The 2016 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic $10,400 Main Event has been among the highlight tournaments on the WPT’s Main Tour schedule for the past 15 seasons. The event marked its 15th anniversary in due manner – by gathering a record breaking field.
Day 2 of the tournament was played on Tuesday and by the time registration closed, there were 791 entries to have paid the buy-in fee and joined the tables at the Bellagio Las Vegas. Great interest comes with a great prize pool. And the $10,400 Main Event generated quite a prize pool this year. The top 72 finishers will split a mind-blowing $7.7 million in prize money. And the player who will be crowned the winner will collect almost $2 million in a first-place prize ($1,938,118, to be precise).
Ryan Hughes concluded a terrific Day 2 at Bellagio as the chip leader. The player bagged and tagged 364,400 in chips Tuesday evening. Hughes will be leading a pack of 270 survivors who made it through Day 2.
Hughes is no stranger to big poker action and is certainly well-seasoned to handle all the pressure at the table. It is yet to be seen how he would end up in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event but his live tournament earnings of almost $1.8 million show that he has done quite well over the years.
Hughes’ career cash history shows that he has finished in the money in 86 live tournaments within a twelve-year span. His best achievement was his victory in the Bellagio Cup V $5,180 No-Limit Hold’em for $233,070 in prize money. Given the large prize pool the Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event has up for grabs, Hughes has the chance to enhance his current poker bankroll substantially. It is yet to be seen whether he will do it as the bubble has not bean reached yet and will probably burst on Day 4.
Day 3 is set to kick off at noon local time. Aside from the chip leader, players like Jennifer Tilly, Justin Bonomo, and Anthony Spinella are few of the notables that will be seen at the Bellagio tables today. The tournament is scheduled to be completed on Saturday, December 10, when the six-handed final table will be played.
The WPT Main Tour festival currently taking place at the Bellagio is the last one for the winter portion of the series’ Season 15. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa will welcome the popular poker tour for its first event for 2017.
