Nine Remain in Event #9

Day 2 of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event is all over but the shouting, and we've managed to beat the odds and set the final table long before the ten-level cutoff. In fact, it took just a smidge more than eight levels to reduce our starting field of 65 to the final nine.

James Dempsey came into the day with a big chip lead, and he held that position nearly wire to wire. He was occasionally overtaken by a player here and there, but each time he slipped, Dempsey promptly won a big pot to once again regain the top position on the chip counts page. He was just narrowly pipped on the last hand of the night, though, and he'll have to settle for returning to the final table in second place by a single orange T5,000 chip.

We had a pretty stacked field when play began this afternoon, but it was not a good session for most of the notables. Eric "Rizen" Lynch was one of the first players out, and he was followed shortly thereafter by Jason Potter, Tom Schneider, Jonathan Little, and Todd Terry. Tom McEvoy lasted a big longer (but not much), and we also lost the likes of Jason Lavallee, Christian Harder, and Scott Montgomery along the way, the latter coming into the day second in chips.

On the flip side of things, JJ Liu had herself a fine day, and she'll be in third place when the cards go into the air tomorrow. Dempsey is just above her, but Steve Chanthabouasy is atop them all after knocking out Julie Farkas to bring the chip bags out and conclude the day.

Here's how tomorrow's final table will set up:

Seat 1: Armen Kara (220,000)
Seat 2: Gregg Wilkerson (230,000)
Seat 3: Mark Babekov (246,000)
Seat 4: JJ Liu (479,000)
Seat 5: Edward Brogdon (89,000)
Seat 6: Scott Haraden (224,000)
Seat 7: Steve Chanthabouasy (533,000)
Seat 8: Joseph Williams (385,000)
Seat 9: James Dempsey (528,000)

The final nine for #9 will be back in their chairs at 2:30 p.m. sharp tomorrow afternoon, and they'll play until one of them is wearing a brand new gold bracelet. We'll be back here to bring you all of the action as it unfolds, and we sincerely hope you'll join us.

Thanks for following along today, but it's time for us to hit the bar and go to bed. Goodnight from the Amazon Room; we'll see you all tomorrow!