2010 PCA Main Event Day 2 | 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

01-07-2010 20:46 UTC-4

One to Go

[user66118]

We're back in action with the final level of the night.

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,500/3,000

Ante: 300

01-07-2010 20:45 UTC-4

Moments before the break, Praz Bansi eliminated Team PokerStars Mexico Pro J.C. Alvarado from the main event, catapulting himself to the very top of the leaderboard. Our own Mickey Doft was on the scene recording the following details:

Bansi opened the pot with a standard raise before the flop from early position and Alvarado made the call from the big blind. The flop came down {Q-Hearts}

and Alvarado passed the first action to Bansi who fired a continuation bet of 7,000. Alvarado then check-raised to 21,000 and Bansi responded with a three-bet to 45,000. Alvarado answered with another raise, kicking it up to 90,000 -- and understandably so, as he held the mortal nuts -- {Q-Diamonds}

. Bansi just called the four-bet.

When the dealer burned and turned the {4-Clubs}

, Alvarado checked to Bansi who moved all in; he had Alvarado covered. Alvarado made the call for the rest of his chips -- a little over 200,000 -- only to see Bansi turn over {10-Clubs}

for a turned flush.

The river blanked, ( {5-Diamonds}

), and Bansi's flush held up to take down what was the biggest pot of the day, bringing him to a field-leading 720,000 in chips.

Tags: J.C. Alvarado Praz Bansi

01-07-2010 20:33 UTC-4

Break

donpeters

The players are on break for another 15 minutes. This is the last break of the day.

01-07-2010 20:28 UTC-4

Obrestad Bounced

donpeters

From under the gun, Annette Obrestad moved all in for 30,000. Matt Graham made the call out of the small blind holding {A-Spades}

. Obrestad held a dominated {A-Diamonds}

.

The board ran out {K-Hearts}

to eliminate Obrestad. Graham moved to 460,000.

Tags: Annette Obrestad Matt Graham

01-07-2010 20:24 UTC-4

Bonomo Drinking Double

[user66118]

We walked up a bit late to this confrontation, but what we could see was a board showing {2-Diamonds}

, and about 85,000 chips piled in the middle of the table. Justin Bonomo was all in for 118,000 total, and the decision was on his lone opponent who was deep in the think tank.

The unknown player was chatting to himself, insisting that he knew Bonomo had pocket tens. After a long mental tussle, he made the call to put ZeeJustin at risk, tabling {A-Diamonds}

. Sure enough, Bonomo showed up {10-Hearts}

for the set, and he'd need only to fade the two remaining aces to double up.

The river was a friendly {2-Spades}

, and ZeeJustin rakes in a huge pot. He's all the way up to 330,000 now courtesy of that double dip.

Tags: Justin Bonomo

01-07-2010 20:12 UTC-4

They Meet Again

[user66118]

Vedes thought the news was good when he turned up two jacks...

You may or may not remember Marc-Étienne McLaughlin for his 30th-place showing at the World Series of Poker Main Event this year. Familiar or not, McLaughlin is once again working his magic in a major tournament here at the PCA.

First in from the button, McLaughlin opened to 5,500. In the small blind, Tommy Vedes (who ironically finished 19th in that same Main Event) three-bet to 17,000, and McLaughlin took his pause. After a minute or so, he slid out a tall stack of uncounted blue chips for a re-reraise. Vedes stacked together his remaining chips and moved all in for a small raise on top of that, about 95,000 total. His opponent took care of the extra few thousand chips to put him at risk, and the cards were turned up:

McLaughlin: {K-Spades}

Vedes:

The dealer fumbled the flop a little bit, but when he re-spread the cards, they showed {3-Spades}

. Just like that, Vedes was drawing dead to runner-runner. The {9-Diamonds}

on the turn ended the hand right there, and Vedes was already ten paces away from the table by the time the {A-Clubs}

hit the river.

2009 was a hell of a year for Tommy Vedes, but 2010 has started off pretty poorly. Marc-Étienne McLaughlin, on the other hand, appears to have taken over the chip lead with his stack of 495,000.

Tags: Marc-Étienne McLaughlin Tommy Vedes

01-07-2010 20:06 UTC-4

Smaller Flush for Cassidy

donpeters

Joe Cassidy opened to 6,400 and got one caller. The flop came down {A-Hearts}

where both Cassidy and his opponent checked. The turn was the {J-Hearts}

and both checked again.

The river completed the board, adding the {10-Hearts}

. Cassidy checked and his opponent fired 8,000. Cassidy called. His opponent turned over {9-Hearts}

for a flush, using his nine. Cassidy flashed pocket sevens with the {7-Hearts}

and mucked.

Cassidy is still sitting all right though with around 350,000 chips.

Tags: Joe Cassidy

01-07-2010 20:02 UTC-4

A Larger Johnson

donpeters

Marco Johnson shoved all in for 44,100 over the top of a player's raise to 6,400. After a few minutes, the player made the call, but wasn't thrilled when he watched Johnson turn over {J-Hearts}

. The other player held {6-Diamonds}