Lyle Berman Leads HORSE Championship Field After Day 2

In one of the most popular tournaments that the 2008 World Series of Poker offers, Lyle Berman stole the show on Day 2, catapulting himself to the top of the leader board in the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship. Requiring expertise in Hold’em , Omaha , Razz , Stud, and Stud Eight or Better, the tournament is the most expensive one offered at the WSOP. Consequently, the tournament attracts a veritable “who’s who” of some of the most well-recognized poker names on the face of the Earth. At the end of Day 2 of this five-day tournament, poker veteran Lyle Berman led the charge. Let’s take a look at the chip counts headed into Day 3.

If you’re wondering who Berman is, we have your answer. He’s a three-time WSOP bracelet winner who landed his first piece of hardware in 1989 in a Limit Omaha event. He won a no limit tournament in 1992 for his second bracelet and took down Event #20 of the 1994 World Series of Poker, a No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball tournament, for bracelet number three. He finished fifth in the 1989 Main Event. All but one of his 14 WSOP cashes has been for top ten money, a remarkable feat.

Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Barry Greenstein is perched in third place. Despite recording his first cash in 1992, Greenstein didn’t become a bracelet winner until 2004, when he won a No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw tournament. His other two bracelets have come in Pot Limit Omaha and Razz. Like Berman, he’s had three bracelets in three different types of poker, which bodes well for his success at HORSE.

In seventh place in chips headed into Day 3 is Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren . Although he won his first bracelet in Event 4 of this year’s World Series, Lindgren has been a force on the poker circuit ever since he won a pair of World Poker Tournaments during Season II. He took down the Ultimate Bet Aruba Classic and the Party Poker Million that year, which earned him $1.5 million total and title of WPT Player of the Year. His lifetime WPT winnings are nearly $2.5 million. He’s banked over a million dollars from WSOP play.

PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu is in ninth place after Day 2. He just won his fourth WSOP bracelet in Event 20 after a four year drought. His first bracelet came in 1998 in a Pot Limit Hold’em event, the very first WSOP tournament that he ever cashed in. Other bracelets have come in Limit SHOE and Limit Hold’em.

Rounding out the top 10 in chips include none other than the legendary Doyle Brunson . His starting table for Day 3 includes Barry Greenstein, Minh Ly, Bill Chen, and Phil Ivey, so it won’t be an easy road to victory for the veteran. Brunson’s first six WSOP cashes were all for bracelets. He won the 1977 Main Event and owns 10 bracelets total. His last bracelet came in 2005, when he won a $5,000 buy-in short-handed no limit tournament. His lifetime WSOP earnings top $2.5 million. He’s the face of the online poker site DoylesRoom and is arguably the most accomplished poker player in history.