 513,000 | 51 |
| Miranda | 603 | 8 | Adam Laskey | United States | 372,000 | 37 |
| Miranda | 603 | 9 | Nathan Nguyen | United States | 162,000 | 16 |
| | | | | | | |
| Miranda | 604 | 2 | Trey Brabham | United States | 603,000 | 60 |
| Miranda | 604 | 3 | Chen Yu Hung | United States | 374,000 | 37 |
| Miranda | 604 | 4 | Longsheng Tan | United States | 993,000 | 99 |
| Miranda | 604 | 5 | Lanny Levine | United States | 206,000 | 21 |
| Miranda | 604 | 6 | Daniel Weinman | United States | 401,000 | 40 |
| Miranda | 604 | 7 | Georgios Tavoularis | Greece | 362,000 | 36 |
| Miranda | 604 | 8 | Nick Cipiti | United States | 240,000 | 24 |
| Miranda | 604 | 9 | Justin Zaki | United States | 238,000 | 24 |
Tags:
Arkadiy TsinisBen YuBrock ParkerGaelle BaumannHeng ZhangJason SongJohn PannucciKenny HallaertLongsheng TanRex ClinkscalesRyan BambrickStephen BiermanTimur Margolin
flop and Clinkscales checked.
and Clinkscales checked to Hallaert who bet 15,000. Clinkscales check-raised all in and Hallaert nearly beat him into the pot for his last 68,000 turning over 
.
and the meaningless 
completed the board to earn Hallaert the double-up.
board favored Engerman's ladies, sending both Moon and Orth to the rail. It sees the end of Moon's hopes to win two bracelets in this year's series, after taking down Event #13: Big Blind Antes $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em.
flop and there was a king in the window for Pannucci to take control of the hand. The turn 
improved Pannucci to a full house and he tripled his stack.
and Tavoularis improved to top set. The two players had nearly identical stacks to start the hand but they were counted down. Tavoularis had Hallaert slighty covered and the latter made his way to the payout line after wishing his tablemates good luck.
