On a day when a horse named “Kid Poker” failed to win, place or show in his race, Daniel Negreanu decided to make up for the shortcomings of the thoroughbred named after him. Negreanu chipped up in a big way during Day 2 action at the World Poker Tour’s Festa al Lago and finished the day with 513,000, good enough for the lead.

His key hand came against overall chip leader Antonio Esfandiari. With all the money going in on the flop Negreanu held a set of jacks while Esfandiari was looking at a two-outer with pocket aces. When the turn and river failed to bring an ace “the Magician” was crippled. He went out a few hands later, again at the hands of Negreanu.

But Esfandiari wasn’t the only who came into the day with a massive stack that hit the rail. Daniel Schreiber and Brian Rast were dominant players on Day 1b and neither will be around to play on Day 3.

After Negreanu, the only other player to crest the 400,000 chip mark, Blake Cahail, finished with 467,500. But there’s a bevy of strong players right behind Cahail that all have their sights set on the $1,411,000 first place prize - the largest of the WPT season to date.

Justin Bonomo (383,300), Nenad Medic (345,600), JC Tran (337,900), Jennifer Tilly (330,800) and Joe Sebok (327,200) hold spots three through seven on the leaderboard. Only 104 of the 246 players who started the day have moved on to Day 3 action at the Bellagio which will begin at 3 pm ET on Thursday. 

Top 10 Chip Counts

1. Daniel Negreanu - 513,100 
2. Blake Cahail - 467,500 
3. Justin Bonomo - 383,300 
4. Nenad Medic - 345,600 
5. JC Tran - 337,900 
6. Jennifer Tilly - 330,800 
7. Joe Sebok - 327,200 
8. Jamie Rosen - 321,200 
9. Clemenceau Calixto - 310,200 
10. Matthew Stout - 298,900 

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