Traheho Leads Heading into World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup V Day 2

Poker News - July 15, 2009 - Written by Bruce

With the conclusion of yesterday's Day 1b, the WPT Bellagio Cup V is down to 222 players heading into Wednesday's Day 2. Between Day 1a and Day 1b the total players entered in the event was 268. The total prize pool is $3,899,400 with a huge payday going to first place of $1,187,670. The top 27 players will all make the money in this prestigious event. The tournament is a $15,000 buy in event which in turn led to an extremely tough field. The overall chip leader came from Day 1a, as Alex "traheho" Torelli finished his Day 1 with an impressive 308,675 in chips. The second biggest overall stack came for yesterday's Day 1b as Vijayan Nagarajan finished play with 256,775 chips. Right behind him with the third biggest stack is Andrew Cimpan who ended Day 1a with 256,375 chips. The three have separated themselves a bit from the field, but there are some extremely tough poker pros remaining who are hoping to make a big move today when Day 2 kicks off.

One of the players lurking is the reigning WPT Player of the Year Betrand "Elky" Grospellier. Elky played in yesterday's Day 1b and finished with a healthy stack of 138,000 chips. He is hoping to continue his recent success in the World Poker Tour as he has been on fire over the last year or so. Other notable players from yesterday's Day 1b who finished in good shape were Jamie "The Chronic 420" Rosen, Matt Graham, Justin Bonomo, and Sam Farha. Day 1a top stacks included Hoyt Corkins, Isaac Haxton, and Justin Smith. All of these players are top level pros and will no doubt make today an extremely tough Day 2. Unforutnately some of the biggest names in poker were in eliminated in the two Day 1s. Mike "The Mouth"  Matusow, Doyle Brunson, David Benyamine, Steve Billirakis, Theo Tran, Mike Sowers, and John Juanda all have busted and will not be back for today's Day 2.

With so much money on the line and field that is filled with top professionals today's Day 2 will see some great poker. With 222 players remaining the play will pick up some today and we will see many players eliminated. There is a great mix of top poker pros who have made their name in the live setting going against many of the top online poker players in the world. It will be an interesting dynamic to see so many great poker minds throughout the field. This 15k buy in event very well may be one the toughest fields to navigate through in all of poker. There are not many soft spots at any of the tables making today much anticipated for poker fans.