Event #2 of the Poker Masters got underway on Thursday afternoon at the ARIA Resort and Casino with another $50,000 No-Limit Hold'Em tournament. After 10.5 hours of play, it's Christian Christner leading the final seven players.
The other final tablists include none other than Phil Hellmuth, who has not been at a loss of words throughout the day. Steffen Sontheimer and Adrian Mateos, who both made their second straight Poker Masters final table, will be joined by Fedor Holz, Bryn Kenney and Tom Marchese to round out the final seven.
Mateos and Sontheimer can overtake Nick Schulman for first place in the race for The Poker Masters Purple Jacket. Schulman sits atop the leaderboard with his win in Event #1 for $918,000. The winner of Eevent #2 will take home $900,000 even and the final tablists are all guaranteed $125,000.
Some of those who found their tournament life end short today include Doug Polk, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Koon, and Scott Seiver, who all fired two bullets.
It was Erik Seidel who battled the longest and had nothing to show for it when he left the table. Seidel reached the final table but was on the short stack the entire way. He was down to less than a small blind when he lost to Christner's straight and became the bubble boy.
In the very next hand, Dan Shak was ousted in 8th place, good enough to pocket $100,000 for a days work. Shak moved all-in with pocket ace-five and was called by Holz's pocket sevens. Holz flopped a set and that ended the play for this evening.
On Friday, the Event #2 final table will be live streamed on PokerGO on a 30-minute delay. You can catch all the PokerNews coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. local time, following the steam.
Also on Friday, Event #3: $50,000 NLHE will kick off at 2:00 p.m. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on site to bring you all of the coverage from that event as well.
Christian Christner opened to 42,000 from under the gun and both Tom Marchese and Phil Hellmuth called from the button and big blind respectively.
The flop landed and both Hellmuth and Christner checked to Marchese who bet 60,000. Hellmuth folded, but Christner called as the turn landed the and he checked again.
Marchese tossed in a bet of 125,000 and Christner called as the river landed the and he checked for a third time.
Marchese pushed out a stack of 25,000-denomination chips amounting to a bet of 500,000, and Christner called all-in for his last 368,000.
Marchese tabled his , but it would be Christner's that would ensure him the double with second set.
The action folded round to Phil Hellmuth in the small blind, and he moved all in for roughly 320,000. Koray Aldemir called all in for his remaining 180,000, and the cards were tabled.
Hellmuth:
Aldemir:
The dealer spread a flop to thrust Aldemir into the lead, but when the landed on the turn, Hellmuth took back his advantage.
The river landed the , and Aldemir was eliminated in 10th place.
Adrian Mateos opened to 32,000 from middle position and Sam Soverel moved all in from the small blind for 66,000. Mateos called, and the cards were tabled.
Mateos:
Soverel:
The board ran out and Soverel was eliminated in 11th place as Mateos jumps up to nearly one million in chips.
Sergio Aido raised to 24,000 from early position and Fedor Holz moved all-in from the big blind. Aido started the hand with around 220,000 and stuck all of his chips in the middle.
Holz:
Aido:
The board ran out and Holz was able to hit a jack on the river. Aido was eliminated in 13th place and Holz closes in on a million chips.
and Shak was eliminated in 8th place for a $100,000 payday.
and he checked again.
and he checked for a third time.
, but it would be Christner's 
that would ensure him the double with second set.
landed on the turn, Hellmuth took back his advantage.
and Holz was able to hit a jack on the river. Aido was eliminated in 13th place and Holz closes in on a million chips.
and Mateos led for 15,000 with only Nitsche calling as the turn landed the repeating 
.
for a flopped straight, and when Nitsche flashed his 
, both players checked.
for a flopped set, and Soverel folded.
