It happened when Vornicu, the Harrah's Rincon Casino Champ, opened for 8,000 only to have Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Champion John Bowman three-bet to 21,000 from the small blind. At-large qualifier Jonathan Hilton then four-bet to 41,000, Vornicu five-bet all in for 145,000 and Bowman moved all in over the top for 159,500. Hilton threw up his arms in disbelief and then tossed his cards to the muck.
Vornicu then rolled over the only to discover he was dominated by Bowman's . Vornicu was distraught and understandably so. He began the day with high hopes of becoming the National Champion, and now here he was in dire straits.
"I'm going to bubble," Vornicu said to no one in particular. While it wasn't the stone bubble, Vornicu would leave empty handed as the board ran out .
Brock Parker is on fire! After eliminating at-large qualifier Blake Barousse in 25th place, he has notched another high-profile knockout.
A preflop raising war saw Joe Kuether shove for 183,000 total holding the and Parker make the call with the . Like we've seen so many time before, it was a flip for a lot of chips. With nearly 400K in the pot the dealer burned and put out the flop. Parker had survived the hard part but Kuether was still drawing to two overs. The turn kept Parker in the lead, while the river gave him the monster pot. Kuether was eliminated on the hand in 22nd place.
Nancy Birnbaum is one of the most successful women in the history of the World Series of Poker Circuit. Prior to this event she won her third gold ring during the Harrah's New Orleans stop, which tied her for first all time among women with La Sengphet. Unfortunately Birnbaum won't be adding a bracelet to her jewelry collection her in the National Championship.
After earning an at-large bid, Birnbaum traveled to New Orleans where he ex-partner of 17 years, Angie Reed, visited to sweat the action. What's more, two of Birnbaum's other friends, Nancy Noblett and Julie Royer, traveled to the "Big Easy" late last night after Birnbaum advanced to Day 2.
"We traveled overnight on a bus from Atlanta to watch he play this morning," Noblett explained from the rail. Unfortunately the rail had to watch their girl bust to October Niner Jeremy Ausmus.
It happened when a short-stacked Birnbaum got her last 15,000 or so all in preflop holding the only to be called by the of Ausmus. The board ran out and that was all she wrote for Birnbaum.
With her elimination, River Rock (Vancouver) Casino Champion Sandra Wong is the last woman standing. Only time will tell if she can keep the National Championship tradition of a woman making the final table, a feat accomplished by La Sengphet two years ago and Amanda Musumeci last year.
Brock Parker checked to Jesse Sylvia on a flop of . The 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up tossed out 5,200, and Parker made the call.
The turn was the , Parker checked again, and Sylvia fired out another 13,400. Parker moved all in for around 40,000 effective, and Sylvia quickly called.
"You flop a flush?" he said, turning over for Broadway.
Parker nodded, showing for an ace-high flush.
A meaningless completed the board, and Sylvia wished the table luck before hitting the rail. Parker, who won two bracelets in a week at the 2009 WSOP, now sits with 260,000 chips.
Kyle Julius opened to 4,100 in middle position, Blake Barousse tossed out a three-bet in the cutoff, and the action folded back to Julius, who called.
The dealer fanned , Julius checked, and Barousse fired out 7,000. Julius called, then checked again when the turned. Barousse fired a second bullet worth 19,500, and Julius check-raised all in for around 50,000 or so. Barousse snap-called, turning over for the nuts.
Julius sighed, then showed .
The completed the board, and Julius splashed some of his chips forward before wishing the table good luck and exiting the tournament room.
A monster pot just went down between October Niner Jeremy Ausmus and World Series of Poker bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche that resulted in one of them being eliminated and the other taking over the chip lead.
The exact preflop betting escaped us, but we do know a raising war resulted in Nitsche being all in for 70,000 or so holding the and up against the of Ausmus. It was a flip, and according to the PokerNews Odds Calculator Nitsche had a 45.92% chance of surviving the hand. Unfortunately for him, the flop dropped that to just 4.34% after Ausmus was delivered a set. Running straight or flush cards were Nitsche's only bet, but the turn left hm drawing dead when it improved Ausmus to a full house.
The meaningless was run out on the river for good measure and Nitsche wished Ausmus luck before exiting the tournament floor.
Chad HollowayJeff Gross looks to make a run at the final table
Welcome back to the World Series of Poker Southern Comfort 100 Proof National Championship! Yesterday 126 players — a combination of 62 at-large bids, 38 Circuit Main Event winners and Casino Champions and 26 WSOP POY buy-ins — took to the felt at Harrah’s New Orleans to compete for the first-ever WSOP bracelet to be awarded on American soil outside of Las Vegas. Today, the surviving 62 players, as well as any late entries (i.e. Jason Mercier), will return to play down to the final table, which will be filmed by ESPN and broadcast on Tuesday, July 30.
The man best positioned to make the final table is Harrah’s Rincon Casino Champion Valentin Vornicu, who bagged up 203,200 and finished as the Day 1 chip leader, which is quite a bit ahead of the next closest competitor, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Brock Parker (133,900).
Others who enter Day 2 with big stacks are The Lodge Casino Champion Chris Parsons (133,000), at-large qualifier Jarod Ludemann (128,100), “Professional Best Friend” Jeff Gross (117,100), National Points leader Ari Engel (113,800) and October Niner Jeremy Ausmus (109,200).
In addition, there are plenty of other story lines to keep an eye on. In fact, pretty much everyone in the field has a story to tell thanks to the unique way they qualified for one of the year’s most prestigious tournaments. Rest assured, we’ll be following as many of them as we can as the day progresses.
Action is set to kick off at noon CST. Registration closes at the start of play, which means we’ll have final numbers, including the total field size and prize pool, relatively quickly. Be sure to check back then for all the latest and greatest from the Southern Comfort 100 Proof National Championship!
only to discover he was dominated by Bowman's 
. Vornicu was distraught and understandably so. He began the day with high hopes of becoming the National Champion, and now here he was in dire straits.
.
and Parker make the call with the 
turn kept Parker in the lead, while the 
river gave him the monster pot. Kuether was eliminated on the hand in 22nd place.
of Ausmus. The board ran out 
. The 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up tossed out 5,200, and Parker made the call.
, Parker checked again, and Sylvia fired out another 13,400. Parker moved all in for around 40,000 effective, and Sylvia quickly called.
for Broadway.
completed the board, and Sylvia wished the table luck before hitting the rail. Parker, who won two bracelets in a week at the 2009 WSOP, now sits with 260,000 chips.
, Julius checked, and Barousse fired out 7,000. Julius called, then checked again when the 
turned. Barousse fired a second bullet worth 19,500, and Julius check-raised all in for around 50,000 or so. Barousse snap-called, turning over 
.
completed the board, and Julius splashed some of his chips forward before wishing the table good luck and exiting the tournament room.
of Ausmus. It was a flip, and according to 
flop dropped that to just 4.34% after Ausmus was delivered a set. Running straight or flush cards were Nitsche's only bet, but the 
was run out on the river for good measure and Nitsche wished Ausmus luck before exiting the tournament floor.
