WSOPE: Andy Bloch Leading Main Event After Day 2

Lance Bradley | September 30, 2008 at 3:15 am

When Day 2 began at the 2008 World Series of Poker-Europe there were two names on the tips of everybody’s tongue. Justin “BoostedJ” Smith and Daniel Negreanu had each put together an impressive performance on their respective Day 1s and the two players shared the spotlight as chipleaders.

But lying in the weeds was none other than Andy Bloch. The man who has made the most WSOP final tables without posting a win is now the man to beat as the tournament heads to Day 3. Bloch ran through Day 2 to end up with 321,600 - he is the only player above the 300,000 mark.

Right behind Bloch is Brian Townsend with 290,100. The cash game killer known online as “Sbrugby” finds himself just ahead of two of tournament poker’s best; Erik Seidel (282,300) and John Juanda (252,200). The top non-American is the United Kingdom’s Christopher Elliott, who sits in sixth with 231,900. American-based players hold eight of the top ten places.

Negreanu wound up with 203,700, good enough for ninth just behind Smith who finished with 217,700. But not all the big names made it through the day. Two players, holding 21 total bracelets, saw their run end. Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth will both have to wait another year to try and capture another bracelet.

The field at the start of the day was 179 but eight levels of play at the Casino at the Empire left only 62 players standing. Those players will return to the felt Tuesday afternoon at 1 pm London time. Live updates and chip counts will be available as the action happens at WorldSeriesofPoker.com.

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