Rijkenberg Tops WSOPE Leaderboard After Day 2

Day 2 at the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event saw about two-thirds of the remaining field hit the rail, leaving just over 100 competitors in the running for the most prestigious gold bracelet in Europe.

After the second day, it was Constant Rijkenberg who held the chip lead, bagging a total of 462,800 chips. That put him at the top of a leaderboard filled with familiar names heading into the critical third day of play.

Coming into Day 2, 328 players remained in contention, but the play was fast, and only 115 made it through to the third day. Some of the eliminated players included Jamie Rosen – who entered Day 2 as the chip leader – and Tommy Vedes, who was third in chips at the end of the first day of play. Other notables that hit the rail during Day 2 were Jeff Lisandro, Vanessa Rousso, Ben Lamb, and Men Nguyen.

Right behind Rijkenberg as the only other player with over 400,000 chips is Hoyt Corkins, who will enter Day 3 with nearly 430,000 chips. Other notables who are on the leaderboard include Jake Cody (4^th, 323,200 chips), Erik Seidel (9^th, 291,900 chips) and Shawn Buchanan (10^th, 291,400). Plenty of other top players are still in the hunt as well, including Robert Mizrachi, Victor Ramdin, Patrik Antonius and defending WSOPE Main Event champion James Bord.

Rijkenberg is not one of the biggest names in poker, but he has had success at a high level before. The Dutch professional doesn’t have many cashes in major events, but the one he’s best known for was his 2009 win on the European Poker Tour at San Remo, where he took home nearly $2 million.

With 64 players set to make the money, it is likely that the money bubble will burst sometime in the middle of tomorrow’s session. The players will be competing to win part of a €5,692,800 prize pool, including €1,400,000 for first place. The winning will ultimately be determined on Thursday.