1 – Carl Pion – 4,720,000
2 – Bill Edler – 3,8894,000
3 – Bob Merulla – 3,006,000
4 – Todd Terry – 2,965,000
5 – Kenneth Smaron – 2,785,000
6 – Charles Marchese – 2,713,000
7 – Ory Hen – 2,437,000
8 – Shawn Pilot – 2,394,000
9 – Manny Minaya – 2,361,000
10 – George Medrano – 2,045,000
11 – Stephen VanAuken – 1,915,000
12 – Bob McLaughlin – 1,911,000
13 – Abul Moborrod – 1,825,000
14 – Kijoon Park – 1,640,000
15 – Philip Neiman – 1,613,000
16 – Franklin Caldwell – 1,474,000
17 – Steven Weinstein – 1,423,000
18 – Balint Barta – 1,282,000
19 – Michael Contessa – 1,249,000
20 – David Levy – 1,213,000
21 – Charles Hook – 1,200,000
22 – Andrew Eastom – 1,142,000
23 – Paul Spitzberg – 1,039,000
24 – John Myung – 978,000
25 – Victor Johnson – 929,000
26 – Anthony Argila – 623,000
27 – Mirsad Kovaci – 394,000

Payout information after the jump

28th – Gerald Wade – Woodbridge, VA – $11,594
29th – Frank Flowers – Highland, NY – $11,594
30th – Carl Davis – Silver Spring, MD – $11,594
31st – Steven Fung – Walnut, CA – $11,594
32nd – Stephane Dallaire – Brossard, CAN – $11,594
33rd – Peter Ippolito – East Meadow, NY – $11,594
34th – Donald Matusow – Bryn Mawr, PA – $11,594
35th – Steven Levy – Peabody, MA – $11,594
36th – Bill Hooker – Kinston, MA – $11,594
37th – John McEwen – Nazareth, PA – $9,763
38th – Gordon Eng – Cliffside Park, NJ – $9,763
39th – Saturnino Rodriguez – Rockledge, FL – $9,763
40th – Ken Moore – Canal Winchester, OH – $9,763
41st – Bill Dollar – Raleigh, NC – $9,763
42nd – Greg McDonald – Prestonburg, KY – $9,763
43rd – “Captain” Tom Franklin – Gulfport, MS – $9,763
44th – Esther “E Tay” Taylor – Las Vegas, NV – $9,763
45th – Moe Manalow – Howell, NJ – $9,763
46th – Marinko Matura – Franklin Square, NY – $8,543
47th – Steve Karp – N Miami Beach, FL – $8,543
48th – Farhad Sinaei – New Britian, CT – $8,543
49th – Michael Silverman – Mount Claire, NJ – $8,543
50th – Neil Kelleher – Philadelphia, PA – $8,543
51st – Milan Dobrilovic – West Nyack, NY – $8,543
52nd – Philip Gurian – Boca Raton, FL – $8,543
53rd – Matt Milliken – Madison, WI – $8,543
54th – Matt Brady – Upper Darby, PA – $8,543
55th – Cliff Allen – Camarilla, CA – $7,628
56th – Lahcen Imkhaoun – Celebration, CA – $7,628
57th – Paul Cassano – Bronx, NY – $7,628
58th – David Peters – Toledo, OH – $7,628
59th – Mark “dipthrong” Herm – Royersford, PA – $7,628
60th – Cesar Romero – San Jose, CA – $7,628
61st – Guy Cicconi – Las Vegas, NV – $7,628
62nd – Geoffrey Stern – New York, NY – $7,628
63rd – Joseph Loguidice – Atlantic City, NJ – $7,628
64th – Eric VanAuken – Ridgewood, NJ – $6,712
65th – Yugeshwar Rajkumar – Teaneck, NJ – $6,712
66th – Jack Deutsch – Staten Island, NJ – $6,712
67th – Eugene Fouksman – Manalapan, NJ – $6,712
68th – Emil Lebovich – Fair Lawn, NJ – $6,712
69th – Ron Glantz – W.Florida, FL – $6,712
70th – Brian Barlett – Point Pleasant, NJ – $6,712
71st – Rene Battiston – Clifton, NJ – $6,712
72nd – Juan Catala – Providence, RI – $6,712
73rd – Jeffrie Charlton – Lake Worth, FL – $6,102
74th – Jeffrey Vanchiro – Brooklyn, NY – $6,102
75th – Elia Ahmadian – Chantilly, VA – $6,102
76th – Albert Riccobono – Ossining, NY – $6,102
77th – Bill Hill – Silver Spring, MD – $6,102
78th – Hovan Nguyen – Pasadena, MD – $6,102
79th – Michael Santoro – Egg Harbor, NJ – $6,102
80th – Clint Fromal – Holmes, PA – $6,102
81st – Jason Young – Suffern, NY – $6,102
82nd – Julian Park – Staten Island, NY – $5,492
83rd – Kishor Sharma – Flushing, NY – $5,492
84th – Jason Koon – Pittsburgh, PA – $5,492
85th – Stephen Cowap – Atlantic City, NJ – $5,492
86th – Ami Sharma – Forest Hills, NY – $5,492
87th – Najib Bannani – Hoboken, NJ – $5,492
88th – Michael Buttacavoli – Ventor City, NJ – $5,492
89th – Logan Raskin, N Hollywood, CA – $5,492
90th – Anthony Villani – Briarcliff Manor, NY – $5,492
91st – Bernard Brock Jr. – Old Bridge, NJ – $4,882
92nd – Ken Lee – Oakton, VA – $4,882
93rd – Igor Melomed – Hollandale Beach, FL – $4,882
94th – Michael Shammas – Chesapeake, VA – $4,882
95th – Stephen Barbella – Malvern, PA – $4,882
96th – George Dietz – Oak Park, IL – $4,882
97th – Bill Stradley – Boothwyn, PA – $4,882
98th – Grant Coombs – Cockys Ht Vly, MD – $4,882
99th – Vincent Donohue – Old Bridge, NJ – $4,882
100th – Brian Edmonds – Manalapan, NJ – $4,882

