Ankush Mandavia Leads 24 Contenders Into Final Day of 2022 Wynn Summer Classic $3,500 NLH Championship
The penultimate day of the 2022 Wynn Summer Classic $3,500 NLH Championship has concluded at Wynn Las Vegas, and after the 233 returning players played ten 60-minute levels, only 24 players remain.
Ankush Mandavia bagged the chip lead with a solid stack of 5,580,000. Eshaan Bhalla (4,400,000) and Diego Sanchez (4,225,000) are the next closest in the counts, while Daniel Smiljkovic (4,195,000), Andrew Moreno (3,590,000), and James Romero (3,100,000) also bagged top-ten stacks.
The premier event of the Wynn Summer Classic generated a massive $4,605,300 prize pool, and although the remaining players are guaranteed $26,716, all eyes are on the $696,011 first-place prize which comes with the coveted Wynn replica trophy.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Ankush Mandavia | United States | 5,580,000 |
| 2 | Eshaan Bhalla | United States | 4,400,000 |
| 3 | Diego Sanchez | Mexico | 4,225,000 |
| 4 | Daniel Smiljkovic | Germany | 4,195,000 |
| 5 | Nicolas Noguera | France | 4,155,000 |
| 6 | Jacky Wang | United States | 3,965,000 |
| 7 | Jinho Hong | South Korea | 3,695,000 |
| 8 | Andrew Moreno | United States | 3,590,000 |
| 9 | Mohammad Siddiqui | United States | 3,120,000 |
| 10 | James Romero | United States | 3,100,000 |
The day began with 233 players returning to the felt hoping to make it into the money, and a little over two hours after the day began, it was Greek three-time bracelet winner Georgios Sotiropoulos to burst the bubble after running queens into kings. From there, the 152 remaining players were guaranteed a min-cash of $8,013.
After the bubble burst, eliminations followed fairly quickly. Some of the players who busted before the dinner break include Darren Elias (151st - $8,013), Jen Shahade (143rd - $8,013), Hossein Ensan (116th - $9,521), Kristen Foxen (100th - $10,387), Sylvain Loosli (92nd - $11,353), Thomas Boivin (85th - $12,431), David Peters (77th - $13,675), Barry Hutter (72nd - $13,675), Aaron Massey (62nd - $16,636), and Rafael Moraes (56th - $16,636).
There were 55 players returning from dinner, and after four more 60-minute levels, the field was whittled down to the 24 players who bagged for the night. Some of those who ran deep but couldn’t survive post-dinner were Jun Obara (50th - $18,516), Nadya Magnus (48th - $18,516), Thomas Muehloecker (40th - $20,775), Brek Schutten (33rd - $23,476), Adedapo Ajayi (31st - $23,476), and Bin Weng (26th - $26,716).
The 24 remaining players will return for the final day on Tuesday, June 28 at noon and will play until a winner is declared.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team continues to provide coverage of the 2022 Wynn Summer Classic $3,500 NLH Championship until the very end.