The $300 NL Hold'em PokerStars Cup drew a field of 107 entries over three starting flights. 21 players advanced to Day 2 this evening and when it was all said and done, Je Wook Oh emerged victorious for a first-place prize of $6,520.
Oh began Day 2 second in chips and immediately took charge. Sitting to the immediate left of start-of-day chip leader Thomas Miller, Oh took a chunk of his chips early on and seized the chip lead for himself, never giving it up from that point forward. With 11 players remaining, Oh picked up ace-queen and eliminated Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker who held pocket fours. An ace found the board and Moneymaker was sent packing.
Oh entered the unofficial final table of nine players with about 30% of the chips in play and steadily chipped up from there. His elimination of Eric Rivkin in third place gave him a 7:1 chip lead to begin heads up play, and though Timothy Cipoletti chipped up a bit, Oh closed out the heads-up duel soon after.
After a series of raises, Chris Moneymaker was all in from the small blind for about 95,000 with against chip leader Je Wook Oh's on the button. An ace landed on the board, ending Moneymaker's tournament in 11th place.
After Julian Miranda busted in 18th place, a controversial hand took place at Table 1, and here is what we've been able to gather.
VIctor Ramdin raised under the gun and Eric Rivkin defended his big blind. The flop came down and Rivkin checked to Ramdin, who called out to Chris Moneymaker at the other table, "Hey Chris, I'm all in", referring to the NJCOOP Main Event we mentioned earlier.
Rivkin, though, called the verbal declaration of all in, and a floor was brought over to determine whether or not Ramdin's verbal deceleration was binding in this tournament, and in fact it was. Rivkin tabled for an open-ended straight draw, whle Ramdin was in terrible shape .
The turn and river completed the board, and Rivkin's ten kicker played to give him the double up.
Welcome to PokerNews' coverage of the inaugural PokerStars Festival from Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey!
Today we will be providing Day 2 coverage of Event 1 - $300 NL Hold'em PokerStars Cup. Over three starting flights, there were 107 entries and only 21 players remain. Everyone is guaranteed at least $450, with first place set at $6,520. Thomas Miller is on top of the counts with 129,100, and still in the running are Team PokerStars Pros Victor Ramdin (111,000) and Chris Moneymaker (69,200).
Play will begin today with 20 minutes remaining in Level 13, with blinds of 1,000/2,000 and a 300 ante. Levels last 30 minutes long and play will commence until a winner emerges. Moneymaker is looking for his second win of the series, having won Event 6 - $560 PL Omaha Hi/Lo last night after bagging up chips on Day 1a of this event.
Here is the complete Day 2 table and seat draw:
Table
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
1
Jose Tronilo
USA
67,600
1
2
David Kuder
USA
46,600
1
3
Samir Benjamin
USA
127,500
1
4
--empty--
1
5
Eric Rivkin
USA
71,500
1
6
Victor Ramdin
USA
111,000
1
7
Lukasz Homziuk
Poland
58,500
1
8
Artim Zhuta
USA
120,500
2
1
Julian Miranda
USA
29,200
2
2
Chris Moneymaker
USA
69,200
2
3
Lyle Diamond
USA
87,900
2
4
Timothy Cipoletti
USA
63,200
2
5
David Johnson
USA
35,000
2
6
Jason Martin Velasco
USA
52,200
2
7
--empty--
2
8
Robert Levin
USA
50,000
3
1
Christian Francia
USA
86,800
3
2
--empty--
3
3
Andrew Irwin
USA
117,000
3
4
Ragavan Thiagarajah
USA
48,500
3
5
Steven Reese
USA
66,500
3
6
Thomas Miller
UK
129,100
3
7
Je Wook Oh
USA
128,700
3
8
Christopher Korres
USA
13,500
The cards will be in the air at 6:00 p.m. local time, about a half hour from now, so keep it here for live updates on the action.
, well ahead of Ramdin's 
.
, ending Ramdin's tournament in 10th place.
on the button. An ace landed on the board, ending Moneymaker's tournament in 11th place.
and Rivkin checked to Ramdin, who called out to Chris Moneymaker at the other table, "Hey Chris, I'm all in", referring to the NJCOOP Main Event we mentioned earlier.
for an open-ended straight draw, whle Ramdin was in terrible shape 
. 
turn and 
river completed the board, and Rivkin's ten kicker played to give him the double up.