The action was crazy near the end of Day 2 as it seemed the shortstacks made the decision to push rather than come back the next day with a few chips. The noise level ramped up and it seemed every other table was drawing action. Having Event #16 hitting the money bubble around the same time only added to the action level. Level 17 ended with 172 players of the original 1,017 and only need 72 busts to reach the money.

Some notable chip counts heading into Day 3.

Frank Flowers – 847,000
Logan raskin – 704,500
Eric Siegel – 633,500
Mark “dipthrong” Herm – 595,500
Elizabeth Grey-Pardo – 359,000
Bill Edler – 276,000
Manny Minaya – 249,000
Alex “The Jedi” Nepomnyaschiy – 249,000
Matt Brady – 221,000
Chris Bell – 187,000
Bill Stradley – 186,500
Esther “E Tay” Taylor – 167,500
Bo Toft – 135,000
Captain Tom Franklin – 64,500

Lacey Jones was happy in Event #16 until she was bad beat out of the tournament.
The Main Event is at Level 17
Blinds are $3,000 – $6,000 with $500 ante

The Main Event players are on their last level of the evening. Knockouts were early and often during Level 16 but slowed down and tensions are running high. Larry “larrygold” Goldstein was knocked out, Esther “E Tay” Taylor continues to build her stack and stay ahead of pace, Alex “The Jedi” has some work to do in order to stay competitive. Mark “dipthrong” Herm, Bill Edler and Matt “allinat420″ Stout are all looking pretty solid.

There are 207 players left and the money bubble will burst on Wednesday as they play down to the final 27 downstairs in the poker room.

Lucko’s day is over.  Level 16 is next.
Blinds are $2,500 – $5,000 with $400 ante

Kevin “Lucko” O’Brien’s day is over.  After outlasting a monster table, his new table caused problems when someone chased their gutshot to the river and caught lucky.  The kill shot was his AK versus JJ.  Larry “larrygold” Goldstein is stacked with $160,000 and Stephen Vanauken went on break sitting on $680,000.  Vanauken has one big cash on his resume and it was a 9th place finish in the 2008 Borgata Poker Open Main Event. Mark “dipthrong” Herm is sitting comfy with $350,000 and Alex “The Jedi” has chipped back up in his battles with Captain Tom Franklin.

There are 243 players left and the average chip stack is around 210,000.

Esther “E Tay” Taylor waiting on Level 15.
Blinds will be $2,000 – $4,000 with $400 ante.

The tension is starting to build in the tournament room. Enough tables have been broken that the players can sense they are getting closer, the railbirds are beginning to gather in force.. The thought of a $650,000 payday is completely within reason. There seem to be more emotional reactions to big wins or losses.

Kevin “Lucko” O’Brien was sitting at a tough table with Ted Forrest, Will “The Thrill” and “JohnnyBax”. He outlasted them all. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josphey was the last to go when he opened shoved with Q5 and was snap called by KK, he is now free to take his time during dinner. Alex “The Jedi” Nepomnyaschiy is trying to build his stack back up and having issues getting past Captain Tom Franklin. Bill Stradley made a move on Victor Ramdin with absolute air, he was playing the board, and showed down the bluff when his value bet-looking bluff was not called. Esther “E Tay” Taylor is sitting healthy with around $110,000.

The players are heading off on their 75 minute dinner break before coming back for three more levels. Tab announce that there are approximately 275 players left in the Main Event. Average chipstack is around 185,000 with the new blinds at $2,000 – $4,000 with $400 ante.

