Anand leads, Hastings builds big stack at end of Day 2AB

LAS VEGAS – Shrewbury, Massachusetts native Amar Anand ended Day 2AB of the 2015 Main Event as the massive chip leader.

Anand bagged 603,500 chips at the end of Wednesday night’s play, outpacing the rest of the field by more than 100,000 chips. He increased his stack consistently throughout the day, without winning any pots worthy of note.

The 480 players who advanced past Day 1A resumed play in the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, while the 1,154 remaining players from Day 1B played in the Brasilia Room and the Pavilion. Of those 1,524 players, a total of 650 advanced to Day 3, which will begin Friday. Those players will join those who survive the 2,765-player field that will play in Day 2C on Thursday at the Rio.

Second in chips is Calvin Lee with 500,700, while Luther Tran (479,700), Charles Chattha (423,600) and Alan Mastic (400,000) round out the top five.

Three-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings advanced to Day 3 with 367,300 chips. The former online, high-stakes poker pro has two WSOP bracelets in 2015, and is seeking to become just the seventh player ever to win three bracelets in one year.

German pro Fedor Holz bagged 303,900, while Christian Harder (207,000), Mike Matusow (200,700), Jonathan Duhamel (177,400), George Danzer (175,000) and 2014 November Niner Andoni Larrabe (175,000) all finished with impressive stacks.

Larrabe’s November Nine counterpart, Jorryt Van Hoof, exited Day 2AB when his king-queen couldn’t hold up during a pre-flop all-in. Chris Moneymaker busted early in the day when his ace-king lost to Daniel Colman’s pocket queens. And Jason Mercier, Brian Rast, Phil Galfond, Matt Salsberg, Jeremy Ausmus and actor James Woods all hit the rails Wednesday.

NOTABLE CHIP STACKS

Amar Anand – 603,500
Brian Hastings – 367,300
Jake Cody – 340,100
Anton Morgenstern - 305,000
Fedor Holz – 303,900
Christian Harder – 226,000
Mike Matusow – 200,700
Jonathan Duhamel – 177,400
David Sands – 141,400
Andoni Larrabe – 139,700
Justin Bonomo – 132,400
Tobias Reinkemeier – 127,100
Greg Raymer – 59,400

NOTABLE ELIMINATIONS

Matt Salsberg
Phil Galfond
Brian Rast
Jason Mercier
Brandon Steven
James Woods
David Singer
Jesse Sylvia
David Pham
Bruno Politano
Max Pescatori
Gavin Smith
Carlos Mortensen
Jorryt Van Hoof
Erick Lindgren
Dan Sindelar