A thrilling Day 2C of the 2018 WSOP Main Event is now in the books. A total of 3,480 players from Day 1C resumed action at the host venue at 11 am local time on Friday, but after five two-hour levels of play, there were just under 1,700 of them left in contention for the title and the first-place prize of $8.8 million.

Ignacio Sanchez, a farmer who only plays poker once a year, bagged and tagged the largest stack last night. The player ran pretty well from start to finish to eventually put 627,200 worth of chips in his bag. Sanchez managed to build a solid stack early in the day and just kept adding to it. During the final stages of Day 2C play, the player won a massive 100,000 pot to rocket himself to the top of the leaderboard.

The Day 2C survivors will be joined later today at the host venue by those who made Day 2AB on Thursday. And it will be Sanchez to enter Day 3 play as the overall chip leader. As many as 1,235 players made it through Day 2AB on Thursday night. Shawn Daniels bagged the overnight chip lead. However, the player occupies the third position in the overall chip counts chart with his 532,500, with Sanchez and France’s Reic Sfez being the only two players with larger stacks than his.

Former Main Event champion and record-breaking WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was at the Amazon poker room feature tables throughout the day. The player survived the five levels played and bagged 162,700 in chips into Day 3.

Talking about his day, Hellmuth said that he was “the calmest [he has] ever been”. He went on that he got just a little Poker Brat throughout Day 2C, referring to his fiery temper when things do not go his way at the table. Hellmuth said he was well-aware he could become his worst enemy in the Main Event if he did not keep himself calm.

After a long hiatus, another Phil was spotted at the tables of Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Poker pro Phil Ivey entered the Main Event this year for the first time in quite a while. Over the course of Day 2C play, Ivey did just what we know him for – made some sick calls and value bets and bluffed a bit to bag and tag one of the biggest stacks at the end of the day. The player will progress into Day 3 with a solid stack of 434,200 in chips.

Other notables who made it through the day included Samuel Touil, Ivan Luca, and Cliff Josephy. They all scooped six-figure stacks to secure a comfortable entry into the next stage of the tournament.

Play resumes today at 11 am local time. The players will play five more levels to further whittle down the tournament’s field.

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