The Only Poker Blog
That Matters PokerJunkie.com

Day 2b of the 2011 WSOP Main Event is currently in its sixth hour and it looks like Ben Lamb is keeping his pace ahead of the rest of the field.

At present, he is sitting around 284k, which is good for 2nd. Kevin Saul is the chip leader at the moment with 324,000.

Ben Lamb sits 2nd, but he is not the only big name with chips.

There are several big names right now over 100k. They are as follows:

Patrik Antonius 220k
Ashley Mason 195k
Claudia Crawford 175k
Sam Simon 170k
Justin Bonomo 165k
David Chiu 147k
Jeff Madsen 143k
Dan Kelly 135k
Victor Ramdin 130k
Jamie Gold 130k
Phil Laak 126k
Robert Varkonyi 118k
Todd Brunson 115k
David Williams 115k
John Racener 108k
Matt Matros 106k

Ok, I know some of you will say “Robert Varkonyi is a big name?”

Well, he is a WSOP Main Event Champion, so for the sake of this event he qualifies as a big name.

I am going to assume Ashley Mason is a woman.  I have her and Claudia Crawford on my list of big names as I’m doing my best to follow the top females in the event this year due to my prediction.

I’m also torn whether Jamie Gold doing well in this event would be a good thing or a bad thing for poker.

He isn’t exactly the hottest commodity in the history of the Main Event. Granted, another strong run in the Main Event may benefit charity as he has done a lot in connection with several charities since winning the Main Event.

I also wonder if Jeff Madsen has any legitimate shot in this thing.

Anyone that follows @AsianSpa knows that Madsen has lifetime “Bad Juju” and Spa is laying it on thick tonight:

AsianSpa Truth Speaker RT @JeffMadsenobv 125k yo *** #BadJuJu is still on like donkey kong Mr. Piss Ant, keep building the stack for someone worthy of cashing ***

Part of me is rooting for fellow Limit Hold’em lover Matt Matros and Phil Laak would also make for great television.

Of course, if Todd Brunson made the November Nine, he would be in the shadow of Doyle.

Tomorrow is an off day for the WSOP. The remaining players from today will come back on Thursday to create Day 3.

Day 3 will also be the first time you will be able to watch the Main Event “semi-live” on ESPN 3 and ESPN2.

Stay tuned folks. Things should now start getting interesting.

For daily recaps of all the action at the 2011 World Series of Poker, check our WSOP news section.