Chasing Chips: Bianchi Runs Day 2 Re-Entry to Second in Chips, Seeks Another Deep Run

By Sean Chaffin

Chase Bianchi (pictured) finds himself in familiar territory as he enters Day 3 here at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open. Last year, he was also among the chip leaders on Day 2 and entered the Day 3 field second in chips with just over 1.2 million.

Last year in Season XVI, Bianchi rode that wave to a seventh-place finish for $106,497, coming up just short of the official televised final table. He’s hoping that changes here at Borgata this year, but knows it won’t be easy.

“It would be nice to do better,” he says. “I’m not expecting to do better, but I’m in a good spot and well see if we can keep it going.”

Bianchi, from Capitol Heights, Maryland, had another nice WPT cash last season at the L.A. Poker Classic, finishing 19th for $38,940. He now has $842,202 in live tournament winnings with his biggest finish coming in 2016 at the World Series of Poker, where he won a bracelet in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $316,920. He’s hoping to add more hardware here in Atlantic City.

Getting to this point on Day 3 was an interesting path for Bianchi. He entered Day 2 with a nice stack of 177,000 in chips and busted on the third hand of the day against Ping Liu. It was a frustrating loss, but he was determined to keep playing.

“I had a dirty taste in my mouth, but it was still re-entry period and I was willing to fire another bullet,” he says.

That second bullet has paid off as he grew another starting stack into a massive amount chip throughout the day, and is now in a good position with all players in the money.

“It always feel good to be a chip leader,” he said after the bubble finally burst on Day 2. “At the same time, there are a 177 people left and there’s a long way to go.”