December 17, 2018 (Biloxi, MS) - Day 2 of the IP Biloxi Main Event is in the books. The day started with 51 survivors. With 45 players being guaranteed to cash, the money bubble burst within the first hour of the day, when Johnny Landreth eliminated Timothy Burt in 46th place with his ace-king against Burt's sevens all in preflop.
As soon as the money was reached, the field started getting reduced pretty quickly and players started hitting the rail fast and furious including many notables: Christopher Conrad (41st place - $2,616), Nghia Le (30th place - $3,623), Scott Stewart (26th place - $4,138), as well as Warren Sheaves (25th place - $4,138).
As the day progressed, the action started slowing down. The final two tables were reached during Level 22. Four-time ring winner Michael Lech, who started the day as the chip leader, found himself heading to the rail first, in 18th place for a $6,655 payday when he three-bet shoved with aces on a flop, only to find himself in bad shape against Matthew Higgins's .
The unofficial final table came together with the elimination of four-time ring winner Marshall White at Level 24 and the stakes were high with half of the final table players being WSOP gold ring winners.
After 10 one-hour levels of play, Luke Graham bagged the chip lead with 4,210,000. Graham was surviving most of the day but he started chipping up at the final table. The highlight of his run was the big double up he scored against Matthew Higgins. Higgins moved all in with on the turn of a board and Graham called with his [d] to win a huge pot. Graham already has a ring and will be looking to add another one to his collection.
He is followed by ring winner Matthew Higgins (2,805,000). Kevin Johnson rounds up the top three with 2.295,000 in the bag. Timothy Conrow sits in 4th place with 1,330,000 and Benjamin Thomas is in last with 805,000.
The remaining five players are guaranteed $32,189 for making it to Day 3. However, they will all have their eyes on the WSOP ring, the top prize of $127,319 as well as the free entry to the 2019 Global Casino Championship. They will return on Monday December 17 at 12 pm local time and will play down to a winner.
Here are the full counts and seat assignments heading into the final day:
Seat 1 - Benjamin Thomas - 805,000
Seat 2 - Luke Graham - 4,210,000
Seat 3 - Matthew Higgins - 2,805,000
Seat 4 - Kevin Johnson - 2,295,000
Seat 5 - Timothy Conrow - 1,330,000