Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Palm Beach
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010-11 World Series of Poker Circuit - Palm Beach
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$1,035,960
Entries
712
Level
32
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Day 3 Seat Draw
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Table | Seat | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. Arshad Siddiqui | 41 | 1 | 222,000 |
| Marc Levy | 41 | 2 | 340,000 |
| Austin Buchanan | 41 | 3 | 1,236,000 |
| Joseph Daddario | 41 | 4 | 135,000 |
| Mike Minetti | 41 | 5 | 982,000 |
| Mike Morton | 41 | 6 | 230,000 |
| --empty -- | 41 | 7 | 0 |
| Luke Graham | 41 | 8 | 773,000 |
| Stephen Kats | 41 | 9 | 420,000 |
| David MacDonald | 66 | 1 | 605,000 |
| Frank Hernandez | 66 | 2 | 484,000 |
| --empty -- | 66 | 3 | 0 |
| Jacob Naquin | 66 | 4 | 245,000 |
| Josh Dichkewich | 66 | 5 | 100,000 |
| Jerry Zehr | 66 | 6 | 650,000 |
| Don Todd | 66 | 7 | 479,000 |
| Jon Brody | 66 | 8 | 338,000 |
| Jesse Okonczak | 66 | 9 | 1,717,000 |
| Barry Wiedemann | 67 | 1 | 604,000 |
| Jorge Rivera | 67 | 2 | 475,000 |
| John Riordan | 67 | 3 | 1,394,000 |
| Gerald Timmons | 67 | 4 | 524,000 |
| Zhen Cai | 67 | 5 | 231,000 |
| Ryan Leneghan | 67 | 6 | 1,438,000 |
| --empty-- | 67 | 7 | 0 |
| Thomas Aprea | 67 | 8 | 186,000 |
| Howard Appledorf | 67 | 9 | 213,000 |
Okonczak Has the Big Stack
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event began at noon today from here at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in Florida. From a starting field of 712, 368 returned today to continue the race with Ryan Sponaugle leading the pack. After more than 13 hours of poker, though, he was out of chips, and Jesse Okonczak was the new big stack in town, bagging up 1,717,000 at night's end.
One player making some serious noise today was 2007 WSOP Main Event champion Jerry Yang. In the 300/1,000/2,000 level, Yang got himself all in and in trouble with his 
dominated by an opponent's 
. The 
on the flop allowed Yang to stay alive, doubling him up to 155,000 and setting the stage for the most jaw-dropping pot of the day. It was two levels later when Yang three-bet shoved against another player following a 
flop. A pot of nearly 300,000 chips manifested out of nowhere, and it was almost hard to believe what the showdown said. Yang tabled 
for the airball shove, but his opponent's 
wasn't much better. The 
and 
filled out the board, and the 292,000 chips that Yang collected put him in the chip lead near the midpoint of the day -- with king-high no less.
Things would turn a bit sour for Yang as the day progressed, however, and he eventually ran his pocket jacks into pocket kings to end his day a few places shy of the money bubble. Others to fall short of a payday on Day 2 included Tommy Vedes, Mike Beasley, Danny Suied, Chris Tryba, John Spadavecchia, T.J. Cloutier, "Captain Tom" Franklin, and Full Tilt Red Pro Stuart Paterson.
The bubble arrived with 73 players remaining, and the unique round-for-round format meant that six people were eventually eliminated on the "bubble", and they chopped up the bottom five payouts. The floodgates opened once the bubble burst, and it was just seconds before a standing-room-only crowd began to form at the payout desk. Pilgrim, Manny Minaya, and "Tampa Bay Ray" Del Cueto were a few of those who escaped with a small cash to show for their efforts this week.
But enough about those who went broke on Day 2. There were plenty of chips flying around, and a couple players, in particular, seemed to have their chip magnets on full power. Austin Buchanan was the first man to really separate himself from the pack, moving up over the half-million chip mark during the 500/2,000/4,000 level when his pocket aces found action from 
. Near the end of the night, Andrew Touchette got his pocket sevens in trouble against Buchanan's two tens, and a board full of blanks allowed Buchanan to become the first player to crest the million-chip milestone.
Buchanan would have been the chip leader if not for one Jesse Okonczak. Mr. Okonczak was responsible for Sponaugle's elimination earlier in the evening, but he never really had a significantly large stack of chips until the last couple levels of the night. Right around 11:00 P.M., he got his money in with his pocket fives racing against an opponent's . Despite the flop coming 
, Okonczak managed to hold his baby pair, doubling into contention with about 500,000 chips and 50 big blinds at the time. Things kept improving from there, and the last level saw Okonczak take a big chip lead. Kevin Deng got all in for about 620,000 with 
on the turn of a 
board. Okonczak couldn't get his chips into the pot quick enough, turning up his unbeatable 
to earn the knockout and a chip stack of about 1.5 million.
Okonczak and the gang of 24 players will be back here tomorrow to play it out to a winner, and we hope you'll join us as we write the final chapter of this Palm Beach Main Event.
Until then, all that's left is goodnight.
Okonczak Takes The Lead
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Jesse Okonczak is up to about 1.5 million and has taken over the chip lead late in Level 23. With the board reading , Kevin Deng got his stack of about 620,000 into the middle with , but was drawing dead against Okonczak's .
Monster Pot For Lenaghan
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
A massive three-way all in just occurred over at Table 43 and had the rail buzzing. It was quite the cooler as the three players involved turned over the biggest three pairs.
Ryan Lenaghan:
Rob WontTellUsHisLastName:
Dale Friedlander: 
Rob had both of his opponents covered and looked safe to score the massive knockout after the flop came down . However, lightning struck for Lenaghan as the 
popped off the on the turn to give him the lead. The river fell the and Lenaghan secured the massive double and elimination of Friedlander to up his stack to about 1,000,000.
Touchette Eliminated by Buchanan
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Austin Buchanan opened to 28,000 in middle position and next to act, Andrew Touchette shoved for roughly 250,000. Action folded back to Buchanan and he called with pocket tens, having Touchette's pocket sevens in bad shape.
Touchette found no help from the board and has been eliminated, while Buchanan has crossed the million chip mark.
Coates Eliminated
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
All in for about 115,000, Charles Coates was slightly ahead with 
against Chok Thangavelu's 
. The board ran out 
, bringing Coates' tournament to an end.
Thangavelu: Up to about 310,000
Level: 23
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 2,000
Bye, Bye, Burgess
Level 22
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
A player in early position opened the pot with a raise to 26,000, and Mike Minetti called next door. Around in the blinds, Jerry Burgess quickly announced an all in for 101,000 total. That folded the initial raiser, but Minetti conveniently had 75,000 chips in his hand, and he dropped them into the pot to put Burgess at risk.
Showdown
Minetti: 
Burgess:
The 
flop connected with Burgess' overcards, but it also gave Minetti a flush draw to chase down. And the chase wouldn't last long. The dropped right off on the turn, and the 
river is the last card Burgess will see today. The North Carolina native has been eliminated in 35th place.
Leibovitz Eliminated
Level 22
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Gary Leibovitz moved all in for 98,000 under the gun and Jacob Naquin called from the cutoff.
Leibovitz: 
Naquin:
Leibovitz was dominating, but the board ran out 
to give Naquin a pair on the river and up his stack to about 730,000. Leibovitz, meanwhile, headed to the payout desk.