Min Zhang Leads the Final Table Going to Tomorrow

We couldn't even combine down to one table of 10 players, because we quickly lost Jerry Richardson and Bruce Kraner in 11th and 10th place, meaning we are now down to our final nine. Below you will see the seating assignments for tomorrow, along with the chips they will be bringing into play. Be sure to come back at 5 PM tomorrow for all of your updates. Good luck to the final nine!

Seat 1: Ari Engel - 24,700,000
Seat 2: Russel Nygren - 4,225,000
Seat 3: Igor Zektser - 1,425,000
Seat 4: David Marshall - 16,600,000
Seat 5: Pat Lyons - 10,325,000
Seat 6: Min Zhang - 26,650,000
Seat 7: Brandon Zuidema - 7,300,000
Seat 8: Yiming Cui - 6,625,000
Seat 9: Danny Ghobrial - 12,050,000

Min Zhang - 26,650,000 (Chip Leader)

Ari Engel - 24,700,000 (2nd in Chips)

Just Two More Eliminations Today

The knockouts haven't slowed down yet, as we just saw Dave Banerjee, Min Zhang, Billy Baxter, and Vlastimil Pustina hit the rail. Banerjee's bustout confirms that we will not have a two-time champion yet in this event. Ari Engel and Min Zhang are the two chip leaders right now.

Stay tuned to find out who makes the 18th Mega Millions final table!

Billy Baxter Hits Two Miracles to Double

We usually wait until the final table to start relaying the big hands to you guys, but as we were gathering the chip counts you just read, we saw a hand that we had to report.

Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter was all in preflop in about as bad a shape as you can be, holding [Ks][Qs] to the [Kc][Kh] of Jerry Richardson. After the flop of [8d][8c][3c] came down, Baxter had only a 0.3% chance of winning, as two of the remaining three queens had to come on the turn and river for him to win. As you can probably guess by now, that's exactly what happened, as the [Qc] hit the turn, and the [Qd] came on the river.

The entire table let out an audible gasp, except for the two players involved, who handled it like it was just another all in. Baxter doubled up to over six million, while Richardson is now down to 5.5 million.

Full List of Chip Counts For the Final 15

We lost three players in rapid succession before the latest break, quickly getting us down to 15 players. Austin Hansen, Phong "Turbo" Nguyen, and Pogos Simityan were those three who each took home $13,370.

Below you will see the a seating chart of the final 15, along with updated counts for every one still alive. Remember we are playing down to the final nine before being done today.

Table 1

1. Jerry Richardson - 8,300,000
2. Ari Engel - 14,000,000
3. EMPTY
4. Dave Banerjee - 1,700,000
5. Ming Li - 4,300,000
6. Igor Zektser - 3,000,000
7. Russell Nygren - 2,400,000
8. Billy Baxter - 3,100,000
9. David Marshall - 9,300,000

Table 2

1. Daniel Ghobrial - 11,500,000
2. EMPTY
3. Pat Lyons - 7,600,000
4. EMPTY
5. Bruce Kramer - 1,800,000
6. Min Zhang - 19,400,000
7. Yiming Cui - 7,900,000
8. Vlastimil Pustina - 2,100,000
9. Brandon Zuidema - 8,100,000

Latest Round of Knockouts: 19-27th Places

The following players all took home $11,745 for their efforts.

19. Haim Gabay
20. Phuoc Nguyen
21. Sao Khiev

These three all won $10,195.

22. Mel Wiener
23. Max Maroochee
24. Vanik Azizian

And lastly, these three will earn $8,715

25. Tony Chu
26. Miki Murzi
27. Courtenay Williams

By the Numbers: Second Flight of the Day

The afternoon flight in our $250,000 Guaranteed Event drew a total of 118 players, meaning 12 more Day 2 tickets will be earned today. If you want to take another shot at this, your next chance will be tomorrow at 11:30 AM!

1-12. Advance to Day 2 + $400

Latest Round of Bustouts

We are down to the final three tables, which means from now on, there will be a pay jump after every three eliminations. The following players just missed out, taking home $7,240.

28. Michael Chang
29. Alex Hua
30. Albertin Hernandez
31. David Burks
32. Lewis Thomashow
33. Jan Salveron
34. Hakob Gabrielyan
35. Jesse Jaurique
36. Aaron Armijo

Updated Stacks From the Final Three Tables

The final 27 have just completed a full three table redraw. After losing the chip lead for an hour or so, David Marshall has reclaimed the chip lead. Both former Mega Millions champions are still alive, as well as former Legends of Poker champion Pat Lyons. Scroll down for some updated counts as we get closer to the final table.

