WSOP-C New Orleans, Day 2: Arieh Heads Final Table
Day 2 at the World Series of Poker Circuit - New Orleans Main Event ended much as it began – with Josh Arieh on top of the leaderboard. The young two-time bracelet winner spent all day with the chip lead, carrying it from a field of 50 down to the final table without any real challenges on the second day of play. Arieh, returning champ Lou Esposito, and seven other competitors made it through Day 2 to get the final table and shoot at the biggest pieces of the $765,000 prize pool.
While Arieh started the day with a mountain of chips, Brandon Cantu put the last of his molehill into the pot early on, busting out early on. Cantu was joined on the rail early in the day by 2007 WSOP bracelet winner Ciaran O'Leary, who never got much going in the event and busted well before the dinner break.
As the dinner break neared, David Kopacz lost a coin flip with Q♦Q♥ to become the cash-spots bubble boy. Leonard Puzansky called Kopacz's all-in with A♥K♥ and rivered a flush on a board of J♥2♥3♦2♣8♥ to bust Kopacz in 19th place. As the bubble burst, so did Chris Stull (18th), Rodney Shows (17th) and Tim Debenport (16th). All three receieved $9,180 for their finishes.
After dinner, the pace of play reached breakneck speed, with players in spots 15 through 10 busting out in less than an hour to set the final table. Larry Satterwhite was first to fall when he shoved all in on a flop of 3-3-2 with 8♥2♥. Ted McCollom called with K-9 and caught a nine on the river to bust Satterwhite in 15th place ($10,710). Will 'The Thrill' Failla was next to fall when he went all in over the top of Arieh with Q-10 on a board of Q-J-9-J. Arieh called with K♥J♣ and when the river brought a seven, Failla was busted in 14th ($10,710).
Arieh continued his roll by busting Kenny Milam in 13th place ($10,710). All the money went in pre-flop and Arieh tabled K♣K♦ to Milam's A♠K♥. The board ran out J♣Q♣8♠Q♠3♦ and Milam was eliminated. Joel Font was next to go when he pushed all in with K-10 and found one caller in Dave Fox with A-Q. The board of J-6-5-7-Q was no help to Font and he was busted in 12th place ($12,240).
For much of Day 2, one of the most interesting stories was the strong showing made by Ted and Clinton J. McCollom. The father-son duo came very close to making the final table, but that fairy tale came to an unhappy ending when Dave Fox eliminated Clinton J. McCollom was eliminated in 11th place ($12,240). As players were redrawing for seats at the final ten-handed table, Leonard Pruzansky and Carl Johnson got into a big pot with full house versus full house. Johnson made his full house on the turn, and Pruzansky rivered a bigger full house to send him to the rail in 10th place ($12,240) and set the final table.
As noted, defending champ Lou Esposito made the final table, as did Andy Philachack and Philip Sparta Jr., who has won Event #2 at the Circuit's New Orleans stop twice this year. Still, it was Josh Arieh with the chip lead as the final table took shape. Here are the chip counts at the end of Day 2:
Josh Arieh – 510,000
David Fox – 324,000
Ted McCollom – 252,500
Leonard Pruzansky – 174,000
Bruce MacGregor – 123,500
Philip Sparta – 85,500
Nic Gellepis – 65,000
Andy Philachack – 35,000
Lou Esposito – 20,500
Join PokerNews on Wednesday at 2PM CT for all the live updates and hand-by-hand analysis of the final table at Harrah's New Orleans.
