Sebastian Winkler Top After Day Two WSOP 2011 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

Germany’s Sebastian Winkler holds the chip lead with 1,156,000 after day two of event #48, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas last night.

Winkler is closely followed by Vegas-based Matt ‘All In At 420’ Stout (1,062,000), while Pennsylvania’s Alexander Queen is third on 977,000, Brandon Becker (919,000), of Ohio, is fourth, and Tampa’s Daniel Lobato a distant fifth on 656,000.

The second day started out with 370 survivors from an original entry of 2,713 – for a $3,662,550 prize pool – but that was cut down to 30 in the chase for a gold bracelet and the $650,223 top prize.

The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino’s Amazon Room witnessed a thrilling day as 340 were eliminated, with second-placed Stout picking up a massive pot to leap up the leaderboard with about 120 minutes left of the day’s 10 levels.

The action had folded to Illinois’ Cameron Wiley, who then raised to 18,000. Next to act was Stout, and he made it 44,000 to go. Everyone left in folded back around to Wiley, who then decided to re-raise to 118,000. Stout made the call to create a pot of already more than 250,000.

The flop showed Jd-4c-Qc and Wiley quickly fired out 200,000, only for Stout to go all-in for approximately 390,000. Wiley did not look happy, but he had invested too much in this pot to fold and made the call to see that his Kc-Jh was in all sorts of trouble against Stout’s Ah-Ac.

The Qd turn was nice for Stout as Wiley now required a jack to collect the pot. But the 3d arrived on the river and Stout picked up a massive pot to take a big chip lead over the remaining contestants.

However, Stout is not the last well-known player left in for tonight, with Vegas pro Mike DeMichele (153,000) – in 26th – and Ukrainian-born American Yevgeniy Timoshenko in 24th on 195,000 still battling away.

But some big names did crash out after making the money, including Canadian Sorel Mizzi – who was eliminated in 32nd late in the day for $15,089 – Chino Rheem (77th for $6,189), James Mackey (53rd for $10,255), Jonathan Little (48th for $10,255) and David Singer (162nd for $3,662).

The final 30 players resume this evening for a third day, although there is every likelihood we will again witness a fourth day in what has become the norm at this summer’s WSOP.

Top 10 chip leaders and chip counts after day two of the WSOP 2011 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event:

1. Sebastian Winkler (Germany) – 1,156,000

2. Matt Stout (USA) – 1,062,000

3. Alexander Queen (USA) – 977,000

4. Brandon Becker (USA) – 919,000

5. Daniel Lobato (USA) – 656,000

6. Francois Billard (Canada) – 626,000

7. Nicholas Lanzi (USA) – 624,000

8. Simon Charette (Canada) – 564,000

9. Sven Niklas Heinecker (Germany) – 554,000

10. Athanasios Polychronopoul (USA) – 492,000