Jon Vallinas Muscles His Way to the Top Moving to Day 3
The second day of Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em of the 2025 World Series of Poker has come to a close. Out of the 225 players that returned, 17 players will head back to the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas to battle it out to become the next WSOP Champion.
Jon Vallinas, who bagged 7,000,000, will be leading the pack moving into the final day. Vallinas jumped to the top after he dominated Stephen Graner to eliminate him with ace-queen, and rivered a set with his pocket nines, sending Rainer Kempe to the rail.
Close on his heels, however, are David McGowan with 6,215,000 chips and Travis Hartshorn with 4,865,000. With Day 3 playing to the winner, the goal will be to grab the top prize of $496,826 and a 2025 World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
The only bracelet winner and 25K Fantasy player moving into the final day is Dylan Linde (2,490,000), who is chasing another title to add to his achievements.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Vallinas | Spain | 7,000,000 | 70 |
| 2 | David McGowan | United States | 6,215,000 | 62 |
| 3 | Travis Hartshorn | United States | 4,865,000 | 49 |
| 4 | Yaroslav Ohulchanskyi | Ukraine | 4,715,000 | 47 |
| 5 | Christopher Puetz | Germany | 4,190,000 | 42 |
| 6 | Aram Oganyan | United States | 3,575,000 | 36 |
| 7 | Mark Darner | United States | 3,560,000 | 36 |
| 8 | Alexander Greenblatt | United States | 3,560,000 | 36 |
| 9 | Dylan Linde | United States | 2,490,000 | 25 |
| 10 | Ryan Wolfson | United States | 2,450,000 | 25 |
As 224 players were in the money, the day immediately started with hand-for-hand play. WSOP Winner Ethan Yau, with only 73,000 coming into Day 2, got everyone excited when he went all-in with ace-king against Hratch Mkrtumyan queens, only to double up.
The sole player who, unfortunately, went home empty-handed was Matthias Auer. He went all in with ace-king, but was unable to hit his overcards to crack Scott Lake’s jacks. The rest were guaranteed a minimum prize of $5,020.
Notables that weren’t able to make it to the final day were Faraz Jaka (46th - $10,539), John Juanda (47th- $10,539), Chris Roberts (53rd - $10,539), Eric Baldwin (89th - $6,472), and Chris Moorman (125th - $5,556), to name a few.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $496,826 |
| 2 | $331,163 |
| 3 | $238,204 |
| 4 | $173,435 |
| 5 | $127,841 |
| 6 | $95,415 |
| 7 | $72,119 |
| 8 | $55,212 |
| 9 | $42,819 |
| 10-11 | $33,646 |
| 12-13 | $26,793 |
| 14-17 | $21,624 |
Play will resume at noon local time on June 10 with players returning to Level 28, where blinds are 50,000/100,000 and 100,000 ante. Day 3 continues until a champion is crowned.
Stay with PokerNews for more live tournament action as we find a new WSOP champion!