The Monster has been slain and Zhi Gang George Yang is the player standing atop the body. He had the big chip lead coming into the endgame, taking over from previous table captain and eventual runner-up Michael Baldwin with play four-handed. Baldwin was still in second at the point, just a few million behind Yang.

Derek Holme and Jack DIck were both lagging behind the big stacks and when Holme hit the cage in 4th place Dick was well behind in third place. Baldwin then seemed to hit a wall. He doubled up Dick twice to put Dick into a slight lead for second, but shortly after the second double, Dick sent all those chips to Yang in a blind-on-blind confrontation that saw Yang's ace-king hold over ace-nine for Dick. Yang shoved the huge stack from the small and Dick called off from the big with the dominated ace and couldn't get there.

That gave Yang a massive lead going into heads up, with about 3.5 times the chips of Baldwin. The two-handed stage didn't last long before Yang flopped a pair of nines and held to take it down over the queen-eight flopped gutshot for Baldwin. Baldwin bricked his gutshot and Yang's nine held to take down the game.

Yang has only been playing live poker for about 3 years now, with his first recorded cash in 2021. This is his first live win, but he's been close a bunch of times with more than $350k in cashes and multiple final table finishes over the past couple of years. He's been running particularly well here at Deerfoot with three final tables at Deerfoot as well as several other cashes.

This looks to be his third or fourth-best score once the exchange is done, and it will unquestionably be his best Canadian score. His previous best here in Canada was just shy of $25k for 4th place in the Nov 2022 Fall Super Stack Main Event.

It was a quick heads-up. George Yang got to the final stage with a huge lead after sending Jack Dick to the rail in 3rd place, and just a couple of hands into heads-up play, Yang flopped a nine with nine-three and held against the queen-eight for Baldwin.

Jack Dick was working on building a stack, but it all came crashing down with a dominated ace. George Yang shoved the small blind and Dick called from the big. It was ace-king of clubs for Yang against ace-nine of diamonds for Dick and the big slick held for the win.

Jack Dick has just jumped into second place with close to 9 million now after winning a race against Michael Baldwin. Baldwin raised the button to 600k, then snapped it off when Dick shoved the big blind. DIck had tens against ace-queen for Baldwin, and the overcards bricked for DIck to double once again.

Michael Baldwin opened the button to 600k and Jack Dick called from the big blind. It all kicked off on the flop when DIck shoved and Bladwin snapped it off. Dick flopped open-ended with nine-seven and was drawing live to crack the aces of Baldwin.

Dick's straight came in on the turn and the river was never changing anything so DIck got the double.

Zhi Gang Yang, who also goes by George, is the leader now with 17.7 million while Michael Baldwin has about 4 million less. Jack DIck is the short stack on about 3.5 million.

They are down to three left now after Derek Holme hit the rail in 4th place tonight. George Yang and Michael Baldwin are the big stacks with Jack Dick lagging behind in third.

There are just four players left in the Monster Stack now after Mike St. Pierre- Porter ran into it. He was in the big blind when he called a button raise from George Yang, and then check-called for 400k on the flop.

He checked again on the turn, then shoved over the bet of 1.8 million from Yang. Yang snapped it off with pocket nines for the turned set, and the irrelevant river sent St. Pierre-Porter's jack-eight to the muck and him to the cash cage.

Michael Baldwin raised under the gun to 500k and Derek Holme called the button. They both checked the flop and Baldwin bet 600k on the turn. Holme called and they went back to checking on the river.

"Ace-king" said Baldwin before mucking when Holme showed ace-deuce for the flopped pair.

Jack Dick raised the button to 400k and George Yang called to see on the flop. Yang check-called for 225k and they both checked the turn. Yang fired out a 500k plaque on the river and Dick called after a few seconds, mucking his hand when Yang showed ace-nine for flopped top pair and two pair on the river.

The dinner break has now begun.

Derek Holme opened to 400k from the cutoff and Mike St. Pierre-Porter raised the button to 1 million. Jack Dick shoved for 2.35 million from the small blind to push Holme out, but St. Pierre-Porter tank-called with more.

He was in brought shape with king-queen against ace-queen for Dick. Dick held for the double to about 5.2 million, which is about what St. Pierre-Porter ended up with after paying him off. They have a dinner break scheduled following this level, and I'll update the exact counts for everyone left at that point.

