Bryn Kenney Bags Big, Hopeful of Deep Run After Day 2d in Event #70: $10,000 Main Event World Championship
It was another wild and crazy day at the 2022 World Series of Poker at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas as Day 2d of Event #70: $10,000 Main Event World Championship has come and gone.
This year's edition of the Main Event flirted with the all-time record number of entrants but fell just short of breaking the 2006 mark when 8,773 players paid $10,000 to play. Nevertheless, 8,663 players created a prize pool of $80,782,475, with the winner getting an absolutely spectacular Main Event bracelet and a whopping $10,000,000 top prize.
1,300 players will be in the money and take home at least $15,000.
The lines to register for Day 2d were long, and when all was said and done, an additional 454 players took their shot, making the Day 2d field an astounding 3,749 players - nearly 1,000 players more than Day 2abc.
When the five levels of play of Day 2d were complete, Muhammad Abdel-Rahim finished the night as the unofficial chipleader with 936,500.
2022 WSOP Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 2d
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muhammad Abdel Rahim | United States | 936,500 |
| 2 | Marsel Backa | United States | 738,000 |
| 3 | Ryan Torgersen | United States | 731,500 |
| 4 | Mauricio Solano | United States | 674,000 |
| 5 | Bryn Kenney | United States | 665,000 |
| 6 | Jared Hyman | United States | 661,500 |
| 7 | Shota Nakanishi | Japan | 643,000 |
| 8 | Michael Huynh | United States | 640,500 |
| 9 | Mathieu His | France | 616,000 |
| 10 | Florian Guimond | France | 595,000 |
Abdel-Rahim, who has nearly $500,000 in career earnings, is no stranger to deep runs at the World Series of Poker. The chip leader made the final table at the 2016 $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em (Event #56), where David Peters ended up winning his first bracelet. Abdel-Rahim finished 4th from a field of 1,860 players for a career-high cash of $134,845, only behind Peters, Ireland's Cathal Shine, and Matt Affleck. Just a month later, Abdel-Rahim placed 5th at a WSOP Circuit Main Event.
"I ran really well in the first two levels, and then I was coasting. I was card dead for the next two levels, but during the last level, I got kings vs ace-king for a huge pot."
Not too far behind was Bryn Kenney, who dominated all day and bagged a very impressive 665,000. Kenney began the day with the #1 spot on the all-time money list but was surpassed by Justin Bonomo late in the night, who cashed a $10,000 High Roller elsewhere in Las Vegas.
After bagging for Day 3, Kenney was very happy with his performance and appreciative of the reaction from his fellow players as he looks to add an unthinkable Main Event title to his historic resume.
"It was a pretty smooth day. I just played my game," he said. "This would be the next big one to win, this should be fun.
"I've been very well received this World Series. Lots of people asking for pictures with me and I'm just trying to stay in the moment and play my best."
Last year's Main Event champion Koray Aldemir is also very much in the hunt and will be bringing over 100 big blinds (255,000) with him to Day 3.
"I doubled up early with a set against aces and got the max value. After that, I went down to around 100k but had a really good last level.
"I'm feeling confident, it's still the Main Event and there are more cameras and attention on me, so I still get nervous sometimes.
"Not everyone recognized me at the table at first (laughs), but they were all excited to be moved to the feature table, and so was I."
Players Advancing in the 2022 WSOP Main Event
| Date | Day | Entries | Advancing |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 3rd | Day 1a | 896 | 631 |
| July 4th | Day 1b | 879 | 634 |
| July 5th | Day 1c | 1,860 | 1,376 |
| July 6th | Day 1d | 4,370 | 3,294 |
| July 7th | Day 2abc | 2,641+148 | 1,262 |
| July 8th | Day 2d | 3,295+454 | 1,757 (estimate) |
Notable casualties on Day 2d included former WSOP Main Event champions Joe Hachem and Johnny Chan. Some more of the best players in all of poker were sent to the rail on Friday, including Doug Polk, Robert Campbell, DJ MacKinnon, Dan “Jungleman” Cates, Jeremy Ausmus, Alex Livingston, David Tuchman, Dietrich Fast, Vanessa Kade, and many more.
While many top professionals hit the rail, a number of excellent players absolutely crushed it and bagged piles heading into Day 3. This includes the likes of David Peters (552,500), Ky “SuitedSuperman” Nguyen (486,000), Massoud Eskandari (475,000), John Juanda (374,500), Chino Rheem (366,000), Adrian Mateos (339,500), Camille Brown (314,000), and Chris Moneymaker (297,500).
After another five levels were completed on Day 2d, the tournament staff estimated that further 1,757 players advanced to Day 3, making the total number of players returning on Saturday, July 9th at 11 a.m. local time around 3,019. However, the exact number will be confirmed overnight.
Just like each previous day of the tournament, players will play five two-hour levels with 20-minute breaks at the end of each level. The dinner break will occur after Level 13, the third level of the day.
The money bubble, which is set at 1300th place, is widely expected to burst early on Day 4.
Be sure to keep it tuned into PokerNews , as the live reporting team will be back every step of the way as the Main Event journey continues.