Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Circuit $10,000 Regional Championship wrapped up in Hammond, Indiana late last night (technically early this morning), with 24 surviving players now in the money.

The long day of play saw the elimination of 90 players without a payout, including many fan favorites like Chad Brown, Jason Mercier and PokerRoad’s Barry Greenstein, but luckily allowed more than a handful of pros to survive, to keep things interesting on Wednesday.

Some of the notable players whose stacks weren’t blown away during Day 2 include Steve Zolotow, Shannon Shorr, Bernard Lee, David “Bakes” Baker and Justin “BoostedJ” Smith, none of whom have anywhere near the pile of chip leader John Patgorski, who’s currently sitting on nearly three-quarters of a million in chips.

Meanwhile, just outside the doors of the Horseshoe Hammond Casino, the Midwest has been making headlines all week, thanks to an unprecedented storm system with record low barometric pressure readings equal to level 3 hurricanes, and winds often over 70 miles per hour.  Throughout the area the storms have stranded travelers, sent even the most hardy Midwesterners scurrying for their basements, and become the only topic of conversation in four states, however their are 24 people in the region most assuredly not thinking about the weather.  One of these players is now just two days away from being able to "make it rain" in a whole different way, thanks to a top prize of $525,449 and a free ticket into the $1 million guarantee end of season WSOP Circuit National Championship. 

To find out who that one will be, or for more details from Day 2, check out tournament updates from PokerNews.com.