Day 2 of the WSOP National Championship is slated to begin shortly with 39 returning players. The top ten chip counts is a who's who of both the WSOP POY and WSOPC Leaderboards. Topping them all is Brian Rast who will be returning with 248,000.
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Matt Keikoan are close on his heels. WSOPC standouts Drazen Ilich, Aaron Massey and Justin Gardenhire aren't letting the WSOP POY qualifiers run away it.
Notables David “ODB” Baker, Eugene Katchalov, Sam Stein, Fabrice Soulier, Chris Tryba and Chris Moorman, Amanda Musumeci, Ryan Eriquezzo, Chris Conrad, Jamie Kerstetter, Huy Nguyen and Jacob Naquin are all in the field.
The plan is to play down to a televised final table of eight players that will air on ESPN August 7th. Hopefully, ten 60-minute levels will get the job done. Follow all the National Championship live on PokerNews.com.
Action folded to Joseph Cheong in the hijack and he moved all in for 39,500. The button and small blind both folded, but Eugene Katchalov splashed in a call from the big.
Showdown
Katchalov:
Cheong:
The flop was kind to Katchalov as it paired his ace, though it did give Cheong a gut-shot straight draw to a three. Unfortunately for the 2010 November Niner, he would find no help as the turn and river both blanked.
"Good game guys," Cheong said before taking his leave.
Josh Tieman moved all in from early position for 39,500 and cleared the field to Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier on the button. The Frenchman opted for a three-bet to 66,000, the small blind got out of the way, and Yung Hwang moved all in from the big for 184,500. Grospellier, who had 180,500, splashed in a call and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
Grospellier:
Hwang:
Tieman:
The board ran out a clean and Hwang scored the double elimination and vaulted toward the top of the chip counts.
Action folded to a short-stacked Dominic Gabaldon on the button and he moved all in for 14,000. Amanda Musumeci was next to act in the small blind and isolated with a three-bet.
Showdown
Gabaldon:
Musumeci:
Gabaldon, who qualified for this event by winning the Harrah's New Orleans Casino Champion title, was up out of his seat and knew he was in a bad spot, especially after the flop delivered Musumeci a set. The on the turn left Gabaldon drawing dead, and after the was run out on the river, he joined his buddy on the rail and exited the Brasilia Room.
After two and a half hours of hand-for-hand play, the bubble has finally burst. It happened when Matt Keikoan raised to 18,000 from the hijack and Mitch Schock moved all in from the big blind for 34,000 total. Keikoan made the call and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
Keikoan:
Schock:
"Queen's coming," Keikoan said with a smile as the table waited for the cameras to get into position. There was a lot on the line, which was reflected on Schock's face when he closed his eyes and awaited the flop . . . .
A visible rush of disappoint came over Schock as Keikoan had paired his queen to take the lead. Schock would need the last six in the deck to stay alive, but it was not meant to be as the appeared on the turn followed by the river. With that, Schock finished as the 2012 WSOP National Championship bubble boy while the remaining 18 players are guaranteed $22,278.
Eugene Katchalov joined the PokerNews Podcast to talk about the infamous quads vs. straight flush hand in the $1 Million Big One for One Drop, how to deal with a down year, and the 25K Fantasy League.