Matt Glantz has seemingly been grinding a shortish stack all day. He's constantly been hovering around 15-25 big blinds, and that hasn't changed as we approach the money bubble. In a recent hand, Hend Matthews opened up the action in middle position to 10,000, and Glantz shoved in the rest of his 63,000. As soon as he made the move, Matthews playfully sighed, shook her head, and ask "again?!". Glantz simply flashed a grin.
When it got back to her, she tanked, and said "I have an ace." The dealer warned her she couldn't reveal the contents of her hand, so she went into silent thinking mode. Eventually, she flashed the before folding, and Glantz let her pick one card. She flipped over the .
After that hand, Glantz is up to 83,000, which is still fairly short compared to the rest of the field.
David Zeitlin was just all in and at risk for his last 40,000 or so with versus Ido Ashkenazi's . The board came , hitting Ashkenazi's hand several times and leaving Zeitlin's pocket tens second-best.
We've lost another player, and now are down to just 63. Nine more eliminations to the money!
Allie Prescott raised before the flop, getting a caller in Miguell Borrero. Then Prescott led on all three streets as the board came , then , then .
At showdown, Prescott turned over for nines full, better than Borrero's . Prescott chips up close to 190,000 after that one, while Borrero slips down to just over 30,000.
Action folded around to a short stack who moved all in for his last 12,500. Joseph McKeehen was next to act on the button, and he put out a raise to 26,000 to isolate. Both blinds folded, and the cards were tabled.
McKeehen:
Opponent:
We couldn't have asked for much more of an action flop: . It was about as close to a coin flip as you could get, as according to the Pokernews odds calculator, McKeehen was the slightest of underdogs: 48.99% to 50.10% with a small chance of a chop.
The turn brought the , and McKeehen was looking to dodge a king, jack, eight, or heart to secure a win in the hand. However, the hit the river, giving his opponent the flush. McKeehen looks to have taken a couple hits in the half hour since the dinner break, but he is still plenty healthy with 305,000 chips.
Such is the call we've heard a couple of times already since play resumed following the dinner break, with Robert Panitch having been the responsible party in both instances. Those two knockouts have helped catapult Panitch up over the half-million mark in chips, the first player so far to have reached that milestone.
Panitch has already had one deep run this week, having taken runner-up in Event No. 6 ($365 no-limit hold'em, six-handed), and he appears primed at the moment to make another one here.
Jeffrey Gurfinkel's good fortune here on Day 2 has finally come to an end, his last hand coming versus Lana O'Brien.
Following a Gurfinkel open for 8,000 from the cutoff, O'Brien made it 20,000 to go from the small blind, and Gurfinkel called. The flop came , and O'Brien didn't waste much time before setting out a bet of 22,000. Gurfinkel only took a moment or two himself before pushing all in for about 50,000, and O'Brien was quick with the call.
Gurfinkel had for middle pair, but O'Brien had . The turn was the and river the , and Gurfinkel hits the rail.
What did we just say about there being a new leader every time we take the floor? Sure enough, while making our rounds, we noticed that one player had amassed quite a mountain of chips in front of him. We went over and found out that player was Jason Acosta. He is the first to break the 400k mark, and he is on the brink of eclipsing half a million soon.
Perhaps the most amazing part about that is the fact that Acosta started the day with a mere 9,700, which was just over 12 big blinds!
before folding, and Glantz let her pick one card. She flipped over the 
.
. The board came 
, hitting Ashkenazi's hand several times and leaving Zeitlin's pocket tens second-best.
, then 
, then 
.
for nines full, better than Borrero's 
. Prescott chips up close to 190,000 after that one, while Borrero slips down to just over 30,000.
, and McKeehen was looking to dodge a king, jack, eight, or heart to secure a win in the hand. However, the 
hit the river, giving his opponent the flush. McKeehen looks to have taken a couple hits in the half hour since the dinner break, but he is still plenty healthy with 305,000 chips.
, and O'Brien didn't waste much time before setting out a bet of 22,000. Gurfinkel only took a moment or two himself before pushing all in for about 50,000, and O'Brien was quick with the call.
for middle pair, but O'Brien had 