They are down to 5 remaining now after Barry Dubnyk finally lost his stack. He's been short-stacking his way to ladders for the past couple of hours with a few small doubles along the way. He had "live cards" with queen-ten when he shoved 760k and Michael Baldwin called him off with king-four. Baldwin flopped a four to take a bigger lead, and Dubnyk bricked the rest of the board.

Zoran Pribilovic's double up didn't last long. I missed the action, but he followed Josh Myers to the cash cage today for 7th place.

Josh Myers hit the cage for 8th place shortly after he doubled up Zoran Pribilovic.

Josh Myers raised  from the cutoff to 850k and Zoran Pribilovic shoved the button for 1.315 million. Derek Holme tanked for a bit before he gave up his small, but Myers snap-called. "I'd bet my house on this hand," he said as he showed . Pribilovic was on jacks though, and though Myers flopped a gutshot and turned double-gutty, he ultimately just paired his 5 on the river and Pribilovic took down the pot.

Josh Myers just picked up some dead money after Derek Holme opened to 300k and was called by Michael Baldwin on the button and George Yang in the small blind. Myers was in the big and he shoved for 2.205 million. There was some tanking from all three players, but ultimately they all gave up their 300k and Myers raked in the uncontested pot.

There are 8 players left now after Jason Vickers just hit the rail in a bog three-way hand. Vickers was all in with the middle stack and ace-ten against shorty Barry Dubnyk with eights and big stack Derek Holme with sevens. The eights held for Dubnyk to triple to just shy of 2 million while Holme picked up the rest of Vicker's chips from the side pot.

Here's a look at the final ten players tonight in the Monster.

They are at the 10-handed final table now after Mei Yun Ge ended her day in 11th place. She lost a big hand just before she busted when her trips were crushed by Michale Baldwin's boat.

Meanwhile, in early FT action, George Yang doubled up with eights against ace-king and Abe Shawile hit the rail in 10th place after his sixes couldn't beat pocket kings.

The flop was out reading and both players checked it to the turn. Mei Ge bet 530k, then called when Michael Baldwin raised to 1.1 million. The river was the and Ge check-called for 2.5 million to find herself on the wrong end of a flopped cooler. Baldwin showed the rockets for the flopped boat while she tabled for the flopped trips. "I don't know how to fold trip jacks" she said as the pot was sent to Baldwin.

They are on the final table bubble now with 11 players left and WSOP final tables always 10-handed. Sachin Sehgal just hit the rail in 12th place for $2,449 and the next two busts are set to pocket $2,932.

The action was on the turn with the board reading and Mike St. Pierre-Porter was facing a check-raise from Mei Yun Ge. He'd bet 550k after her check, and she made it 1.3 million.

St. Pierre-porter called to the river, but then mucked when Ge shoved.

There are 12 players remaining now after Kendrick Arason and Andrew Neels hit the rail shortly after they returned from the break.

There are about 5 minutes to play until the break with 14 players left after Justin Meng hit the rail in 15th place today. He got $2,102 and there is one more payout at that level before the jump to $2,449 at 13th place. I'll grab full chips for the remaining players at the break.

Vancouver's Anthony Smith was 16th place tonight, bringing the field to 15 remaining.

Chi 'Anthony' Chan was the 17th place finisher tonight for the first cash of $2,102.

Steve Desjarlais was the first player off the final two tables tonight and he took the final payout of $1,855. The next player to bust gets the jump to $2,102.

Here is a look at the players still battling at the final two tables today. I don't have full counts at the moment, but Andrew Neels is sitting on about 3.4 million for what looks like the lead now, but Anthony Snith and Mike St. Pierre-Porter still have stacks in front of them as well.

They are down to 18 left now after Michael Lloyd bubbled the final two tables today. The remaining players will take a 15-minute break following this level.

Sam Raz was expecting to be the bubble boy to Day 2 last night, and said so loudly to the room several times as 1b wound down. He managed to find a double late in the night and survive to Day 2 with a bit more than 200k, but his run came to an end in 20th today for $1,855. 

They are down to 20 players left now with about 5 minutes to play in Level 26. Aleksei Ponomarev was the 21st-place finisher today for $1,855. They are now two eliminations away from the two-table redraw.

Anthony Smith is on the rise and looks to be one of the leaders right now. He has about 2.8 million in front of him after his jacks held against the sizes of Darren Dunn. Dunn raised the middle, then called off with less when Smith shoved the small blind. The board missed both players to send Dunn home in 22nd place.

