The WSOP National Championship, which is currently being held at Harrah’s Cherokee in Cherokee, North Carolina, is actually entering its final stage. There are only seven remaining players who are to return for Day 3, the event’s last one. Play is scheduled to resume at 1 pm local time.
This year’s WSOP National Championship officially kicked off on Wednesday, July 29. The event attracted 122 entries who created a prize pool of $1,220,000. All seven remaining players will receive no less than $49,203. Being an official gold bracelet event means that the WSOP National Championship winner will not only receive a first-place prize of $341,599, but will also become a holder of the shiny piece, known to be the most coveted award in the world of poker.
Female poker player Loni Harwood ended Day 2 of the championship as the chip leader. She managed to collect a total of 1,340,000 chips yesterday. Harwood is a one-time WSOP gold bracelet winner. She was awarded the prestigious non-monetary prize back in 2013, when she topped the field of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event for $609,017, her biggest live cash so far.
The player has also previously captured 2 WSOP Circuit gold rings. Her overall WSOP and Circuit earnings currently amount to $1,018,677. Overall, Harwood’s career winnings total $1,285,886.
Darryll Fish will return for Day 3 of the Championship second in chips. He scooped a 648,000 stack yesterday. Poker legend Daniel Negreanu will start the day third in chips with 543,000.
Overall, there are 3,660,000 chips in play. Vincent Moscati finished Day 2 of the event fourth in chips with 463,000. Brad St. Vincent took fifth place with 410,000. Paul Mattioda finished sixth with 167,000. Alex Masek will start the final day as the short stack. The player has only 100,000 chips.
It is interesting to note that Masek is the player who has won the most WSOP Circuit gold rings. He has collected 8 of the jewelry pieces since the beginning of his poker career.
This year’s edition of the WSOP National Championship saw a number of prominent poker pros who could not make it to the final seven. For instance, fourteen-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Doug Carli, who has cashed in record 93 WSOP Circuit events, and Ryan Riess were seen leaving the tournament on Day 1. Tristan Wade, Jeff Madsen, and Ben Reason were among those who were eliminated on Day 2.
As mentioned above, play will resume at 1 pm local time for the winner to be determined.
