Vilkov Takes Day 2a Chip Lead; Thibodaux, Kolev, Makhija Also Bag Big
After the start of Day 2a of Event #3: BIG 50 - $500 No-Limit Hold’em had been delayed by almost two hours, action finally kicked off with 1,580 players returning to the tables out of the 6,095 entries on the first out of four starting flights. After eight levels of play, Mikhail Vilkov claimed the chip lead with 3,475,000 in chips.
This is Vilkov’s fourth cash on the WSOP Circuit already but he will be looking to improve on what he has right now. Joshua Thibodaux follows Vilkov closely in the chip counts with 3,215,000. He got some of those chips when his four-bet was called by his opponent while he held pocket aces. All the chips went over the line when he shoved on the four-king-nine flop and was called by the pocket jacks. Thibodaux held on to his lead to take his stack to over 3 million.
Other notable players who have bagged big include Amer Torbey, Yuliyan Kolev, and Amit Makhija. Also in the mix are Upeshka De Silva, Diogo Veiga, and Joseph Di Rosa Rojas who have all won bracelets before and probably wouldn’t mind adding another one to their collection. Players like Matt Glantz, Ismael Bojang, and Tony Miles are through but have some work ahead of them as they bagged a below average stack.
There was no hand-for-hand play before the bubble as it burst when the tournament clock was paused. Three players were eliminated in the final hand and they would split $1,500 among themselves evenly. The rest of the field all cashed for at least $750.
Not everyone made it to Day 3 and were eliminated throughout the day, some of them cashing, some of them not. These notable players like Roberly Felicio, Antoine Saout, Greg Mueller, Jonathan Tamayo, Steven van Zadelhoff, Maurice Hawkins, Jacob Baumgartner, Loni Harwood, and the Massey brothers, Aaron and Ralph.
When the players return for Day 3 on Wednesday, June 5, at 11 a.m. local time, they will be combined with all the surviving players from Day 2b, 2c, and 2d. Day 2b will take place on Saturday, June 1 and is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. while Day 1c is also taking place. Day 1d will be the last chance for players to make it to a second day.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be there throughout the whole event to bring you all the action from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and this record-breaking tournament.
on which both of Morgenstern's opponents checked. He decided to bet 75,000, the big blind raised to 275,000 and the other player got out of their way. Morgenstern jammed for a million and the big blind called with the slightly shorter stack.
on the turn and the 
on the river to seal the deal en give Morgenstern another bustout to his name.
, and both the small blind and Verreijt checked. De Silva continued with a bet of 45,000 which led to a fold from the player in the small, but Verreijt shoved for 275,000 and De Silva snap-called with the bigger stack. 
on the turn, but the 
, Cunningham check-raised the 60,000 bet of his opponent to 130,000. The button confirmed how much the raise was and then decided to announce he was all-in. Cunningham responded with a snap-call with the shorter stack worth 264,000.
completed the board and ensured Cunningham's double-up.
to give Van Zadelhoff's opponent the open-ended straight draw.
turn hit the straight to secure the double-up against Van Zadelhoff.
on the river was just a formality to complete the board and leave Van Zadelhoff behind with 99,000.
and Dechant doubled up right after the bubble had burst to stay alive in the tournament.
flop to the 
, Hinterndorfer checked and Romero asked how much he had behind. Hinterndorfer opened his arms and Romero saw he had 60,000 behind. Romero took a bit more time and then decided to put Hinterndorfer all-in. Hinterndorfer tanked for a while and decided to make the call. Romero tabled 
for the two pair on the board with the seven-kicker in his hand. Hinterndorfer stared for a while and when the rest of the table confirmed it was a seven, he turned around his 
