Welcome to Day 2 of the 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas
After two starting flights, the 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas has attracted 699 players. That number could go up slightly as registration is open until the start of Day 2, which will kick off at Noon local time.
For the first time in the Main Event, all players will be battling it out in the same room as the 350 returning Day 1a and 1b survivors combine for six more 75-minute levels.
James Juvancic, the Day 1b chip leader, will begin the day as the big stack with 271,800 in chips, while Andrew Ryan (224,300) is the only other player over the 200k mark. Day 1a leader James Martyn (197,400), Jan Kralik (164,900), Mattias Priolo (160,800), and PokerStars Team Pro Felipe Ramos (156,800) will also begin with big stacks.
Other returning to action include Hollywood actor Aaron Paul (74,700), 2012 PCA champ John Dibella (64,300), Mike "Timex" McDonald (54,600), Team PokerStars Pros Barry Greenstein (50,400), Fatima Moreira de Melo (44,400), Andre Akkari (23,700), Victor Ramdin (13,500), Jake Cody (19,700), Jason Mercier (92,700), Vanessa Selbst (88,000), Chris Moneymaker (65,100), Daniel Negreanu (58,2000, as well as Kevin Martin (78,400) and Jaime Staples (30,900) of Team Online. Two short stacks coming back are 2013 WSOP champ Ryan Riess (15,600) and the polarizing Will Kassouf (10,400).
Cards will be in the air in a couple of hours. We'll have official numbers, including prize pool and payout information, shortly after the start of play. While you wait, check out this video on understanding when and why to check-raise.