There were 174 players who returned to the WTC Sheraton in Sao Paulo, Brazil for Day 2 of the R$25,000 BSOP Millions Championship in their quest to make the money and possibly even win the title. It would be a great feat for many of the local Brazillians considering this is expected to be the largest Latin American poker festival ever to be held. After a shortened day due to the pace of play, just 58 players advanced to Day 3 and Breno Drumond leads them all with a healthy stack of 2,630,000 chips.
Drumond has fond memories of this festival as it was just one year ago that he captured the High Roller title for over $100,000 which in turn is the largest payday of his live poker career. The day got off to a great start for Drumond who sent one player to the rail in the opening few hands. That momentum carried through as he sat among the leaders for the majority of the day and now holds a substantial lead over the rest of the field.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Breno Drumond | Brazil | 2,630,000 | 132 |
| 2 | Rodrigo Seiji | Brazil | 2,015,000 | 101 |
| 3 | Marcos Kenne | Brazil | 1,900,000 | 95 |
| 4 | Paulo Goncalves | Brazil | 1,900,000 | 95 |
| 5 | Claudio Pitta | Brazil | 1,875,000 | 94 |
| 6 | William Fernandes | Brazil | 1,645,000 | 83 |
| 7 | Luis Kamei | Brazil | 1,550,000 | 78 |
| 8 | Jose Carvalho | Brazil | 1,220,000 | 61 |
| 9 | Guilherme Pitta | Brazil | 1,205,000 | 60 |
| 10 | Pedro Gusmao | Brazil | 1,195,000 | 60 |
Day 2 Action
It was the first time that all players from the starting flights sat amongst each other -174 of them to be exact- as they looked to navigate their way to the money. There was no shortage of action as eliminations and big pots came fast and furious from the get-go. Leo Rizzo entered the day as one of the leaders and quickly became the man to catch after some early celebrations going his way. However, that wouldn’t last long, as his good fortune turned around and his seven-figure stack dissipated in a matter of minutes.
Many players fell by the wayside throughout the next few levels including local favorites Renan Bruschi, Pablo Brito Silva, Rafael Reis, and Joao Simao. That led to a fast-approaching money bubble with just 71 places getting paid and a min-cash worth R$42,100. After a few double-ups in back-to-back hands that extended the bubble duration, it was Daniel Aziz who found himself at risk in a deadly situation. Aziz flopped top pair but was up against the middle set of Jaime Junior. There was no help to follow and Aziz quickly found the exit as the room celebrated.
The action continued at a rapid pace for the remainder of the night as the field quickly diminished to just 58 players. At that time, the tournament staff chose to call it an early night after just five levels of play. Heading into Day 3 tomorrow, some notables to keep an eye on include Rodrigo Seiji who bagged the second-largest stack of 2,015,000 chips. Carlos Serrano (1,165,000), Andres Korn (975,000), high-stakes regular Joao Vieira (890,000), Alexandre Mantovani (880,000), and Santiago Plante (520,000) are all notables who are still in the mix.
The action will resume at 2:00 p.m. local time tomorrow with another five or six levels on the schedule. The blinds will resume on level 16 at 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. Each player has already locked up R$47,650 for their efforts but will certainly have their sights set on the first-place prize of R$2,140,000.
The PokerNews team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the exciting action as the day unfolds.