After a fast-paced Day 2, there are 25 players left in the hunt for the summer's eighth bracelet. Saar Wilf and Andrew Cohen lead the pack with over a million in chips. Phil Hellmuth is in the top five and mighty hungry for another final table appearance and a shot at his 12th WSOP bracelet. Cohen also has a chance to add his name to the list of repeat bracelet winners. He won the Casino Employee event last year. Josh Brikis will also bring a big stack with him on Day 3, while Vinny Pahuja and Adam Geyer will return as the shortest stacks.
The day began with 277 players and after the bubble burst at 243, it was non-stop action. Clayton Mozdzen, Tommy Le, and Mark Newhouse fell quickly. Martin Hruby, Victor Ramdin, Jordan Rich, Pet Pezzin, and Aaron Kanter also finished in the money. Jean-Robert Bellande was chip leader for a few afternoon hours but fell in 97th place. Steve Sung, David Daneshgar, Matt Stout, and Day 1 chip leader Josh Schlein lasted a few more hours. Danny Wong and Ray Foley just missed Day 3, finishing 33rd and 26th respectively.
The 25 who did make it will return on Friday at 2:30 pm local time to play down to a final table and then straight on to a winner. Check back with PokerNews for all the up-to-the-minute action.
Ray Foley open-shoved for his last 110,000, and Saar Wilf flatted. With no other takers, Wilf tabled to put Foley and his in bad shape. The board fell , ejecting Foley and putting Wilf back around 1.2 million.
Adam Geyer raised to 31,000 in middle position and Darin Utley made the call from the button.
Both players checked the flop and saw the come on the turn. Geyer bet 38,000 and Utley raised to 100,000. Geyer made the call, leaving himself with 116,000.
When the hit on the river, Geyer checked and Utley moved all in. Geyer instantly folded and Utley moved up to 590,000.
Pascal LeFrancois was in late position and raised to 35,000. Frank Weigel, who was in the small blind, reraised all in for 135,000. LeFrancois made the call and showed .
Weigel was far behind with his . The flop of provided no help. Weigel's chances became even slimmer when the hit the turn. Looking for a queen on the river to stay alive, Weigel patiently waited as the sealed his fate.
Weigel was eliminated on the hand while LeFrancois is up to 600,000.
Table 372
Seat 1: Ray Foley
Seat 2: Saar Wilf
Seat 3: Darin Utley
Seat 4: Devin Looney
Seat 5: Kurt Disessa
Seat 6: Paul Fehlig
Seat 7: James Andersen
Seat 8: Adam Geyer
Seat 9: Keith Lehr
Table 374
Seat 1: Raymond Geary
Seat 2: Josh Brikis
Seat 3: Matthew Ezrol
Seat 4: Jose Gatmaitan
Seat 5: Kevin Howe
Seat 6: Daniel Wjuniski
Seat 7: Phil Hellmuth
Seat 8: Vinny Pahuja
Seat 9: Max Steinberg
Table 376
Seat 1: David Frazier
Seat 2: Scott Vener
Seat 3: Jared Michelizzi
Seat 4: Frank Weigel
Seat 5: Ronald Eberhard
Seat 6: Andrew Cohen
Seat 7: Erich Kollmann
Seat 8: David Aue
Seat 9: Pascal LeFrancois
to put Foley and his 
in bad shape. The board fell 
, ejecting Foley and putting Wilf back around 1.2 million.
flop and saw the 
come on the turn. Geyer bet 38,000 and Utley raised to 100,000. Geyer made the call, leaving himself with 116,000.
hit on the river, Geyer checked and Utley moved all in. Geyer instantly folded and Utley moved up to 590,000.
. The flop of 
provided no help. Weigel's chances became even slimmer when the 
hit the turn. Looking for a queen on the river to stay alive, Weigel patiently waited as the 
sealed his fate.