2011 World Poker Tour Jacksonville Day 2: Coelho Leads; Money Bubble Looms
Day 2 of the World Poker Tour Jacksonville Main Event saw the remaining 168 of a 393-player field return to play seven more levels on the march to money. In the process, 126 players hit the rail and Vitor Coelho emerged as the chip leader with 945,000 in chips, a solid 340,000 more than his closest competitor.
Coelho actually broke the million-chip mark when his A♣A♥ defeated the K♥K♠ of Joel Schmidt in an all-in preflop confrontation. The board ran out an uneventful 9♥5♣4♠10♥Q♦ and Coelho chipped up to 1,080,000, eliminating Schmidt in the process. Not long after, the chip leader dispatched a tough competitor in former WPT champ Jeff Forrest. In that hand, action folded to Coelho on the button and he moved all-in. Gert Zumkher folded from the small blind while Forrest called off for 32,000 in the big.
Showdown
Forrest: K♠10♣
Coelho: A♣5♥
The A♦8♥7♣ flop gave Coelho a hammerlock on the hand, while the 3♦ turn left his opponent drawing dead. The meaningless 6♣ was put out on the river for good measure and Forrest was eliminated from the tournament.
As it was, Forrest was just one on a laundry list of Day 2 eliminations. Others who were sent packing included Matt Glantz, Tony Dunst, Shaun Deeb, David “The Dragon” Pham, John Racener, and Harrison Gimbel.
According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, Deeb’s elimination came fairly early in the day when he raised from the cutoff only to be three-bet to 5,500 by John Liu on the button. Deeb proceeded to four-bet to 14,800, Liu five-bet to 31,000, and Deeb six-bet all-in for around 55,000. Liu called and Deeb was in good shape to double.
Showdown
Liu: K♦3♦
Deeb: A♠J♣
The Q♥Q♠10♦ flop was fairly safe for Deeb, but the 5♦ gave Liu a flush draw. Unfortunately for Deeb, he was eliminated the 8♦ river delivered the said flush and gave Liu the pot.
Likewise, WPT personality Tony Dunst met his demise after he raised to 4,000 from middle position and the player in the big blind defended, leading to a flop of 10♠10♥9♣. The big blind checked, Dunst bet 5,000, and his opponent moved all-in. Dunst called off his remaining 20,000 or so and flipped over A♣A♦. The big blind revealed Q♠10♠ for flopped trips, prompting the dapper Dunst to say, “That’s unfortunate.” Indeed it was as the 3♦ turn and 9♥ river provided no help and sent him to the rail.
In addition, Champion Clubs members Michael Gracz, Nick Schulman, Victor Ramdin, Tommy Vedes, and Jonathan Little were all Day 2 victims. Also of note, John Riordan was the last of the 19 to 21 year olds to be eliminated, which came well out of the money. As a consolation prize, he received a customized WPT Jacksonville surfboard.
Day 2 was not so grim for everyone. Some notables who survived the day: Dwyte Pilgrim (284,000), Mike Beasley (210,000), Corey Burbick (186,500), Lisa Hamilton (155,500), Chris Tryba (104,500), and Club WPT qualifier Artie Rodriguez (163,500). Of the 42 players returning for Day 3, only 40 will make the money, which means short stacks Deshun Boone (95,000) and Zoltan Czinnkota (39,000) are the two men most at risk of missing out.
Action is set to resume at 1200 EST (1700 GMT) and will play through the money bubble down to the final table of six. Here’s a look at the top ten chip counts at the start of Day 3:
WPT Jacksonville Top 10 Chips Counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Vitor Coelho | 945,000 |
| 2nd | Connor Drinan | 605,000 |
| 3rd | Alexander Venovski | 592,500 |
| 4th | Darryll Fish | 579,000 |
| 5th | Sam Soverel | 510,000 |
| 6th | Allie Prescott | 441,500 |
| 7th | Micah Raskin | 437,000 |
| 8th | Matt Ezrol | 435,500 |
| 9th | Michael Swimelar | 399,000 |
| 10th | Andy Philacheck | 398,000 |
*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
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