Christa Weaver in Event #16.  The Main Event is starting Level 14.
Blinds are $1,500 – $3,000 with $300 ante

Our girl Christa regales us with a story from her table in Event #16.  She was dealt pocket 7′s in late position, a big raise from an EP player when her phone began ringing.  She wasn’t calling a raise that big with a baby pair and prepared to answer her phone.  In the act of mucking her cards she caught and edge exposing her cards to the entire table.  The flop brought a 7 and the turn brought the case 7.  Ended up two players all-in which would have produced and sizable pot for our girl but it wasn’t to be.  She doesn’t mind not playing the hand, only that the entire table was aware of her miss.

Never a dull moment here in the tournament room.

In the Main Event area, Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler was unable to stay alive even though he outlasted more than half of the Day 2 field.  Victor Ramdin survived his short stack shoves and now sitting with 120,000.  Mark “dipthrong” Herm took a hit to his chip stack when a player was willing to call off his chips with nothing but a jack high flush draw, and it hit.  Kevin “Lucko” O’Brien’s table became a little bit easier with the loss of Ted Forrest from the tournament but it’s still a formidable task.

Tony Cousineau told us of a story at his table earlier in the day when he was only dealt one card on the button and saw a few limpers before action was on him.  He decided to get frisky and pop it up big.  One player started the long sweat as he went in the tank and eventually folded AQ face up.  At that point Tony let it be known that he was only holding one card.

We are in the last level before the dinner break and sitting with 333 players remaining.

Alex “The Jedi” making moves.
The blinds are going up to $1200 – $2400 ante $300.

Alex “The Jedi” is worth the price of admission to watch in action.  Tons of pots, lots of action and never a dull moment.  Mark “dipthrong” Herm is sitting around with his starting Day 2 stack with 160k, an Eagles fan that would probably take joy in busting out the player next to him in the Steelers jersey.  Victor Ramdin is battling around trying to build his stack back up, he’s still sitting with ~30k.  Geoffery Stern was kind enough to stop by the media table to inform us that he is most likely the chip leader sitting with ~400k.

Blogger LJ has hit the rail after battling up all afternoon.  No word on how it went down.  Lucko has taken a hit to his stack and sitting at a tough table with Ted Forrest, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Joesphy, and Will “The Thrill”.

The rail is starting to fill up with friends, relatives and generic railbirds hoping to watch their horse earn a big payday or catch a glimpse of the big poker names.

After 4 levels of play today, the field has been fully cut in half with less than 350 players remaining.  The average chip stack is around 145,000.

Event #16 is rolling right along and also includes Steve Dannemann and Svetlana Gromenkova.

Emad Alabsi is sitting with 60k going into Level 12
Blinds are $1000 – $2000 with $200 ante

The action is fast and furious with no end in site.  Barry Leventhal was shortstacked, made a double up, but his tournament life ended quickly.  Victor Ramdin found himself in push or fold territory but has been picking up some chips.  Ramdin is sitting at the table with un-official chip leader Bill Stradley and other big stacks so the opportunity is there.  Bill Blanda stopped by to relate his exit from the tournament.  “I was like an old Vegas casino, yellow tape all around and people lined up waiting for my implosion.  boom boom boom boom.  Gone.”

Kaelain from PokerPages.com located another dead stack that is getting blinded off, Robert Mercer started the day with 40k.  Not enough for his seat to fold it’s way into the money.  Bloggers LJ (60k) and Lucko (160k) are hanging strong.  The gentleman in the middle of the room who loosened up the atmosphere in the beginning just annoyed the entire room by big leagueing again.

We have 450 players left and the average chip stack is 113,000

We’ve had a siting of Lacey Jones, Maria Ho, Christa Weaver in Event #16, $350 buyin NLHE.

A full tournament room starts Level 11
Blinds are $800 – $1600 with a $200 ante

After just 2 and a half hours of play, we’ve lost nearly 200 players. A large portion of those were the shorter stacks but there have been some monster hands. I watched one player tank after plenty of action preflop and two all-ins, eventually folding KK face up telling the table “one of them has aces”. Gordon Eng turned over his aces and doubled his stack. Blogger LJ has moved her shortstack up to 75k and Lucko is hovering around 130k. “E Tay” is alive and Kathy Leibert is on the rail doing interviews. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler predicts he’ll be out this level and Patrick Schtekel has yet to show, blinding away his 77k starting stack.

Mark Seif seems to have drawn a table willing to gamble it up and he doesn’t seem pleased.  The 2008 Borgata Poker Open Main Event final tablist has been watching his table with any ace rag and catching their miracles.  Esther “E Tay” Taylor and blogger LJ drew seats together in the center of the room with LJ picking up some chips in the early stages to make her healthy.  Kevin “Lucko” O’Brien started well and continues to do so.  Bill Blanda, Chris Reslock and Matt “Allinat420″ Stout all drew the same table so we’ll be spending some time watching that action.