Day 2 chip leader Mark Mendoza was among the players to hit the rail recently. He was out in 23rd place shortly after John Ertner, whose name I misspelled as "Estner".

They are down to 24 players left now after Regan Duong and Luigi Sili took the final two min-cash payouts today while Zhi Jiang managed to ladder to the 26th from his 40k start today. Henry Menard was 25th.

They are down to 28 players left now to start Level 26 after Robert Cicchelli ended his run in 30th and Lapchi Duong followed him to the payout desk shortly after for 29th place.

Sam Raz was short last night on the 1b end-of-night bubble, and on a couple of occasions he loudly proclaimed "Bubble Boy All In!" when he put his short stack in. He managed to survive the end-of-day bubble for 1b and came to today's final with 260k.

He's doing a bit better than that now with one of the biggest stacks in the game after getting a double through Lapshi Duong, Action was on the flop reading and Duong had a bet of 375k in front of him but was facing a shove from Raz for about 900k. After some tank-time, Duong put in the call with ace-jack overs against pocket eights for Raz. The turn and river bricked for Duong and Raz was up to about 2.2 million while Duong is down to about 850k.

They are down to 30 now after Jerry Nelner hit the rail in 31st place. There are four more payouts at $1,767 today before it jumps to $1,855 at 26th place.

Michael St. Pierre-Porter just sent Tedde Ballanger to the rail when Ballanger shoved ace-deuce and St. Pierre-Porter called with pocket sevens. Ballanger turned his ace and but St. Pierre-Porter was on a club draw with the as part of his pair. He called for the club, but the dealer replied with a  7 instead for the same result.

Cindy Grabia, who made a big fold on the Day 2 bubble last night to preserve a stack of more than 700k for today, followed Ballanger to the cash cage in the next hand.

I don't have eyes on all the stacks yet -- I'll try to get a complete update as the next few levels play out, but two stacks were of particular interest. Michael Baldwin now looks to be the chip leader with a bit more than 2.4 million, and Zhi Jiang is on-pace for a huge comeback. He started the day with just a start stack after a brutal beat near the end of Day 2, but he's chipped up from 40k to start the day up to about 430k now.

The final 33 players are now back at the felt for the first 45-minute level in the Day 2 structure.

There are about 5 minutes to play in Level 24, and they'll be moving to the 45-minute Day 2 levels for the start of Level 25. Brian "BA" Anderson was the most recent casualty today to leave 33 players competing for the top prize now.

I did a quick video on the start of Day 2 of the Monster Stack today -- check it out below to have a quick look at some of the returning players.

Leo Zhang was among the recent players to hit the rail today. I caught him as he was leaving the room and he explained that he found a suited king on the button and shoved for 8 bigs, looking for some fold equity to pick up blinds and antes. He got a call from the big stack on the big blind with ace-six and the ace got there to knock him out.

They are down to the final four tables now as Level 24 begins today. Prizes to 39th place are loaded into the backend and I'll grab the rest of the payouts shortly.

I went to bed last night without uploading the Day 2 prizes into the backend, but they are there now. Monika Hagele was the first person to exit today. "I lasted 2 minutes," she said with a smile as she came up to get her pay slip authorized. "Ace-queen into ace-king." Yep, poker's happening today :).

The clock is now running on Day 2 of the Monster Stack with 45 players returning to fight for the top prize of $45,940.

Day 2 action kicks off with a few minutes remaining in Level 22, and they'll play Levels 23 and 24 at Day 1 blinds before moving to the Day 2 levels for Level 25.

Monster Stack Day 2 Chips by Seat

Monster Stack Day 2 Chips by Name

Day 2 of the Monster Stack is set and 14 players are returning to Day 2 with 1 million or more. Mark Mendoza leads the way with almost 2 million and the top five stacks all came from Day 1a, which isn't a surprise given the much bigger field.

The winner at the end of Day 2 is set to get almost $46k plus the Circuit ring and five players at the final table will bag five-figure scores. The FT min-cash in 10th is $2,932.

The action goes at noon in the Chrome room with players asked to be in the room 15 minutes early to get the bags open and get ready to play. This game will be my main focus on Thursday until the ring is awarded,  but early in the day I may be working on backend stuff and miss out on some of the action.