Blinds: 60,000-120,000 Average: 4,250,000

David Marshall - 8,500,000
Phong "Turbo" Nguyen - 7,500,000
Pat Lyons - 6,400,000
Ari Engel - 5,550,000
Brandon Zuidema-  5,400,000
Phuoc Nguyen - 4,100,000
Dave Banerjee - 4,100,000
Billy Baxter - 2,400,000
Igor Zektser - 1,500,000

First Round of Mega Millions Bustouts

Garrett Gruener was the first player to bust today, just missing out on the pay jump, as he took home $4,655. The following players all won $5,865 for their efforts today.

37. Yosif Nawabi
38. Antonios Roungeris
39. Kien Tieu
40. Thomas Zanot
41. Philippe Ktorza
42. Ishan Mohamed
43. Hamid Karimi
44. Hoang Truong
45. Dung Nguyen

Some Fresh Counts From the Final Four Tables

Blinds: 60,000-120,000 Average: 3,125,000

Phong "Turbo" Nguyen - 7,500,000
Pat Lyons - 5,800,000
David Marshall - 5,500,000
Brandon Zuidema - 4,000,000
Dave Banerjee - 2,700,000
Billy Baxter - 2,300,000
Ari Engel - 1,700,000
Phuoc Nguyen - 1,600,000

The Top Five Stacks to Start the Day 3

David Marshall - 8,875,000

Yiming Cui - 6,040,000

Phong "Turbo" Nguyen - 5,265,000

Min Zhang - 4,425,000

Haim Gabay - 4,060,000

By the Numbers: Opening $250,000 Flight Today

The first of two flights in our $250,000 Guaranteed Event drew a total of 101 players. That means that 10 more Day 2 seats will be given out form that flight, joining the 11 finalists from yesterday.

The second flight of the day just started, so make sure you don't miss it!

1-10. Advance to Day 2 + $400

The Afternoon Flight is Underway

The second starting session of the day is now starting, with registration and re-entry available until 7 PM tonight. If you can't come out and play today, we have two more sessions tomorrow at 11:30 AM and 4 PM. First place in this event should be around $50,000, so make sure you don't miss it!

Cards in the Air: Second $250,000 Guaranteed Flight

Yesterday saw the first 11 Day 2 tickets punched in our massive $250,000 Guaranteed Final Event, and we have two more flights starting up today. The first of those two has just started up here at the Bicycle Casino. Registration will be open until 2:30 PM, with the second flight starting at 4 PM today. Good luck everyone!

David Marshall Bags Big Chip Lead, Defending Champion Phuoc Nguyen Alive and Well

Day 2 of the 18th Mega Millions is in the books, and after 12 hours of play, it is David Marshall who leads the final 46 with a big stack of 8.875 million. Local regular Phong "Turbo" Nguyen is also one of the massive stacks coming back tomorrow with 5.265 million. Other notables still vying for the title are Ari Engel, Pat Lyons, Brandon Zuidema, Thomas Zanot, and poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter.

The two biggest stories going into tomorrow's play are the two former champions of this event that are still alive: Dave Banerjee, and defending champion Phuoc Nguyen. Both players will try to make history as the first former champions to final table the event again after their victory. 

Be sure to come back in the morning for a full list of survivors, and don't forget that the action picks up once again tomorrow at 5 PM. See you then! 

David Marshall - 8.875 million

Phong "Turbo" Nguyen - 5.265 million

Phuoc Nguyen - 3.745 million

Dave Banerjee - 3.59 million

Chippies From the Final 50

We have just started up the last level of the night, and the big story right now, undoubtedly, is defending champion Phuoc Nguyen. He has been a fixture at the top of the chip counts all day long, and he is still one of our chip leaders now with just 50 players remaining. He is not the only former champion still alive. So is Dave Banerjee, who has an above average stack going right now. If either player were to go on to win, they would be the first player to win this event twice.

Blinds: 40,000-80,000 Average: 2.1 million

Phuoc Nguyen - 3.6 million
Phong "Turbo" Nguyen - 3.4 million
Dave Banerjee - 2.5 million
Pat Lyons - 2.4 million
Brandon Zuidema - 1.96 million
Hermilo Vargas - 1.9 million
Billy Baxter - 1.9 million
Thomas Zanot - 1.8 million
Ari Engel - 1.5 million