Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event saw a starting field of 645 diminish down to 173, like a sheet of living Shrinky Dinks trapped in an oven.  Of course it wasn’t an oven providing the massive heat that cut the field into less than a third of its formal glory at the Atlantis Resort & Casino yesterday, nor was it the tropical Bahamian Sun, it was the world class competition this prestigious event seems to draw more of every year.

Among the 173 surviving players, all in the money thanks to a 232 person money bubble that burst midway through Day 2, are still numerous big name pros including Dwyte Pilgrim, Hoyt Corkins, Chino Rheem, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, who currently sits in the top five with nearly 700,000 in tournament chips.

Some of the notable players that cashed in the 2011 PCA but did not survive Day 2 include Marcel Luske, Nick Binger and Jason Senti, according to live updates provided by PokerNews.com.

Day 3 of the PCA main event begins at noon EST.  For more information visit PokerNews or check out the official PokerStars blog.