Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Coming into Day 2 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Circuit Caesars Palace Main Event, Cody Slaubaugh had a commanding lead. Yet by the time the day was done, Slaubaugh was long eliminated and the new player at the top of the heap was Chris Johnson (1,600,000). He leads the 10 players who will return on Saturday to play out the conclusion of the tournament. Hot on his heels are Alex Santiago, Adam Hui and Brian England, each of whom is within 200,000 chips (7 big blinds) of the lead.
Of the 84 players who came back for Day 2, 54 made the money. Notables who busted without cashing included Steve Billirakis, who got tagged twice by Lance Oliver; David Pham, whose exit came at the hand of J.J. Liu; and Chad Brown, who hung on with a short stack for a few levels but came up just short. Recognizable quantities with better luck included J.J. Liu (12th place), David Williams (22nd), Amanda Baker (35th), Erica Schoenberg (38th), David Levi (42nd), Jimmy Fricke (44th), and Day 1 leader Slaubaugh, who had a miserable Day 2 and slid all the way to a 47th place, minimum-cash finish.
On Saturday the remaining 10 players will return at noon local time to fight it out for the $153,599 top prize. Blake Kelso may want to pay attention to what happens at the final table. He's currently leading the race for Casino Champion and an automatic entry into the $1,000,000 National Freeroll. Hui and Kulish can both overtake him. Play will begin at Level 27, 15k / 30k / 5k, with these stacks:
Seat 1: James Martini (922,000)
Seat 2: Chris Johnson (1,600,000)
Seat 3: Alex Santiago (1,478,000)
Seat 4: Jon Seaman (617,000)
Seat 5: John Kulish (1,168,000)
Seat 6: Brian England (1,390,000)
Seat 7: Dave Stann (510,000)
Seat 8: Matthew Leecy (470,000)
Seat 9: Derrick Kuenzel (486,000)
Seat 10: Adam Hui (1,393,000)
Johnson has a small leg up on the field, but as Slaubaugh's Day 2 demonstrates, anything can happen. Until tomorrow, you can find us at the bar.
On the flop of , Brian England checked to Adam Hui and he bet 45,000. England made the call and the turn brought the . Both players checked and the river completed the board with the , completing a possible flush draw. England led into Hui with a bet of 92,000. Hui tanked for a few minutes and then made the call.
"Nice hand," said England, tossing over the for a busted straight draw. Hui tabled the for a rivered pair of jacks and won the pot.
On the first hand of 10-handed action, Dave Stann and John Kulish got it all in pre-flop. Stann showed against Kulish's . It looked like the players were headed home and Stann was headed out in 10th place, but he spiked a king on the river, to stay alive and double up. He now has about 600,000.
The last ten players have collapsed to one table:
Seat 1: James Martini (630,000)
Seat 2: Chris Johnson (1,400,000)
Seat 3: Alex Santiago (1,000,000)
Seat 4: Jon Seaman (700,000)
Seat 5: John Kulish (1,340,000)
Seat 6: Brian England (2,070,000)
Seat 7: Dave Stann (300,000)
Seat 8: Matthew Leecy (500,000)
Seat 9: Derrick Kuenzel (600,000)
Seat 10: Adam Hui (900,000)
Chris Johnson opened with a raise and then action folded to Stepan Dzhigarkhanyan in the big blind. He attempted to just call, but accidentally tossed out too man chips and the staff ruled it as a min-raise. After that, Johnson shoved and Dzhigarkhanyan called it off.
Dzhigarkhanyan:
Johnson:
The board ran out and Dzhigarkhanyan hit the rail in 11th place. Johnson moved back to 1.4 million in chips.
Action folded to JJ Liu on the button and she moved all in for 227,000. Alex Santiago was in the small blind and requested a count before thinking for a minute or two. He then reshoved all in and that knocked Derrick Kuenzel out of the way in the big blind to leave him heads up with Liu.
"I just have an ace," said Santiago, showing the . Liu turned over a better one though with the .
The flop came down and gave Santiago two pair to put him in the lead. The turn added the to the board and now Liu could catch a heart, jack or ten to win the hand. She wouldn't find it though when the fell on the river and sent her to the rail in 12th place.
From under the gun, Derrick Kuenzel raised to 55,000. On the button, Adam Hui three-bet to 135,000. Kuenzel made the call and the two saw the flop come down . Kuenzel moved all in right away for 325,000. Hui thought for a minute and then gave it up, dropping back to 980,000.
From under the gun, Adam Hui doubled the blind and raised to 48,000. Action moved over to Derrick Kuenzel on the button and he reraised all in for 206,000. Hui made the call when play got back to him, holding the . Kuenzel had the .
The board ran out and Kuenzel's full house won him the pot.
Action folded to Benny Chen on the button and he moved all in for approximately 300,000. Adam Hui reraised all in from the small blind and JJ Liu folded in the big blind.
Chen:
Hui:
The board ran out and Chen hit the rail in 13th place. He took home $9,399 for his finish and as mentioned before, everyone left is now earning a minimum five-figure payday.