Seth Davies raised to 180,000 in middle position, then called when Thomas Muehloecker moved all in for 585,000 in the cutoff.
Thomas Muehloecker: A♣10♥
Seth Davies: Q♦J♥
Davies hit two pair on the K♦Q♠J♦ flop, but Muehloecker flopped the nut straight and left Davies needing to fill up to win the pot. Muehloecker dodged the 7♣ turn and 9♦ river and he doubled up on one of the last hands of the night.
On the last hand of the night, Alex Foxen raised to 175,000 in early position and picked up calls from David Coleman on the button and big blind Kannapong Thanarattrakul.
Foxen bet 250,000 on the A♣Q♥9♦ flop and only Coleman called. The turn was the 4♥ and Foxen bet another 475,000.
Coleman again called and the A♥ fell on the river. Foxen slowed down and checked, and Coleman checked behind with K♥10♥ for a rivered flush. Foxen mucked J♠10♣ and Coleman got a late boost to his stack.
A month ago, the poker world became introduced to “Gambledore,” otherwise known as Estonian businessman and poker novice Vladimir Korzinin who took down a Triton Series event in Monte Carlo. Korzinin became an overnight sensation, but the man he beat heads-up went largely unnoticed.
That was Finland’s Ossi Ketola, who’s primed to make his own name in the poker world after bagging a massive chip lead on Day 2 of the $100,000 Triton Main Event at the 2024 World Series of Poker Paradise. Ketola ended the day with 8,415,000, nearly 3,000,000 ahead of his closest challenger as 15 players remain to chase the bracelet and Triton Series trophy tomorrow.
Ketola began his ascent to the top when he doubled up off Mikita Badziakouski with a pair of queens. He then flopped the nut flush to bust Michael Addamo in 26th place, but Ketola separated from the pack by taking down the biggest pot of the day. Wai Kin Yong fired all three streets and ended up all in in a 6,000,000-chip pot with top pair. Ketola snapped him off with a set of jacks as Yong was sent crashing to the rail in 18th place after starting the hand inside the top five on the leaderboard.
Ketola only has four recorded cashes on his resume, all from the Triton Series in Monte Carlo in November. He earned a career-best $2,970,000 for finishing runner-up to Korzinin but can eclipse that tomorrow if he takes the title.
Day 2 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Ossi Ketola
Finland
8,415,000
84
2
Fedor Holz
Germany
5,405,000
54
3
Seth Davies
United States
3,570,000
36
4
David Coleman
United States
3,475,000
35
5
Alexander Zubov
Russia
3,320,000
33
6
Dimitar Danchev
Bulgaria
3,160,000
32
7
Alex Foxen
United States
2,975,000
30
8
Tom Fuchs
Germany
2,570,000
26
9
Samuel Mullur
Austria
2,550,000
26
10
Joao Vieira
Portugal
2,240,000
22
11
Mikita Badziakouski
Belarus
2,205,000
22
12
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
2,200,000
22
13
Mario Mosboeck
Austria
1,720,000
17
14
Thomas Muehloecker
Austria
1,370,000
14
15
Kannapong Thanarattrakul
Thailand
325,000
3
In second place is German superstar and four-time Triton Series champion Fedor Holz, who picked off Jason Koon with queens after Koon four-bet shoved for 2,590,000 on the last level of the day to fall in 16th place. Holz bagged up 5,405,000, while Seth Davies (3,570,000), David Coleman (3,475,000), and Alexander Zubov (3,320,000) round out the top five.
Fedor Holz
Samuel Mullur took down his first WSOP bracelet at last year’s WSOP Paradise by winning the $25,000 GGMillion$ Championship and bagged up 2,550,000 as he seeks to capture a bracelet for the second straight year at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas. Mullur busted Ben Tollerene and Paulius Vaitiekunas in a three-way all in, then eliminated Chris Brewer in 21st place. Other notables still in the hunt include Alex Foxen (2,975,000), Joao Vieira (2,240,000), Badziakouski (2,205,000), and Stephen Chidwick (2,200,000).
More than 30 new entries joined the 80 survivors from Day 1 at the start of the day to create a total field of 182, generating a prize pool of $18,200,000. Only the top 31 players would make the money, and Daniel Negreanu, Jeremy Ausmus, Kristen Foxen, David Peters, and Patrik Antonius were among those to fall short of the bubble. All-time money winner Bryn Kenney ran queens into Ketola’s kings to fall a few spots short of the money, while Davies spiked a set of fives to beat Paul Phua’s flopped two pair to bring the field down to the bubble. Wayne Heung tried to make it through with just 5,000 but was eventually forced all in from the big blind with seven-deuce and lost to Dimitar Danchev’s turned pair of jacks to burst the bubble.
Wayne Heung bubble boy
Stephen Song (31st), Artur Martirosian (30th), and Timothy Adams (29th) quickly made their way to the payout desk, while Foxen rivered a pair of tens to beat Justin Bonomo’s ace-king and send Bonomo to the rail in 22nd. Foxen also picked up jacks to bust Vladimir Minko in 19th, while Mario Mosboeck counterfeited Daniel Dvoress’ pocket deuces on the river to send Dvoress out in 17th.
Alex Foxen
The remaining 15 players return tomorrow at noon local time to play down to a champion. The action picks up on Level 21 with blinds of 50,000-100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. Everyone left has already locked up $269,000, with a spot at the nine-handed final table worth $393,000. The eventual champion walks away with $3,850,000, a WSOP gold bracelet, and the prestige that comes from conquering one of the toughest fields on the poker calendar.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow following all the action and providing live updates until a champion is crowned.
