Nguyen Leads Final 17 as Extra Day is Needed to Decide The Closer
Day 2 of Event #85: $1,500 The Closer was a combination day that included the last few levels of Day 1b that started at noon and went through to Day 2, which began at 5 p.m. The field generated a total of 2,039 entries, who generated a prize pool of $3,962,280. At the end of the day, 17 players out of an original 235 that started Day 2 remained, meaning that an extra day is necessary to play down to a winner.
Leading the final 17 players at the end of a hectic day of play was Minh Nguyen, who bagged up 20,275,000, which just barely edged out in front of Michael Liang who finished the night with 19,200,000.
Event #85: $1,500 The Closer Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minh Nguyen | United States | 20,275,000 | 41 |
| 2 | Michael Liang | United States | 19,200,000 | 38 |
| 3 | Rudy Cervantes | United States | 16,475,000 | 33 |
| 4 | Daniel Tabello | United States | 14,450,000 | 29 |
| 5 | Zachary Johnson | United States | 12,050,000 | 24 |
| 6 | Madelyn Carr | United States | 9,075,000 | 18 |
| 7 | Tjan Tepeh | United States | 8,975,000 | 18 |
| 8 | Ahmed Karrim | South Africa | 7,700,000 | 15 |
| 9 | Sean Ragozzini | United Kingdom | 6,875,000 | 14 |
| 10 | Vincent Lam | Canada | 6,000,000 | 12 |
Rudy Cervantes ended up third in chips with 16,475,000, while Daniel Tabello (14,350,000) and Zach Johnson (12,050,000) rounded out the top five stacks at the end of the evening.
Chris Moorman was one of the most well-known players to finish the night with some chips, as he was able to bag the Day 1b chip lead after a strong early day chip up. He continued his success throughout Day 2 to make it through to the final two tables.
There were many players who made Day 2 but who did not finish the day with chips, including; David Pham, David “ODB” Baker, JJ Liu and Shaun Deeb; the latter was one of the final eliminations of the night as his quest for a last minute series bracelet snatch was denied.
The final 17 will converge for Day 3 at 12 p.m. at Level 35 with blinds at 250,000/500,000. PokerNews will again be on the scene, as the extra day of coverage will be brought to you live.