A wild day has finally come to a close here at the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino in Macau. 208 players started the day hoping to wade through the minefield and make it to Day 3. Thirty percent of the field was eliminated in the first 90 minutes, and sixty percent of the field was gone before the end of the fourth level of play.
Things finally settled down as we approached the money bubble. Chris Grigorian was our unfortunate bubble boy today, going out in 57th place all in from the blinds and being called down by four players. Once he was out, the bust-outs resumed their previous pace.
Thirty-nine players have survived the day and will return tomorrow for Day 3 of this event. Nine of those players will make the final table and have a shot at taking home $453,851. Edward Sabat will start the day as the chip leader with 379,500 chips, but in no-limit hold'em, it's always anybody's game.
Join us tomorrow at 1:30pm local time for all of the updates live from the tournament floor!
On the final hand of the night Charles Lam has doubled up through Shunu Zang. All the chips were in the middle preflop with Zang's needing to improve against Lam's .
The flop made things interesting when it came down giving Zang a flush draw. The turn was the and the river and Lam celebrated a double up to end the night with close to 80,000 chips.
J Choi has been very active at his table since the bubble burst. He raised a pot from the button and was called by Edward Sabat in the big blind. Sabat checked the flop to Choi, who bet. Sabat made the call.
Both players checked the turn. On the river , Sabat led out for 20,000. Choi raised to 60,000, sending Sabat into the tank for about a minute before making the call with the best hand: . Choi mucked as soon as Sabat made the call.
Sabat now has about 380,000, while Choi has slipped to 175,000.
With the tournament clock showing eight minutes remaining, tournament staff have instructed dealers to deal four more hands. Then we'll be done for the day.
On a flop of , John Juanda led out with a bet of 20,000 from the big blind before Andrew Pantling moved all in for his last 40,000. Juanda made the call.
Juanda:
Pantling:
The turn brought the and the river the and Juanda's jacks held up to send Pantling to the cashier. Juanda is now up to 170,000.
Javed Abrahams has hit a massive rush now that we're in the money. He flopped a set of eights against all-in player John Dalessandri. Andre Wagner was also in the pot, allowing Abrahams to chip up to 240,000.
Shortly thereafter, Abrahams called a raise from Aditya Agarwal to 8,500. On the flop, Agarwal bet 14,500. Abrahams raised to 40,000, prompting an all-in bet of about 100,000 from Agarwal. Abrahams snap-called and tabled for a set of sixes. Agarwal was drawing virtually dead with just . He made a pair of tens on the turn, but that was all he could muster.
Agarwal is out in 44th and Abrahams now has 400,000.
Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson is the latest casualty from today's event. Nelson was short with only around 30,000 chips and decided to move it all in holding but found himself up against an opponent's .
The flop seemed good for Nelson at first, but on second glance the gave his opponent a set and left Nelson with one foot out the door. The turn was the and river the to eliminate one of Australasia's most consistent performers just short of a Day 3 berth.