Kid Poker Still in Contention as Ausmus and Kyte Both Survive PPC Day 2
The second day of action in the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship saw Erick Lindgren lead the way, the defending champion Daniel Negreanu make the third day of his title defense and Phil Hellmuth bag a top 10 stack. With PokerStake players such as Jeremy Ausmus and Jon Kyte battling hard to make Day 3, it was a day of drama in the WSOP bracelet event ‘they all want to win’.
E-Dog on Top
It’s been a minute since Erick Lindgren dominated high stakes mixed games at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) but after Day 2 of the 2025 Poker Players Championship, ‘E-Dog’ has the chip lead. Sitting behind a big pile of 2.96 million chips, Lindgren’s 2025 WSOP has already yielded two cashes, in the $25,000 PLO High Roller where he came 22nd for $87k, along with a 438th place finish in the $600-entry PLO Deepstack event.
Based on those two results, where does Lindgren sit, as part of the WSOP pack or a high roller? One thing is for sure – if E-Dog wins the event then the $1,331,322 top prize would be the biggest of his career. Not that he’s going to have it all his own way, with players like three-time PPC winner Michael ‘Grinder’ Mizrachi (2.04m) and the Day 1 chip leader Ali Eslami (1.75m) both on the podium places as things stand.
On a day where 19 extra entries before late registration bumped the total field to 107, only 35 players were still in with a chance of victory by the end of play. The initial target on Day 3 will be the money places, with 17th place the aim, and a min-cash of $100,000. Anyone who reaches the final nine players will be guaranteed to take home $142,720.
Which PokerStake Players Are Still Alive?
On a day where former winners of the event such as Michael Mizrachi all seemed to thrive, Daniel Negreanu remained in the hunt for back-to-back wins after scooping $1.1 million by winning this event 12 months ago. Bryce Yockey (981,000) was just outside the top 10, with Jeremy Ausmus (345,000) and Daniel Negreanu (317,000) both still alive.
Norway’s finest, Jon Kyte, is also representing PokerStake and reached the top 10 in the overnight chip counts, bagging up 1,086,000 chip, a raise ahead of Ben Lamb on 1,079,000. The record WSOP bracelet winner, Phil Hellmuth, ended Day 2 even higher up the leaderboard, sitting ninth of the 35 remaining players on 1,110,000 chips.
While Bryn Kenney (960,000) makes obvious headlines in scoring so highly on Day 2 given his lead at the top of the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob, Brits Phil Sternheimer (915,000) and Matt Ashton (778,000) have put themselves in strong positions to add to their mixed game legacy. And talking of British mixed game players of huge repute, Benny Glaser in 34 players away from poker history. The PokerStake player has 682,000 with which to push for an unprecedented record fourth WSOP bracelet in the same series.
Big Misses, Big Stacks
Big names both crashed out and pushed forward on Day 2. Mike Matusow (694,000), Luke Schwartrz (527,000), Dan Smith (530,000), Joao Vieira (384,000) and Esther Taylor all made the cut, along with another former winner Phil Hui and the short-stacked Matt Glantz, who has 220,000 chips to spin up.
Some who didn’t make Day 3 were Viktor Blom, Phil Ivey, Nick Schulman, Freddy Deeb, Jesse Lonis, John ‘World’ Hennigan, Kane Kalas, Kevin Gerhart, Josh Arieh, Shaun Deeb and Alex Foxen all departed. So too did the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year, as Scott Seiver lost out in 52nd place. Jason Mercier (47th), WSOP POY frontrunner Scott Bohlman (38th) and David ‘ODB’ Baker (36th) all just missed out on making the third day’s play.
Fans are clearly excited by the drama in the PPC, with 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth going for a ‘Triple Crown’ that would be unique, as, having won the WSOP Main Event and WSOPE Main Event, a win in the PPC might well seal his reputation as the current ‘GOAT’.
| WSOP 2025 Event #66 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Chip Counts: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Erick Lindgren | United States | 2,969,000 |
| 2nd | Michael Mizrachi | United States | 2,048,000 |
| 3rd | Ali Eslami | United States | 1,757,000 |
| 4th | Christopher Vitch | United States | 1,739,000 |
| 5th | Andrew Yeh | United States | 1,461,000 |
| 6th | Brian Yoon | United States | 1,420,000 |
| 7th | Christian Roberts | Venezuela | 1,248,000 |
| 8th | Chris Klodnicki | United States | 1,244,000 |
| 9th | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 1,110,000 |
| 10th | Jon Kyte | Norway | 1,086,000 |