Day 2 in the Books
After beginning play at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon, play ceased for the day more than 12 hours later at 3:20 a.m. the next morning. It was a long day of poker that saw the returning field of 107 whittled down to just 18 players. Much the opposite of Event No. 16 which reached the money on Day 1, this event is still beyond it going into Day 3. Frank Kassela bagged up the most chips with 515,000 and will be the chip leader coming back for Day 3 tomorrow.
There was some arguing between the players and tournament staff because some of the players wanted to take a vote and play until they hit the money, but it was ruled otherwise. Marco Johnson was very adamant about this, but he couldn't persuade the staff to allow for even a vote on the subject. HIs biggest concern was wanting to be able to know how he finished tonight in order to play the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em tomorrow.
Throughout the day, some of the biggest names in poker hit the rail including Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Barry Greenstein and Eli Elezra to name a few. The defending champion Jeffrey Lisandro also hit the rail to leave the door wide open for a new person to grab hold of the title when this thing is all said and done.
With those big names and many more hitting the rail throughout the day, you might think there's no one left worth caring for, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Alessio Isaia, Marco Johnson, John Juanda, Allen Kessler, Steve Zolotow and Jennifer Harman all still remain. Johnson was the chip leader coming in from Day 1 and bagged up 379,000 chips. He'll be in fifth place going into the last day of play. Also alive is Vladimir Schmelev who has put together an amazing World Series so far.
Due to the 12-hour rule, play will resume at 3:30 p.m. local time here in Las Vegas where the plan is to come back and play this thing out until a winner is crowned. We'll see you right back here on PokerNews for all the updates from the floor! Thanks for following.