Brian Rast Leads Day 2 of Poker Masters Championship

The $100,000 Poker Masters Championship event kicked off Monday and drew 36 entrants – juicing first place to an estimated $1.5 million. A dark horse winner could come from behind and overtake Steffen Sontheimer for the Poker Masters Purple Jacket™ with a win. Day 2 resumes play at 5:30 pm ET live exclusively on PokerGO with 15 players in the field.

Brian Rast came up just shy of a million chips to lead the field, but 22 other players have their eyes on Daniel Negreanu – who finished third at the end of play with 745,500 after running up a short stack. Sontheimer sits just behind Negreanu, leading a three-headed German contingent.

Negreanu has a laundry list of $50,000 must-win bets for the Purple Jacket – many of which are still in the field. Should he win, Negreanu stands to win an estimated $1.1 million in side action.

Sontheimer, Fedor Holz and Stefan Schillhabel have the best chance to take home the Purple Jacket home to Europe, but Christian Christner and Stephen Chidwick return as short stacks and have their work cut out for them to challenge for the final table.

Phil Hellmuth went on a Hellmuthian show the last hour of play, available in Event Replays on PokerGO, after continued his quest against the Germans.

It’s either a #PokerMasters “nightmare or a dream” for @Phil_Hellmuth. Which is it @RunGo0seRun? pic.twitter.com/UBMJOeOYT4

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) September 19, 2017

Byron Kaverman was the last player to plunk down the six-figure entry fee, but didn’t see a single hand of action on Day 1 and he’ll be shuffled in the Day 2 table redraw.

Sontheimer holds the lead in the Purple Jacket standings and the next six players in the standings are all eliminated. Of the players remaining, Holz, Jake Schindler, Schillhabel and Negreanu have registered a cash to land on the leader board.

Watch all of the Day 2 action exclusively on PokerGO when cards hit the air at 5:30 pm ET. The field will either play ten levels or down to a final table of seven players – whichever should happen first. Wednesday’s Final Table kicks off at 5:30 pm and will award the inaugural Purple Jacket following the conclusion of play.

Complete Day 2 Chip Counts