Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Main Event
Day 2 Completed
After three Day 1 flights and a 13-hour grind on Day 2, just 11 players stand between Maxx Coleman and a second victory in three years at WinStar River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event.
Back in 2015, Coleman got by far the biggest share of a three-way chop in this event, taking down $750,000, the biggest score of his live tournament career. The Kansas native followed that up with another strong showing in 2016 when he finished 32nd for $7,864.
Now, he finds himself in a great position to truly make it a three-year run for the ages near the Texas-Oklahoma border. Coleman finished Day 2 with a stack of 3,230,000, leaving him in second place after starting the day as chip leader. That represents more than 50 big blinds as the tournament heads to Level 27 (5,000/30,000/60,000).
However, a mountain of a chip stack stands in his way, belonging to Chengce Jiang. Jiang ran white-hot and finished with 6,675,000, more than a quarter of the chips in play.
It seemed every time Jiang got in a big showdown he held two aces. It started early in the day when he three-bet an open and had Charles Bass shove over behind him with king-seven of spades. Jiang snapped it off with aces to begin his climb. He busted a short stack with the blades and had one of the best stacks going into the final 27 redraw, and he found himself with aces again in a fortuitous spot.
This time, he three-bet a late-position open from DJ Alexander and they got stacks in on a ten-high flop, with Alexander revealing two kings for a tough cooler. Nobody even came close to catching Jiang after that monstrous win.
Coleman certainly isn't the only headliner remaining in the event. Anthony Spinella (2,560,000), Johanssy Joseph (1,715,000), two-time bracelet winner Ben Zamani (535,000), and Mike Dentale (475,000) are all still trucking along, though the latter pair are in dire need of an early double when Day 3 gets going.
That happens at noon Tuesday, with the final 12 players taking seats and battling it out for $400,032 in first-place prize money. Make sure you come right back to PokerNews as the field it whittled to a champion.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chengce Jiang |
6,675,000
375,000
|
375,000 |
Maxx Coleman |
3,230,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
Anthony Spinella |
2,560,000
1,060,000
|
1,060,000 |
|
||
Chris Hooper |
2,454,000
-746,000
|
-746,000 |
Lang Nguyen |
1,853,000
153,000
|
153,000 |
Johanssy Joseph |
1,715,000
-185,000
|
-185,000 |
Gnana Duddukuru |
1,230,000
790,000
|
790,000 |
Lawrence Porath |
1,096,000
-104,000
|
-104,000 |
Dwight Sellars |
990,000
-260,000
|
-260,000 |
Mike Rieck |
760,000
-80,000
|
-80,000 |
Ben Zamani |
535,000
-145,000
|
-145,000 |
Mike Dentale |
475,000
-465,000
|
-465,000 |
Daniel Rodriguez shoved all in for 230,000 and Maxx Coleman made it 600,000 to go. Everyone else folded and Rodriguez was heads up with Coleman for his tournament life.
He has against the of Coleman. The flop was safe, but the turn brought some worries and the river finally put the nail in. Rodriguez would bust when the board finished .
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Maxx Coleman |
3,200,000
950,000
|
950,000 |
|
||
Daniel Rodriguez | Busted |
Lawrence Porath opened for a raise to 125,000 under the gun and got three-bet to 335,000 by neighbor Lang Nguyen. Porath called after some thought. When the flop hit, he tanked a bit, checked out his opponent's stack, and then ripped it in for about 500,000. Nguyen folded.
Porath showed .
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Lang Nguyen |
1,700,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
Lawrence Porath |
1,200,000
710,000
|
710,000 |
Chengce Jiang opened to 150,000 and Chris Hooper called from the big blind.
The flop came and Hooper bet 150,000. Jiang called.
The turn was the and Hooper check-called a 275,000 bet.
The river was the and Hooper checked again. Jiang bet 400,000 and Hooper called.
Jiang showed and was good with two pair against the of Hooper.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chengce Jiang |
6,300,000
960,000
|
960,000 |
Dwight Sellars opened to 100,000 in the cutoff and faced a three-bet to 435,000 from Anthony Spinella, in the big blind. Sellars said he was all in, which amount to about 100,000 more, and Spinella put him at risk.
Spinella:
Sellars:
The board left Sellars standing and readying to leave, but the river saved him.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Anthony Spinella |
1,500,000
-640,000
|
-640,000 |
|
||
Dwight Sellars |
1,250,000
790,000
|
790,000 |
We found Adam Gonzales calling the all-in shove of small blind Chengce Jiang, who showed . Gonzales had and was a favorite to double his 500,000 or so. However, the flop paired his opponent.
"Oh, you dog," Gonzales said.
The turn was a brick. Gonzales asked for one time but it was a . Cheerfully enough, he wished everyone good luck and good night.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chengce Jiang |
5,340,000
440,000
|
440,000 |
Adam Gonzales | Busted |
Gary Otake was eliminated after he three-bet shoved on a Lang Nguyen open to 100,000. Otake had 555,000 and Nguyen called.
Nguyen had against the of Otake. He flopped a queen and Otake couldn't improve.
The final board read and Otake hit the rail in 15th place. He will take home $26,624.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Lang Nguyen |
1,800,000
520,000
|
520,000 |
Gary Otake | Busted |
In a pot that occurred at the previous level, Anthony Spinella raised under the gun and Johanssy Joseph called on his left for 90,000. They checked down a board of until Spinella bet 90,000. Joseph slid in a raise to approximately 300,000 and Spinella folded.
Moments later, we saw the two butting heads again in a blinds battle. Spinella check-called 120,000 on a flop and both checked the . On the river, Spinella checked and called 200,000.
Joseph opened .
"Nice," Spinella said.
"I knew I had the jack or the ten," Joseph said. "I didn't want to look and see which one."
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Anthony Spinella |
2,140,000
-660,000
|
-660,000 |
|
||
Johanssy Joseph |
1,900,000
-200,000
|
-200,000 |