Day 2 has come to a close here at Event 17 $1500 buy in No-Limit Hold’em. It was an action packed day that had a lot of players aiming for the top prize of $518,755. 226 players of the original 2,105 had come back today and 10 of them did not make the money. At the end of the day the field whittled to the final 15 and those players will be coming back tomorrow at 1:00 pm PST to play down to a champion.
The Chip Leader is none other that David “Bakes” Baker who bagged up 1,384,000 in chips and he will he one of the favorites going into tomorrow. He is followed closely by Samuel Taylor with 1,216,000 and Athanasios Polychronopoulos with 1,135,000.
Joe Cada still hot off his fourth place in the $1500 six-max event at the beginning of the series is still alive and doing well. He bagged up 540,000 and will go for his second bracelet tomorrow. Barry Greenstein also survived the day and he will try to get his stack of 367,000 through tomorrow’s field and into another gold bracelet.
Not everyone was so fortunate as many notables fell in the money. James Dempsey (150th), Jake Cody (126th), Vanessa Selbst (60th), Matt Jarvis (37th), Jacob Balsiger, (31st), Joe Kuether (26th), and Amnon Filippi (18th) all fell short from day 3.
Tomorrow should be a good day with several bracelet winners going for more gold. The action starts at 1:00 pm and the remaining 15 will play until there is a final table, move to the main stage, and play down until a champion. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your latest on Event 17.
Mike Kurth got it all-in with the against Byron Kaverman's , and was in a dominant position to notch the knockout.
Flop:
Kaverman caught his kicker and took the lead on the flop, but the on the turn was a bolt of lightning, striking down his hopes of making the final table. A harmless on the river sealed the deal, and Kurth moved his stack back to a respectable level as Day 2 draws to a close.
David "Bakes" Baker Has Made All the Right Moves Late on Day 2
With one elimination left until the final two tables were reached, Ian Frazer was unlucky to run his into David "Bakes" Baker's .
The fishhooks were far in front, and when no ladies showed up to the party on a board, Frazer was sent packing one spot short of the next pay jump.
Baker, meanwhile, moved above the 1 million chip mark, and he will have more than double the average stack entering play at his next table, one which just happens to have Barry Greenstein and Joe Cada lying in wait.
Joe Cada is All Smiles as Another WSOP Final Table Appearance Draws Near
As the winner of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Joe Cada has already reached poker's pinnacle. Tonight, he is just looking to take another title and add a second gold bracelet to his trophy case.
After Paul Francoi Tedeschi opened for 20,000, Cada three-bet to 54,000, and watched as Max Ovseyevitz shipped his last 200,000 or so chips into the middle.
The young Frenchman asked for a count, and looked pained while analyzing his odds, but eventually he released with Cada still to act behind him.
The champ quickly made the call to put Ovseyevitz at risk, and with over , he was in prime position to add more chips to his vertically inclined stack.
The final board ran out , and Cada claimed the pot with his overpair to Ovseyevitz' underpair.
Meanwhile, Francoi Tedeschi could only shake his head, telling his rail in French that the painted flop would have hit him hard.
Cada noticed this exchange, and ruefully told the French pro "I'm glad you didn't ship it there."
David "Bakes" Baker is Heating Up Here as Day 2 Moves Closer to the Final Table
David "Bakes" Baker told his table earlier that he hasn't lost a flip in months, and that trend proved true once again, as the online legend eliminated Kevin Boudreau.
The chips were in the middle before the flop, and Baker's was flipping against Boudreau's .
When the dealer fanned a flop of across the felt, Bakes took the lead and won yet another race. The and on the turn and river were simply overkill, showing that even if Baker had missed the flop, he was never in any danger of losing this coin flip.
David "Bakes" Baker Woke Up With a Pocket Pair to Push Into the Chip Lead Here on Day 2
With his stack dwindling to just over 12 big blinds, Jacob Schindler shoved all-in from under the gun. The table folded around to David "Bakes" Baker in the cutoff, and after squeezing his cards slowly, he forcefully announced a call.
