The $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship returned to Day 2 with 129 players as the march to the money was on. It took ten levels of play, but eventually the money was reached at 27. When play came to an end, only 27 players remained, with Stephen Chidwick emerging as the chip leader (697,000).
McLean Karr (593,000), Amir Lehavot (628,000), Jarred Solomon (447,000), and Jason DeWitt (447,000) sit atop the leaderboard. While notables Nicolas Levi (392,000), Robert Mizrachi (426,000) and Mike Matusow (85,000) will also be returning on Day 3 on the way to the final table.
The tough field in this Championship Event saw John Juanda, Jason Mercier, Eric Baldwin, Shannon Shorr, David “Bakes” Baker and Erik Seidel all eliminated during Day 2. The highest profile elimination had to be Daniel Negreanu. At the money bubble hand-for-hand play took 30 minutes and DeWitt scored the knockout of "Kid Poker."
However, perhaps the most heart-breaking bustout of the day came when Chris Oliver, who had spent most of the day in the chip lead, lost a monster pot and was eliminated a short time later. We didn't catch the betting, but we do know that Amir Lehavot and Oliver created a pot worth 640,000 on a flop of . Oliver had flopped top two pair with while Lehavot had the nut flush draw with . With the chip lead at stake, the spiked on the turn to give Lehavot the flush; however, Oliver could still boat up on the river with any queen or king. Unfortunately for the one-time chip leader, the blanked and he lost the massive pot.
Tomorrow the remaining 27 players, all of whom are in the money, will return with hopes of playing down to a winner. In all likelihood the field will play the required ten levels and reach the hard-stop time before that happens, meaning the final table would finish on Monday if need be. Join us tomorrow at 3 PM PST as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the action from the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship.
In the last hand of the night, Steve Gross raised to 20,000 from middle position only to have Owen Crowe raise from the big blind. Gross called off for 28,000 and found himself in great shape.
Gross:
Crowe:
The board ran out an uneventful and Gross doubled to 60,000 on the hand.
The tournament director had already announced that play would last six more hands while Sam Stein and Steve Gross were in a hand. With over 100,000 in the pot by the river, the board was . Stein moved all in on the river, which sent Gross deep into the tank. After several minutes Eric Cloutier called for a clock and Gross insta-called.
Stein tabled for rivered trips and Gross mucked his hand. The stacks were very close and Gross was left with only 6,000 - not enough to match the 8,000 big blind.
When it comes to Daniel Negreanu, there is no doubt the man plays for first. This was just evidenced on the money bubble of the $10K PLH Championship as Negreanu was eliminated as the bubble boy.
It happened in a blind versus blind confrontation with Jason DeWitt. Negreanu was in the big blind and called DeWitt's raise to 20,000 to see the flop come down . DeWitt continuation bet 20,000, Negreanu raised to 60,000, and DeWitt made the call. When the hit the turn, DeWitt led out with a big bet and Negreanu called off for 74,000.
Negreanu:
DeWitt:
Negreanu had flopped big with bottom pair and a flush draw, but he was still behind DeWitt's pair of fours. Unfortunately for Negreanu fans, the river blanked and he was eliminated in 28th place. The good news, at least for the remaining players, is that they're now in the money.
. Oliver had flopped top two pair with 
while Lehavot had the nut flush draw with 
. With the chip lead at stake, the 
spiked on the turn to give Lehavot the flush; however, Oliver could still boat up on the river with any queen or king. Unfortunately for the one-time chip leader, the 
blanked and he lost the massive pot.
and Gross doubled to 60,000 on the hand.
. Stein moved all in on the river, which sent Gross deep into the tank. After several minutes Eric Cloutier called for a clock and Gross insta-called.
for rivered trips and Gross mucked his hand. The stacks were very close and Gross was left with only 6,000 - not enough to match the 8,000 big blind.
hit the turn, DeWitt led out with a big bet and Negreanu called off for 74,000.
river blanked and he was eliminated in 28th place. The good news, at least for the remaining players, is that they're now in the money.
