Okonczak Has the Big Stack
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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.