Bakes had woke up with , which left him flipping a coin against Schindler's .
With a serene look on his face, Baker watched the flop fall , and although Schindler picked up additional outs to the wheel straight, the turn () and the river () brought no further help.
Bakes offered Schindler a sincere "good game" while the pot was pushed his way, and after another player at the table commented on Baker's ability to run good, he responded simply by saying "I haven't lost a race in a month, why start now?"
Barry Greenstein pushes all in and gets called from the small blind raiser. Greenstein has and his opponent has . They see the flop of . This put Greenstein in a tough place because he would have to catch runner-runner to beat his opponents flopped set.
The turn, the , giving Greenstein straight outs.
The river, the and Greenstein did it! He came from behind to bust his opponent with a runner-runner straight. He is smiling while stacking his healthy stack of 425,000.
Main Event Champion Joe Cada May Not Be the Most Famous Player Left in This Pro-Packed Field
With just 37 players remaining in the field as Day 2 soldiers onward, a scan around the Amazon Room's Tan section shows that each of the five remaining tables is home to a world renowned poker pro.
At Table #347, Athanasios Polychronopoulos and Amnon Filippi are competing for the right to dominate their table, not to mention the contest over whose name is more difficult to spell. Both of these payers are experienced circuit veterans with major titles to their credit.
Sitting quietly at Table #354, last year's 3rd place finisher in the WSOP Main Event, Jake Balsiger, is patiently waiting for his chance to double his currently short stack. If last year's final table run is any indication, the young Arizona State Student is more than capable of waiting out a bad run of cards.
A man who happened to finish off his own Main Event run, Joe Cada, is sitting just a few feet away at Table #360, and with his stack approaching double the average amount, he is poised to put the hurt on his awestruck amateur opponents.
David "Bakes" Baker has set up shop at Table #353, and he continues to push towards the chip lead by using his stack aggressively in timely spots.
Finally, sitting at Table #359 right along the rail is Barry Greenstein, one of poker's sages and a legend here at the WSOP.
All told, the remaining field here at this $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event has a higher per capital presence of poker skill than the average event, which means tomorrow's Day 3 action promises to be a star studded affair.
David "Bakes" Baker's Stack is Getting Higher Here on Day 2
David "Bakes" Baker has a laid back personality, a cool nickname, and after the last hand he played, a stack that is now as high as a kite.
Bakes called a raise of 13,000 out of the big blind, seeing a flop of spread across the green felt. The early position raiser continued with his aggressive line, leading for 14,000, and Baker came along to see the drop on the turn.
After his opponent fired up another bet of 33,000 his way, Bakes made the call, bringing the on board.
Both players knuckled the table, and when he rolled over , Bakes top pair blazed a path to yet another potential final table appearance.
Holding , Amnon Filippi elected to reraise a player in the small blind, making it 22,000 to play after that player opened for 13,000. The small blind was unafraid, however, and he shipped the rest of his 87,000 stack with the .
Filippi was in a dominant position, and the flop of put him even further ahead of the suited connector held by his opponent.
The on the turn made things interesting, giving the small blind a gutshot draw to make Broadway, while giving Filippi a sweat.
River:
The brick on fifth street sealed the deal, sending the rest of the small blind player's chips to the dangerous pro from New York City.
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against Byron Kaverman's 
, and was in a dominant position to notch the knockout.
on the turn was a bolt of lightning, striking down his hopes of making the final table. A harmless 
on the river sealed the deal, and Kurth moved his stack back to a respectable level as Day 2 draws to a close.
into David "Bakes" Baker's 
.
board, Frazer was sent packing one spot short of the next pay jump.
over 
, he was in prime position to add more chips to his vertically inclined stack.
, and Cada claimed the pot with his overpair to Ovseyevitz' underpair.
was flipping against Boudreau's 
.
across the felt, Bakes took the lead and won yet another race. The 
, which left him flipping a coin against Schindler's 
, and although Schindler picked up additional outs to the wheel straight, the turn (
) and the river (
and his opponent has 
. They see the flop of 
on board.
