James Todd Leads as 21 Players Survive Day 2 of Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors
Day 2 of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors began with 498 players returning from the 3,209-entry field. By the end of the night, just 21 players remained with James Todd and his stack of 20 million leading the way.
Todd got a good deal of his chips in the last level of the night when he scored a double elimination. It happened when Dennis Booze raised with tens, Michael Vaverka jammed with pocket queens, and Todd woke up with two black aces in the small blind. He reraised, Booze shoved, and Todd both called and held to vault up the counts.
Others to survive the night were Rigoberto Rodriguez (14,950,000), Todd Saffron (11,900,000), Elias Neto (9,200,000), poker vlogger Matt Vaughan (7,750,000), Richard Alati (5,225,000), Marco Petrusch (4,925,000), and Scott Shafman (2,625,000).
Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Todd | United States | 20,000,000 | 50 |
| 2 | Rigoberto Rodriguez | United States | 14,950,000 | 37 |
| 3 | Todd Saffron | United States | 11,900,000 | 30 |
| 4 | Nicholas Sena-Hopkins | United States | 10,305,000 | 26 |
| 5 | Zyad Qasem | United States | 10,000,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Patrick Pilko | United States | 9,900,000 | 25 |
| 7 | Brett Coltman | United States | 9,300,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Elias Neto | Brazil | 9,200,000 | 23 |
| 9 | Matthew Vaughan | United States | 7,750,000 | 19 |
| 10 | Richard Strainis | United States | 6,650,000 | 17 |
With the top 482 spots getting paid, 16 players left empty-handed on Day 2, but from there the in-the-money bust outs came at a fast and furious pace. Among those to earn a cash were Christina Gollins (170th - $1,277), Jessica Weldon (152nd - $1,460), Kenny Nguyen (113th - $1,460), Paul Sokoloff (75th - $2,283), Jacqueline Ray (42nd - $4,607), Chad Layne (37th - $4,607), and Gerome Touchard (28th - $5,593).
The Day 3 finale is slated to kick off at noon local time on June 28, and once again PokerNews will be on-site to provide live updates straight from the tournament floor. Be sure to join us then!