The chip lead after Day 2 of the PokerStars National Championship at the Sochi Casino and Resort belongs to $5 qualifier Vladislav Zhukov. The Russian player, hailing from Voronezh, tops just 39 survivors with a stack of 1,401,000.

Zhukov admits this is his first-ever live event, primarily playing online, where he qualified for this event. Sitting second in chips is fellow countryman Robert Askarov with 1,139,000. Petr Bartagov (1,011,000) and Sergei Chantcev (962,000) also have top stacks with Nacho Barbero (676,000), 615,000), Aleksandr Denisov (443,000), Harry Lodge (427,000), Timofey Vekshin (407,000), Josef Snejberg (217,000) and Andrey Kotelnikov (172,000) all still in the mix.

When registration closed, the field was set at 756 entries, 205 of them being re-entries, and 83% of the total coming from Russian players. There were 20 countries represented in the event with Belarus chipping in 20 players and Armenia with 13, claiming the top three spots. Kazakhstan and Ukraine round out the top five.

The day did not go so well for the vast majority of the field but some notable players leaving with some consolation include Alexander Lakhov (44th - RUB 158,000), Nikolay Fal (52nd - RUB 158,000), Dmitry Ponomarev (70th - RUB 139,000), Alexander Moiseev (77th - RUB 121,000) and Mikhail Korotkikh (91st - RUB 121,000).

Brazilian PokerStars Team Pro Felipe Ramos was in the hunt as the day began but was eliminated sometime before the money bubble popped. As the festival has really just kicked off, Ramos will have plenty of opportunities to make this a profitable trip.

Play will resume with Day 3 action at noon local time and is expected to continue until an official final table is set.

Tags: Alexander LakhovFelipe RamosHarry LodgeJose Ignacio BarberoPokerStars Championship SochiSochi Casino and Resort