Event 5: Free Rolling

$500 + $60 + $500 NLH Purple Chip Bounty

Pignataro Picking Up Purples

Players with two knockouts collect $1,000 in bounties and are essentially free rolling the rest of the tournament.

Dan Pignataro (Fairfield, NJ) is one player who already has two purple chips and says, "it's pretty sweet. If someone's all in for 3 or 4k, I can take a shot at a free $500."

Pignataro is looking for redemption after a disappointing finish in Event 1. He began Day 2 with the chip lead as 90 players returned. But after getting coolered, Pignataro finished 51st ($1,242).

"You expect to have a shot at the final table, but the next thing you know I'm out," says the recent graduate. Pignataro is taking a shot at poker as a career after finishing his degree from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY.