Henrique Lessa Bags Chip Lead on Day 2 of the WSOP Paradise Main Event
The action has come to an end on Day 2 of Event #10: $5,000 Main Event Championship at the 2023 World Series of Poker Paradise at the five-star Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas.
447 players made their way to the tournament floor to compete for the $2,000,000 first-place prize, the gold bracelet, and the title of being the first-ever WSOP in Paradise Main Event Winner. After a total of 25 levels of play, it was Henrique Lessa who bagged the chip lead with an impressive stack of 8,640,000 and will lead the remaining field of 59 players into Day 3. He was involved early and often to keep his foot on the gas and slowly build to the Day 2 chip leader.
However, there are some talented players right on his tail. Adam Walton (8,480,000) is no stranger to deep runs in WSOP main events after he finished third in this year's main for a cool $4,000,000. He currently sits second in chips and will look to add some hardware to his already impressive resume. Vitor Dzivielevski (4,360,000) is one of only two players left in the field with a shot at the $100,000 bonus from GG Poker for winning a bracelet over the summer and in paradise. Rounding out the top ten is Frank Lagodich (3,670,000) who will look to add his first bracelet to an already impressive trophy case as he moves onto Day 3 with plenty of chips to make waves.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henrique Lessa | Brazil | 8,640,000 | 108 |
| 2 | Adam Walton | United States | 8,480,000 | 106 |
| 3 | Rui Sousa | Portugal | 8,085,000 | 101 |
| 4 | Stanislav Zegal | Russia | 7,625,000 | 95 |
| 5 | Troy Quenneville | Canada | 6,365,000 | 80 |
| 6 | Ramin Hajiyev | Azerbaijan | 5,765,000 | 72 |
| 7 | Joseph Lebrun | United States | 5,065,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Vitor Dzivielevski | Brazil | 4,360,000 | 55 |
| 9 | Jacopo Achille | Italy | 4,060,000 | 51 |
| 10 | Frank Lagodich | United States | 3,670,000 | 46 |
Among the players that bagged but are sitting outside the top ten include some absolute crushers in high-stakes regular Mikita Badziakouski (2,000,000), mixed game specialist Bryce Yockey (2,610,000), MTT end boss David Peters (2,530,000), Bracelet winner Sam Greenwood (1,190,000), and 2023 Colossus winner Moshe Refaelowitz (2,600,000).
Speaking of Refaelowitz, he bagged a healthy stack for Day 3 and appears to be the only other player left standing in the main who has a shot at the $100,000 bonus that GG Poker is so graciously offering to any player who won a bracelet over the summer at WSOP and rips off another in Paradise. Only time will tell if the pro from Israel can catch lighting in a bottle and get his second piece of WSOP hardware.
Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky. Among the players who made Day 2 but couldn’t find a bag for Day 3 include bracelet winner Aram Zobian WSOP Main Event winner Damian Salas, six-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh, his Game of Gold co-star David Williams, chess phenom and recent poker enthusiast Alexandra Botez, and the one and only Daniel Negreanu who ran into aces to hit the rail.
The remaining 59 players will return at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday to play down to a final table of six which will be streamed to a winner on Day 4 of the event. The field will return to Level 26 with blinds at 40,000/80,000/80,000. There will be a 75-minute dinner break after level 30 at about 6:30 p.m. local time.
Stay tuned into PokerNews for all the latest updates from the first ever WSOP in Paradise Main Event!