The PokerNews team reported last night that Marco Traniello was still in with 77,000 in chips, however there is no end of day slip with Traniello listed, therefore he is not in the official counts. When play resumes we will be able to definitively give a firm answer on whether or not Traniello survived Day 2. Our apologies.
Event #38: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship
Day 2 Completed
Day 2 of Event No. 38, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship began with 122 of the original field of 268 returning to stacks. Tom Marchese returned as the overwhelming chip leader, and he'd maintain that lead for the first part of the day. Others would rise to challenge Marchese, though, including Clement Thumy who toward the latter part of play pushed out to a sizable lead.
Meanwhile the parade of players heading to the rail included the likes of Andy Bloch, Joe Hachem, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Devilfish Ulliott, Carlos Mortensen, and Huck Seed. As the money bubble approached, we also lost John Duthie, Eric Baldwin, Burt Boutin, and Nam Le among others.
Finally just before the night concluded, Jason Lester was ousted in 29th followed by Ilya Bulychev in 28th, and the bubble had burst. Mike "the Mouth" Matusow was the first and only to cash tonight, finishing 27th.
Among the 26 returning tomorrow will be Marco Traniello, Noah Boeken, Sandra Naujoks, and Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler (all returning to below average stacks). Vitaly Lunkin, Amnon Filippi, Amit Makhija, and Dani Stern will be returning, too.
At the top of the counts when play begins tomorrow will be Marchese (in fourth) and Sam Stein (in third) -- two players who happened to make it to heads up in the NAPT Venetian Main Event last February. In second is the Frenchman Thumy, and in the lead is Peter Jetten.
Come back tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time to see who of the remaining 26 takes away the $617,214 first prize and the coveted WSOP bracelet!
Mike Matusow nursed a short stack for much of the bubble period. He said repeatedly he wasn't playing just to cash, but that he was picking up a miserable sequence of hands ("Nine-deuce! Nine-trey! Queen-deuce!") that prevented him from getting his chips in the middle.
Finally came that Big Slick hand versus Ilya Bulychev and Konstantin Bucherl, and Matusow had added some to his stack as we reached the final 27. But he was still short, so when Marc Inizen raised from the button and Matusow had 
in the small blind, the Mouth sent his stack in as a reraise. Inizen called with 
.
The flop came 
, and Matusow was needing an ace to survive. But the turn was the 
and the river the 
, and Matusow is out.
Table 320
Seat 1 -- Dani Stern
Seat 2 -- Steve Landfish
Seat 3 -- Marc Inizan
Seat 4 -- Mike Matusow
Seat 5 -- Nathan Doudney
Seat 6 -- Nikolai Yakovenko
Seat 7 -- Alexander Kuzmin
Seat 8 -- Valdemar Kwaysser
Seat 9 -- Amit Makhija
Table 324
Seat 1 -- Konstantin Bucherl
Seat 2 -- Tom Marchese
Seat 3 -- Marco Traniello
Seat 4 -- Thomas Pettersson
Seat 5 -- Dustin Woolf
Seat 6 -- Clement Thumy
Seat 7 -- Sandra Naujoks
Seat 8 -- Vitaly Lunkin
Seat 9 -- Blair Rodman
Table 325
Seat 1 -- John Dwyer
Seat 2 -- Peter Jetten
Seat 3 -- James Calderaro
Seat 4 -- Noah Boeken
Seat 5 -- Sam Stein
Seat 6 -- Amnon Filippi
Seat 7 -- Allen Kessler
Seat 8 -- Patrick Walsh
Seat 9 -- Matthew Marafioti
Mike Matusow moved all-in for 33,000, Ilya Bulychev moved all-in behind him and Konstantin Bucherl called behind them.
Matusow 
Bulychev 
Bucherl 
The board ran out 
. Matusow tripled up to 120,000, Bucherl won the small side pot and Bulychev went out on the money bubble.
Our remaining 27 players are all in the money and currently re-drawing for seats on three tables.
Another near-miss for the bubble bursting. In this one, Peter Jetten raised from the cutoff, and Steve Landfish called from the button. The flop came 
. Jetten checked, Landfish bet 25,000, then Jetten check-raised pot. Landfish called with his last chips.
Jetten 
Landfish 
Flush draw and a couple of overs for Jetten. But the turn was the 
and the river the 
, and Landfish swam to safety. Landfish is at 255,000 now, and Jetten at 510,000.
Marco Traniello moved all-in from early position and Dustin Woolf made the call from the small blind.
Traniello 
Woolf 
The 
flop gave everyone a sweat as Woolf picked up straight and flush draws. The turn, however, was the 
and the river the 
, giving Traniello a double-up to 77,000. Woolf was left with 60,000.
Noah Boeken raised to 25,000 from the cutoff, and Jason Lester reraised the pot from the button. Peter Jetten then reraised the pot once again from the big blind. Boeken tanked, then folded, and Lester called with his remaining stack.
Jetten
Lester
The board went 
, and Lester goes out in 29th place. Jetten pushes up to 635,000.
The tourney is now being played hand-for-hand until we have one more elimination and the cash bubble bursts. Among those in danger of being bubble boy -- Marco Traniello with just 40,000, and Mike Matusow with 60,000.
button in Safari
