Yu, one of the "Macau businessmen" who drive the highest-stakes cash games in the world, is the overall chip leader at 432,700 after being gifted a huge pot during the day. As our tableside reporter captured the action:
"Yu was in the cutoff holding 9♠ 7♠ on a board of K♣ 5♥ 8♠ J♦ 6♠ and only a smallish pot in the middle. His opponent in the hand – and first to act – open-jammed for just under 100,000.
"Having to check his head again to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, Yu would obviously make the call. He tabled his hand for the nuts and his opponent just mucked.
“Do they just give you chips like that in Macau, or is it only here in Melbourne?” asked Antonio Esfandiari as he and the other players on the table sat there in disbelief at how the hand had just played out."
Another of the looming big stacks? Poker icon Daniel Negreanu, who brought his A-game wherever he sat today and piled up 338,100 in chips to end the night fifth overall.
British pro Rupert Elder (373,400), a major threat in his own right, George Tsatsis (365,800) and Yasar Gueden (350,300) round out the top 5.
Duhamel, Seidel, Esfandiari Through to Day 3
As always in a major $10k event the path to the final table is littered with top-tier pros. Event 2 winner Jim Collopy (196,200), German Benny Spindler (192,500) and Aussie Jonathan Karamalikis (184,600) all bagged up stacks capable of doing some damage tomorrow.
Superstars in the form of Jonathan Duhamel (164,300), Erik Seidel (161,300) and Antonio Esfandiari (131,100) are threatening while 888 pros Russell Thomas (143,100) and Sam Holden (132,000) plus 888 qualifier Martin Östman (201,400) looked poised for deep cashes.
The top 10 in chips heading to Day 3:
1. Winfred Yu 432,700 2. Rupert Elder 373,400 3. George Tsatsis 365,800 4. Yasar Gueden 350,300 5. Daniel Negreanu 338,100 6. Martin Dimitrov 252,000 7. Mark Betts 238,300 8. Kahle Burns 231,200 9. David Yan 230,700 10. Gaetan Balleur 213,900Check the full Day 2 chip counts here.
Ivey, Hellmuth, Merson Among the Departed
Much to the chagrin of the Friday evening rail gathered around his table, the great Phil Ivey saw his chip stack dwindle steadily before being eliminated near the end of the day.
2012 WSOP Main Event champ Greg Merson met a similar fate, as did reigning WSOPE champ Phil Hellmuth.
Joe Hachem, Sam Trickett (who met a cruel fate when Duhamel called his 3-bet with 82s and flopped trip 2s) and Brendon Rubie also hit the rail for good today. For a full recap of all the day's action, check our exclusive live updates.
With a final tally of 405 runners, the official payout for first place is an impressive AUD $1,038,825 while a min-cash, which starts at 40th place, will bring in AUD $20,392. See the full payout scale here.
Day 3 action picks up at 12 noon in Melbourne (10 pm ET) and will play down to the money and beyond. Follow along with the live updates right here on PokerListings.com.
Check our daily video from the tourney floor below:
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