Donald Vogel Still Leads WSOP Event #56 After Day 2

Californian Donald Vogel held on to the top for a second day in the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event #56 at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.

Vogel began Day 2 as chip leader and will enter the final day still on top after bagging up on 1,297,000 – just ahead of second placed Italian Gianluca Mattia (1,271,000), while Danish Peter Eastgate is third on 1,043,000.

Interestingly, 2008 main event champ Eastgate – who enjoyed a steady day before scoring big when knocking out Germany’s Mohsen Tayfeh late on – can become the first winner of the top event to collect a second gold bracelet since Ecuador’s Carlos Mortensen followed up his 2001 main event success with victory in the $5,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event #34 two years later.

Money Bubble Burst Early

Ten more levels were played out on Day 2 as 283 players hit the rail in the Amazon Room of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to leave just 22 players still in with a chance of collecting the gold bracelet and $661,022.

Just eight players had to be eliminated before the money bubble was burst – and that momentous occasion arrived inside 30 minutes as New York State’s Anatoly Filatov and Scott Cochran, of Ohio, claimed the unfortunate ‘bubble boy’ title to share the $2,757 minimum cash for 297th place.

Daniel Negreanu Cashes

Once players had made the money, we saw numerous eliminations as more than half the remaining field hit the rail before the day’s third level was completed, with the likes of Tony Cousineau (279th for $2,757), Matt Brady (225th for $3,022), Jason DeWitt (211th for $3,022), Jennifer Tilly (205th for $3,324), Byron Kaverman (202nd for $3,324), Jeff Madsen (199th for $3,324), Adam Levy (184th for $3,324), Martin Jacobson (169th for $3,702), Maria Ho (168th for $3,702), Cherish Andrews (167th for $3,702), Jennifer ‘Jennicide’ Leigh (133rd for $4,155), David ‘ODB’ Baker (130th for $4,155), Daniel Negreanu (104th for $4,155), Kennii Nguyen (100th for $4,155), Donnacha O’Dea (64th for $7,328), Allan Le (57th for $8,688), Marco Traniello (52nd for $10,388) and Chance Kornuth (49th for $10,388) cashing but failing to make Day 3.

Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla Hanging On

Other notables among the 22 survivors are World Poker Tour (WPT) champ Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla (22nd on 85,000), of New York, British pro Sam Holden (13th on 405,000) – who took ninth place in last year’s main event – and Pennsylvania’s Alexander ‘Argentina Boy’ Queen (10th on 585,000), who finished in eighth place at this year’s $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event #13.

Day 3 will be played out to a conclusion, so there should again by many thrills and spills as every starter eyes up that top prize.

WSOP 2012 Event #56 Final 22

1. Donald Vogel (USA) – 1,297,000
2. Gianluca Mattia (Italy) – 1,271,000
3. Peter Eastgate (Denmark) – 1,043,000
4. David Borg (Austria) – 923,000
5. Eliyahu Levy (USA) – 818,000
6. Matthieu Auclair (France) – 727,000
7. Tomas Trampota (USA) – 699,000
8. Bastian Fischer (Germany) – 616,000
9. Paul Vas Nunes (UK) – 610,000
10. Alexander Queen (USA) – 585,000
11. Christopher O’donnell (UK) – 444,000
12. Michael Graydon (Ireland) – 427,000
13. Sam Holden (UK) – 425,000
14. Bassel Moussa (Lebanon) – 409,000
15. Randolph Lanosga (USA) – 407,000
16. Steven Goldberg (USA) – 398,000
17. Tomas Junek (USA) – 393,000
18. Andrew Taylor (USA) – 357,000
19. Dmitrii Valouev (USA) – 323,000
20. Rudy Blondeau (Canada) – 322,000
21. Richard Teatum (Germany) – 200,000
22. Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla (USA) – 85,000