Justin Bonomo Leads $40k NLHE Event Heading Into Day 3

Published on May 30th, 2009 4:51 am EST

The last few months have been really good for Justin "Zeejustin" Bonomo.

First he had his lifetime ban lifted on Pokerstars.

Then he took down his first major "live" tournament title in late April, when he won the WSOP Circuit event at Caesars Palace for $227k.

And now, Justin "Zeejustin" Bonomo is chip leader of the $40k NLHE event at the 2009 World Series of Poker after two full days of play.

The money bubble burst late on Friday evening. All of the remaining 23 players will receive at least $71,858 for making it this far.

Bonomo will have some stiff competition as he looks to win his first World Series of Poker bracelet.

Ted Forrest, owner of 5 World Series of Poker bracelets, is lurking just behind Bonomo in second place.

David "WhoooooKidd" Baker, Greg Raymer and Lex "RaSZi" Veldhuis all have top five chip stacks as well.

Some other notable players who are still alive in this event include: Alec Torelli, Matthew "adz124" Marafioti, Brian "tsarrast" Rast, Dani "Ansky" Stern, Brian Townsend, Isaac Haxton, Tony G, Andy Black and Andrew "good2cu" Robl.

Vanessa Rousso, J.C. Tran, Sorel Mizzi and David Pham all survived long enough to cash but were eventually eliminated late on Day 2.

Bonomo is a force to be reckoned with, having already collected nearly $2 million dollars in "live" tournament earnings over his short career. Bonomo will be looking to win his first WSOP bracelet on Sunday after having a couple of near-misses in 2007 and 2008.

The remaining 23 players in the tournament all have their sights set on the $1.89 million dollar first place prize, as well as the coveted World Series of Poker bracelet.

The champion of this event will be crowned on Sunday.

Play resumes on Saturday afternoon, when the remaining 23 players will play down to the final table.


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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker