Kirsch Takes Lead into Day 3 of SHRPO

$3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship Event
Day 3 Resumes 12 pm Monday
Next Blinds: 6k/12k/2k ante
114 Players Remaining, 472k (39 bb)

Richard Kirsch End of Day 2 Chip Leader
Richard Kirsch
End of Day 2 Chip Leader

Twos were wild at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship event as Table 2 saw a lot of action on Day 2. And when the dust settled, Richard Kirsch (Fort Lauderdale, FL) was the chip leader heading into Day 3.

“It was crazy, all the chips on the table all day,” said Kirsch who bagged 1.7 million.

Kirsch’s big hand came after players made the money. He doubled to more than one million through Siva Ganta who was the leader at the time and managed to bag a short stack

Kirsch is one of seven players who bagged more than one million chips. Daniel Navarret is second with 1.5 million, while Matt Stout and Daniel Mortans are next in the 1.4 million range.

The bubble broke when 170 of the 673 returning players earned a min cash of $7,093. Those who busted in the money included Day 1C chip leader Joe Kuether (158th), WPT Champion Ben Hamnett (159th) and Ryan D’Angelo (155th) who began the day sixth in chips.

Players who made Day 2, but failed to cash included poker hall of famer Scotty Nguyen, WPT broadcasters Mike Sexton and Tony Dunst, and poker couple Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly.

Start of Day 2 chip leaders Justin Young and Melad Marji both survived as play ended with 114 players still in the running for the $1,081,184 top prize.

Play resumes 12 pm Monday.

“It feels good, but there’s so much poker to be played,” said Kirsch, who made a WPT televised final table in 2007. “It’s nice, but it doesn’t guaranteed anything.”

Kirsh is Seminole Hard Rock regular player who is a Chief Information Officer (CIO) for an online retail company and has more than $800,000 in career recorded live tournament earnings.

End of Day 2 Chip Leaders

Richard Kirsch 1.7 million (142 bb)
Daniel Navarret 1.5 million
Matt Stout 1.4 million
Daniel Mortans 1.4 million
Julian Thomas 1.2 million
Barry Hutter 1.1 million
Glenn Becker 1.1 million

Notables Advancing to Day 3

Matt Glantz
Sean Cunix
Ryan Eriquezzo
Tyler Patterson
Siva Ganta
Victor Figueroa
Rep Porter
Jake Cody
Roland Israelashvili
Ylon Schwartz
Mukul Pahuja
Noah Schwartz
James Calderaro

Day 3 Table Draw & Chip Counts will be posted after 10 am