Hansen among leaders in $50k H.O.R.S.E.

Gus Hansen lurks near the top of the leaderboard in the $50k H.O.R.S.E. event

It was a short day at the WSOP's $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship with just five levels playing out at the Rio.

Gus Hansen finds himself second in chips with 53 players remaining after 11 total levels in the $50k extravaganza.

Hansen sits behind only Ray Dehkharghani on the chip leaderboard.

Notable among Day 2's survivors are Day 1 chipleader Hasan Habib, Patrik Antonius, Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey as well as 2008 champ Scotty Nguyen and 2007 champ Freddy Deeb.

Deeb found himself embroiled in a bit of controversy late in Saturday's action, accusing Brett Richey of peeking at his hole cards while standing behind the table.

Richey, in turn, accused Deeb of being a luck box and challenged him to a heads-up match, "Any game, any stakes, any time."

Unfortunately, the night ended before Deeb could accept the challenge.

Among those to succumb on Day 2 were 2006 runner-up Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, the indefatigable Allen Kessler and Daniel Negreanu.

Play will resume for Day 3 at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Any 2 Cantu!

Here's how the rest of Saturday's action played out in the Amazon Room:

Event 48 - $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split

Brandon Cantu claimed his second WSOP bracelet in the $1.5k PLO8 event just days after taking second in Event 39, a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em donkament.

Cantu entered the final table with nearly one-third of the chips in play but saw his stack fluctuate wildly before mounting a comeback to defeat Lee Watkinson heads-up for the bracelet and $228,867 in cash.

Check out Cantu's thoughts on the victory here.

Event 50 - $1,000 Limit Hold'em Shootout

Greg Mueller and David Williams headline the final table of the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em shootout event after Day 2 action saw a field of 64 survivors whittled down to an eight-handed final table.

Jose Barbero and Marc Naalden also snagged final table seats, while EPT3 Dortmund champ Andreas Hoivold just barely missed the cut.

Who you with?

Shawn Buchanan and Humberto Brenes also busted out shy of the final table.

Final table action begins at 2 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Event 51 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em

The penultimate donkament of the 2009 WSOP was an unmitigated success as a field of 2,781 entrants sold out the Amazon Room in a quest for a piece of a $3.8 million prize pool.

Among the 350 players advancing to Day 2 are chipleader Christopher Bonita as well as Amnon Filippi and Jason Potter.

Meanwhile, Paul Wasicka, Jason Mercier and Marc "The Beaver" Convey were among the multitudes who failed to survive the first day's action.

Action will resume at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Check out PokerListings' WSOP section for more exclusive coverage from the 2009 World Series of Poker.