Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2018 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 WinStar River Poker Series
Buy-in
$2,500
Prize Pool
$2,000,000
Entries
807
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Deas Leads WinStar Final Table as Men Nguyen Falls Just Short
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
It took nearly the full 10 levels of play scheduled for Day 2 of WinStar River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event, but a final table was reached just before the night's end, and the last nine players bagged up chips to return for Day 3 to play for $384,100 in first-place prize money.
Tops among the players remaining is Day 1a leader Johnny Deas, who finished Day 2 with 4,725,000 as blinds get set to head to 30,000/60,000/10,000. Others making the final table included Nebraska's Jeff "mrrain" Banghart and short stack Brian Green, who made the final table of the 2016 $111K Big One for One Drop at the World Series of Poker.
| Seat | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ekrem Bozkurt | 2,435,000 |
| 2 | Ricky Green | 3,880,000 |
| 3 | Jeff Banghart | 2,545,000 |
| 4 | Brian Green | 590,000 |
| 5 | Matthew Bray | 1,945,000 |
| 6 | Will Pengelly | 2,555,000 |
| 7 | Johnny Deas | 4,725,000 |
| 8 | Alan Cummins | 845,000 |
| 9 | Dean Baranowski | 1,100,000 |
There was no bubble to worry about on Day 2 as each of the 98 players who made it through the two Day 1s was in the money. Notables such as Anthony Spinella, Allen Kessler, Mike Wang, Ben Keeline and Alex Greenblatt were some of those busting and getting payouts.
Joe Elpayaa looked like he might run away with things as he built up a big chip lead after coming in atop the counts, but he began fading at the final few tables and wound up busting in 18th running ace-queen into Banghart's ace-king.
Meanwhile, Men "The Master" Nguyen, who brought in the heftiest pedigree with his seven bracelet wins, made miracles happen late. He doubled up at least twice when he was dominated with three outs, once running a backdoor flush with ace-three against ace-king.
Finally, his luck didn't hold up when he let himself blind to where Deas had an easy raise-call with king-jack and outdrew ace-queen, ending Nguyen's run in 14th.
Deas would then get another big elimination when he picked up aces against the ace-king of Kramer Copp to send him out in 11th.
The last nine players return at noon on Tuesday to play down to a winner. There was already some discussion of a chop at the 10-handed final table, so it remains to be seen whether those talks will resume on Day 3 or the tournament will play out in its entirety. Either way, come back to PokerNews to see what happens.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,725,000 | 275,000 |
|
3,880,000 | 880,000 |
|
2,555,000 | 405,000 |
|
2,545,000 | -110,000 |
|
2,435,000 | -15,000 |
|
1,945,000 | 75,000 |
|
1,100,000 | -200,000 |
|
845,000 | -145,000 |
|
590,000 | 15,000 |
Play Has Concluded for the Day
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
The tenth level of the day has ended and the final nine players are bagging their chips to return tomorrow. A full recap along with chip counts will be posted shortly.
Larry Hirons Eliminated in 10th Place ($29,500)
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
Matthew Bray raised it up to 125,000 in middle position and Larry Hirons shoved all in for 450,000 in the hijack. Will Pengelly was next to act in the cutoff and also moved all in. The rest of the table folded including Bray and the two hands were tabled.
Will Pengelly: 
Larry Hirons: 
Pengelly was in a dominating position looking to bring the final table down to nine players. The board of 
was of no help to Hirons and he hit the rail in 10th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,150,000 | 575,000 |
|
Busted |
Final Table Draw and Counts
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
| Seat | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ekrem Bozkurt | 2,450,000 |
| 2 | Ricky Green | 3,000,000 |
| 3 | Jeff Banghart | 2,655,000 |
| 4 | Brian Green | 575,000 |
| 5 | Matthew Bray | 1,870,000 |
| 6 | Larry Hirons | 445,000 |
| 7 | Will Pengelly | 1,575,000 |
| 8 | Johnny Deas | 4,450,000 |
| 9 | Alan Cummins | 990,000 |
| 10 | Dean Baranowski | 1,300,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,450,000 | |
|
|
3,000,000 | -400,000 |
|
|
2,655,000 | 5,000 |
|
|
2,450,000 | 250,000 |
|
|
1,870,000 | -200,000 |
|
|
1,575,000 | -45,000 |
|
|
1,300,000 | -240,000 |
|
|
990,000 | -410,000 |
|
|
575,000 | -65,000 |
|
|
445,000 | -60,000 |
Kramer Copp Eliminated in 11th Place ($29,500)
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
Johnny Deas opened to 150,000 from under the gun and Kramer Copp three-bet to 450,000 on the button. While Larry Hirons was thinking in the big blind, Deas stood up from the table to take a little walk. As he returned, he announced that he was all in, prompting a quick fold from Hirons. Copp called off his remaining stack and the cards were on their backs.
Johnny Deas: 
Kramer Copp: 
Copp ran into the one hand he didn't want to see and would need a lot of help in order to stay alive. The flop of 
gave Copp some outs but the 
on the turn nor the 
on the river provided the help he would need.
The final 10 players will now gather at the unofficial final table with around 20 minutes remaining tonight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,450,000 | 2,225,000 |
|
Busted |
Greg White Eliminated in 12th Place ($29,500)
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
Greg White moved in under the gun for 185,000 and Ricky Green called with a shrug in the big blind, showing 
. White had lives with 
but bricked through the 
board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,400,000 | 830,000 |
|
Busted |
Bozkurt Gets Some Back from Banghart
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
On a board of 
, Jeff Banghart checked in the big blind and called 150,000 from Ekrem Bozkurt. Action was the same on the and the river was the . Both players quickly checked and Banghart opened . No good, as Bozkurt had .
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,650,000 | -355,000 |
|
|
2,200,000 | 700,000 |
Mykel Comroe Eliminated in 13th Place ($24,040)
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 5,000 ante
Picking up the action on the turn with the board reading 
, Mykel Comroe check-called a bet of 150,000 from Jeff Banghart.
The on the river paired the board and Comroe checked again. Banghart slid in a stack of chips, enough to put Comroe to the test for his last 130,000. Comroe made the call and tabled 
for trip tens. Unfortunately for him, Banghart flipped over for a better kicker and eliminated Comroe in 13th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,005,000 | 465,000 |
|
Busted |