Table 17 was six-handed when we returned from dinner break, and now only one player remains. David "Bakes" Baker, who won his second career bracelet in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship last night, outlasted Christina Lindley, Ali Eslami and three others to advance to Day 2. On the final hand, Bakes had the button and raised to 4,400. His opponent three-bet jammed for around 20,000, and Bakes quickly called.
Bakes
Opponent
The board ran out , and Bakes won the hand.
Next door, at Table 18, Kyle Julius, who finished 2nd at the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was heads up with Sam Barnhart, who won the 2011 World Series of Poker National Championship. On the final hand, the two saw a flop of , and got all of the chips in the middle. Julius' crushed Barnhart's , and there were no running aces to chop the pot.
Joining Julius and Bakes on Day 2 is Alexander Nunin. He was fortunate enough to win Table 55 in the Bronze Section.
James Akenhead and Liv Boeree played heads up for the better part of two full levels before Akenhead was finally victorious. On the final hand, the two got all the chips in the middle preflop, and Akenhead's had Boeree's dominated.
The flop was a big sweat, but the turn (), and the river () were both black, eliminating Boeree from the tournament.
Table 17 is still six-handed, and moments ago, Ali Eslami crippled Christina Lindley. We missed the action, but when we arrived at the table, Eslami had opened in front of him, and Lindley had . The board read , and Eslami raked in the pot.
Jean-Robert Bellande has won his table and will be moving on. There were two hands that led to his opponent's felting. As we approached the table we heard, "Based on your lines from earlier, I know I need to open up my calling range."
When one hears that Bellande is opening his game, one stays.
It was an all in preflop where Bellande held and his opponent held . The board ran and Bellande doubled up his opponent's short stack.
Just two hands later all the money got in after the flop. This time Bellande had the worst of it holding against . The flop ran [ 7d] but the diamond on came on the turn when it completed .
"That's how I win I guess. Get it in bad and come out on top," Bellande said.
Steve Billirakis' opponent only had eight big blinds when he got the rest of his stack in preflop with . Billirakis had , and the board ran out , earning Billirakis the victory.
On a neighboring table, Justin "J" Conley sealed the deal, winning his heads-up match. It's Conley's birthday today, and there are certainly worse gifts in the world than a guaranteed min-cash in a $3,000 WSOP event.
The players are all back, and the cards are in the air. The tables who elected to take a full dinner break will start Level 7, while the players who played the extra hour will begin Level 8.
Dan Witcher, Robert Stevanovski, Sardor Gaziev, and Jason Koon have all advanced.
On Witcher's final hand, he held against his opponent's two nines. The board ran out , and Witcher won the match. Over on Koon's table, Koon's opponent got his last 20 or so big blinds in with , but Koon had , and flopped a set of queens for kicks and giggles.