Jason Wheeler, who entered the day as one of the big stacks, has had an up and down afternoon. In a recent hand, a series of preflop raises saw Wheeler holding and dominating his opponent's . The in the window was bad news for Wheeler, but not when it was followed by the and . The on the river gave Wheeler a boat and the blanked on the river. Wheeler eliminated his opponent while building his stack back up to 162,000.
Meanwhile, Vanessa Peng was eliminated from the Big Event.
When we caught up the action, there was already over 20,000 chips in the middle in a hand that involved Victor Ramdin., Alex Fitzgerald and one other player. All three of them checked the flop to see the fall on the turn. This is where the action got a lot bigger.
Ramdin started things off with a bet of 8,100. The next player raised to 31,100 and then it was Fitzgerald's turn. He flat-called the raise. Ramdin then made it 80,000 even. That sent the unknown player into the tank and he eventually folded. Fitzgerald also folded and Ramdin won the pot.
Ramdin stacked up his chips and looks to be right under 260,000 total.
Just before the break, the table folded around to Kathy Liebert who has been working the short stack for the last few orbits. She grabbed her last ~15,000 chips and slid them forward, and Yevginiy Timoshenko splashed in a reraise from the small blind, isolating himself against the at-risk shorty.
Liebert:
Timoshenko:
"Okay, we're rooting for an ace," she said. "Tom (McEvoy), can you root for an ace for me?"
McEvoy asked the dealer for an ace too, but she wasn't listening. The board ran out , and Liebert has been eliminated.
While the break clock was ticking down, Arnaud Mattern was involved in a big pot. He had been tangling with the player two seats to his left off and on, and we picked them up as Mattern opened from the button and the big blind three-bet. Mattern called, and it was heads up to the flop.
It came , and the big blind check-called a bet of 8,200. He checked again following the turn, and Mattern wasn't slowing down now. He bet 16,200, and his opponent craned his neck to eye up Mattern's remaining stack. He snuck in a big check-raise, and Mattern instantly folded to save his ~40,000 remaining chips for a better spot.
With about 13,500 in the pot and a board reading , Ray Henson moved all in from the big blind position for 11,100. His sole opponent in early position seemed twisted on the decision. He counted out the chips, put them back, counted again, and so on and so forth. Eventually he settled on a fold as Henson took down the pot. He is still in trouble with a stack hovering around 25,000.
A player in late position opened to 4,000 with 22,000 behind, and Masa Kagawa reraised to 12,000. The remainder of the short stack's chips went in, and he was racing his against Kagawa's .
"Come on, low cards," he pleaded, and the dealer obliged him with a clean flop.
"Low cards," he begged again, but this time the peeled off the deck to pull Kagawa into a big lead with one to come. The river was not the two-out salvation the shorty was looking for, and Kagawa has eliminated him to move to about 112,000.
With 136 players left, more than two-thirds of the starting field has already been shown the exit door. The money is scheduled to arrive with 56 players remaining, and we're still a half level away from the midpoint of this Day 2.
We'll play six full levels today, and there's an outside chance we might burst the bubble before sending the survivors home for the night.
and dominating his opponent's 
in the window was bad news for Wheeler, but not when it was followed by the 
and 
. The 
on the river gave Wheeler a boat and the 
blanked on the river. Wheeler eliminated his opponent while building his stack back up to 162,000.
fall on the turn. This is where the action got a lot bigger.![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Liebert has been eliminated.
turn, and Mattern wasn't slowing down now. He bet 16,200, and his opponent craned his neck to eye up Mattern's remaining stack. He snuck in a big check-raise, and Mattern instantly folded to save his ~40,000 remaining chips for a better spot.
, Ray Henson moved all in from the big blind position for 11,100. His sole opponent in early position seemed twisted on the decision. He counted out the chips, put them back, counted again, and so on and so forth. Eventually he settled on a fold as Henson took down the pot. He is still in trouble with a stack hovering around 25,000.
against Kagawa's 
.
peeled off the deck to pull Kagawa into a big lead with one to come. The river