Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2011-12 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Palm Beach Kennel Club
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011-12 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Palm Beach Kennel Club
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$1,131,990
Entries
778
Level
30
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
10,000
Valerstein Leads the 21 Survivors After Day 2
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 23
: 7,000/14,000, 2,000 ante
That's a wrap on this long Day 2 at the WSOPC Palm Beach Kennel Club.
From a starting field of 778, just 379 returned to the felt today including 33 who came in with a fresh 20bb stack at the start of play. Among them were Brandon Adams and Jonathan Tamayo, but both of those pros were sent packing within the first couple levels while the rest of the field hunkered down for the long haul. Brian "Stinger 88" Hastings came out to play too, and his Day 2 went a little better than the others'. It was quite the up-and-down day, but in the end, he bagged up a short stack to punch his ticket for Day 3.
In a field full of relative unknowns, one young man stuck out from the crowd. John Riordan won this event last year at just 19 years old, and he put on a clinic for the first half of this Day 2, holding the chip lead for several hours as the field whittled its way down toward the money. His run-good eventually ran thin, though, and his tumble down the chip counts culminated with a 34th-place exit and a warm round of applause from those who outlasted him.
Riordan will not be returning tomorrow, but 21 players will in the hopes of snagging a piece of Circuit gold. Among them are a few standouts including Hastings, Jeremy McLaughlin, Drazen Ilich, and David Stefanski.
The overnight big stack belongs to Roman Valerstein, though, and he's going to set the pace for tomorrow's run to the title with 2.155 million chips. He'll be joined by another 20 players, and they'll run it all the way down to the winner before it's all said and done. Action resumes at 12:00 noon from here at the Kennel Club, and we'll be back here to finish out the story, too.
Until then...here is the Day 3 table and seat draw:
| Table | Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 1 | Matthew Smith | 899,000 |
| 41 | 2 | --empty-- | -- |
| 41 | 3 | Rob Williamson | 728,000 |
| 41 | 4 | --empty-- | -- |
| 41 | 5 | Max Itkin | 291,000 |
| 41 | 6 | David Stefanski | 1,216,000 |
| 41 | 7 | Bruce Yamron | 164,000 |
| 41 | 8 | Brian Hastings | 246,000 |
| 41 | 9 | Jerry Payne | 281,000 |
| 66 | 1 | --empty-- | — |
| 66 | 2 | Sterling Savill | 622,000 |
| 66 | 3 | Chris Parsons | 1,400,000 |
| 66 | 4 | Nabih Zaczac | 878,000 |
| 66 | 5 | Chet Farrell | 1,512,999 |
| 66 | 6 | Matthew O'Brien | 866,000 |
| 66 | 7 | Jeremy McLaughlin | 587,000 |
| 66 | 8 | Roman Valerstein | 2,155,000 |
| 66 | 9 | --empty-- | -- |
| 67 | 1 | --empty-- | — |
| 67 | 2 | Jeff Silverstein | 520,000 |
| 67 | 3 | Jim Harnden | 989,000 |
| 67 | 4 | Robert LeBeau | 203,000 |
| 67 | 5 | --empty-- | -- |
| 67 | 6 | Jamil Wakil | 816,000 |
| 67 | 7 | Carlos Auralos | 154,000 |
| 67 | 8 | Drazen Ilich | 958,000 |
| 67 | 9 | Walid Maddah | 87,000 |
End-of-Day Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,155,000 | |
|
|
1,512,000 | 887,000 |
|
1,400,000 | |
|
1,216,000 | 1,142,100 |
|
989,000 | 434,000 |
|
958,000 | 920,600 |
|
899,000 | 589,000 |
|
878,000 | |
|
|
866,000 | |
|
816,000 | |
|
|
728,000 | 253,000 |
|
622,000 | |
|
587,000 | |
|
|
520,000 | |
|
|
291,000 | |
|
281,000 | 231,000 |
|
246,000 | 211,000 |
|
|
203,000 | |
|
164,000 | |
|
|
154,000 | |
|
87,000 |
Harnden's Hero Call Pays Off
Jamil Wakil opened to 30,000 in early position and Jim Harnden appeared to have called from the small blind, but put too many chips in and was forced to min-raise. Wakil four-bet to 126,000, but that didn't shake Harnden who called to see the 
flop.
Harnden fired 100,000, but was met a Wakil shove. With 259,000 behind, Harnden tanked for a good three minutes before emerging with a call.
"You're ahead," said Wakil as he turnd over 
.
Harnden showed 
and was in fact ahead, improving to Broadway when the 
hit the turn. The 
river secured his double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
980,000 | 425,000 |
|
|
870,000 | -430,000 |
Smith Doubles Through Hastings
Brian Hastings raised to 28,000 in the cutoff and Matthew Smith re-raised to 67,000 in the small blind. Action folded back to Hastings who re-raised all in. Smith called for his remaining 423,000 with 
as Hastings revealed 
.
The 
was safe for Hastings, but the 
landed on the turn to put Smith ahead. The 
completed the board and secured the double for Smith.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
870,000 | 460,000 |
|
|
320,000 | -450,000 |
Chip Counts From Table 57
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,740,000 | -300,000 |
|
|
1,640,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
1,500,000 | 100,000 |
|
|
930,000 | -370,000 |
|
|
800,000 | -40,000 |
|
|
800,000 | 20,000 |
|
|
275,000 | -185,000 |
|
|
215,000 | -85,000 |
Mintz Can't Look
We didn't see how the money got in, but we could see that Jamil Wakil was the preflop shover after several raises, and Ben Mintz quickly called off his last ~800,000 to put himself at risk.
Showdown
Mintz:
Wakil: 
Mintz turned his head away from the table, deciding to listen to the board cards rather than watch them. The 
flop was as safe as it gets, and the turn 
was a blank as well. Mintz was still looking down at the floor as the river card hit like a clap of thunder. It was the , the ugliest card in the deck for Mintz.
Wakil apologized for that river beat, but Mintz wouldn't let him. "Naw, man," he said kindly. "Don't apologize. I woulda gone with ace-queen against me too. You've been playing with me all day. Don't apologize." With that, he wished his table luck and stepped away toward the payout desk, where he let his emotions loosen up a bit. Mintz was visibly frustrated as he let out a few deep breaths and a few choice words about what had just happened.
His day is done in unfortunate fashion, and Wakil has vaulted all the way up to the 2 million mark with that knockout.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,000,000 | 940,000 |
|
Busted |
Harris Runs Into Savill's Aces
John Harris opened with a raise in middle position and Sterling Savill three-bet on the button to 68,000. Action folded back to Harris who moved all in for about 235,000, but Savill called instantly and tabled .
Harris was in a world of hurt with 
and was unable to catch up as the board ran out 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
840,000 | 170,000 |
|
Busted |
Harnden Hammers a Double
In early position, Jerry Payne opened the pot with a raise to 27,000, and Jim Harnden three-bet shoved for 271,000 in the big blind. Payne asked for the count and tanked for a bit, considering a call for nearly his full stack, too. After a minute or so, he made the call to put Harnden at risk.
Showdown
Payne: 
Harnden: 
The 
flop was about as good as it gets for Harnden, flopping top pair and a straight flush draw just for good measure. The turn improved his hand further, but it essentially changed nothing as XX needed to find one of the two remaining sixes in the deck to earn the knockout.
The river was the , though, and Harnden has found a big double. It moves him up over 550,000, and Payne is now dangerously short with just around 50,000 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
555,000 | |
|
|
50,000 |
Level: 23
Blinds: 7,000/14,000
Ante: 2,000