Ben Lamb Tops WSOP 2011 $50,000 The Poker Player’s Championship Leaderboard

Las Vegas-based pro Benjamin Lamb holds the chip lead on 704,500 after day two of the $50,000 The Poker Player’s Championship at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) last night.

Lamb – who tops the WSOP 2011 Player of the Year table on 572.65 points – is followed by Danish superstar Gus Hansen on 688,700, while London-based German Sebastian Ruthenberg is third on 669,600 and David Oppenheim, of California, is fourth with 608,000.

They will all be chasing the gold bracelet and the phenomenal $1,720,328 top prize at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, although second place still receives an impressive $1,063,034, while even 16th place will earn $108,503.

This event is made up of Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Seven-Card Razz , Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball – and Lamb has certainly enjoyed a wonderful first few days.

Additionally, he will still be on a high from securing his first WSOP bracelet from event #42, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, when he picked up $814,436, while he also recorded a 12th place finish in event #46 – the $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship – for $56,140.

Lamb sits 86.45 points ahead of England’s Chris Moorman in the PoY standings, while Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, of France, is third on 479.25, and is followed by Phil Hellmuth (458.25) and Nevada’s Sam Stein (416.13).

Incredibly, just four players were eliminated on Saturday’s day one from the original starting line-up of 128, although many more exited last night to leave us with 74 for this evening’s third day.

As is to be expected, some of those failing to make the money included big names such as defending champ Michael Mizrachi, Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, Justin Bonomo, Mike Matusow, Dan O’Brien, Allen Bari, Jason Mercier, Jean-Robert Bellande and Daniel Negreanu.

Florida’s Mizrachi suffered a particular heartbreaking exit when, under the gun, he moved all-in for 7,900 and was called by Frenchman David Benyamine as the rest of the table folded.

Mizrachi showed Ks-8s, while Benyamine held Ac-9d. The Kc-6c-4s flop gave the American the lead, but Benyamine collected a few more outs from the 9s turn and then notched the elimination on 9c river for trips to end Mizrachi’s title defence.

Joining Lamb, Hansen, Ruthenberg and Oppenheim for the third day are quality players such as David Bach – the 2009 H.O.R.S.E. champion – Scott Seiver, Matt Glantz, Matt Glantz, David ‘OBD’ Baker, Nick Schulman, Robert Mizrachi, Barry Greenstein and Phil Hellmuth.

Top 10 leading chip leaders after day two of the WSOP 2011 $50,000 The Poker Player’s Championship:

1. Benjamin Lamb (USA) – 704,500

2. Gus Hansen (Denmark) – 688,700

3. Sebastian Ruthenberg (Germany) – 669,600

4. David Oppenheim (USA) – 608,000

5. David Baker (USA) – 482,700

6. Matt Glantz (USA) – 471,100

7. Alexandre Luneau (France) – 468,200

8. Josh Arieh (USA) – 433,800

9. Steve Billirakis (USA) – 409,000

10. Rami Boukai (USA) – 408,600