Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Caesars Atlantic City
Main Event
Day: 2
Joseph McKeehen Leads the Final 19
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
It’s been a long day here at Atlantic City. When we started the day, 299 players walked through the doors here at Caesars with hopes of being the next WSOP-Circuit Main Event Champion. After over 14 hours of play, only 19 players still have a shot at obtaining that dream. The player in the best position to do this is Joseph McKeehen, who will come into tomorrow as the chip leader with 1.904 million. Not far behind is Raymond Morgan, who will bring 1.257 million to the tables tomorrow.
McKeehen got a huge boost to his stack after picking up pocket aces in back-to-back hands, knocking out a player each time. In the first hand, McKeehen opened for 25,000 from early position, then Norman Michalek reraised to 62,000 from a seat over. It folded back to McKeehen who sat quietly for a moment, then pushed out a column of chips to make it 128,000 to go.
Michalek responded quickly by saying he was all in, and McKeehen instantly called.
Michalek: 
McKeehen: 
The board ran out 
, the result being flushes for both, but the nut flush for McKeehen.
On the very next hand following McKeehen's elimination of Norman Michalek, he opened again with a raise and got a single caller in Jeffery West from the blinds. The flop came 
, and when West led with a bet McKeehen put in a hefty raise. West thought a bit, then called all in.
West showed 
for top pair. McKeehen then tabled his hand... 
! Pocket aces on consecutive hands! And after the 
turn and 
river, consecutive knockouts for McKeehen as well.
We lost all of our big notable names today. Amongst those who came back today and left empty handed were Mike Sica, Mark “Pegasus” Smith, Gary Bolden, Nick Frangos, and Carter Phillips. Timothy Finne (42nd), Christian Harder (35th) and Matt Glantz (27th) finished in the money, but fell short of their goals to make it to Day 3.
The surviving players will be back in less than ten hours for the 12 PM restart. Tomorrow, we will crown a champion! Be sure to tune into Pokernews for all of the live updates! Until then, good night from Atlantic City!
End-of-Day 2 Chip Counts; 19 Remain
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,904,000 | 104,000 |
|
1,257,000 | 972,000 |
|
1,157,000 | 157,000 |
|
1,033,000 | 138,000 |
|
717,000 | -78,000 |
|
|
547,000 | 2,000 |
|
514,000 | 82,000 |
|
504,000 | -214,000 |
|
|
495,000 | -10,000 |
|
|
466,000 | 126,000 |
|
453,000 | -297,000 |
|
|
378,000 | -17,000 |
|
|
299,000 | -173,000 |
|
226,000 | -425,000 |
|
|
210,000 | 75,000 |
|
186,000 | -29,000 |
|
179,000 | -131,000 |
|
|
146,000 | -19,000 |
|
135,000 | 50,000 |
Three More Hands
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
With 10 minutes left in Level 23, the tourney clock has been stopped and the remaining players will play just three more hands before bagging up for the evening.
Jia Liu Eliminated in 20th Place ($7,412)
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Jia Liu had been existing with the shortest stack at the three tables for a while before finally committing his last 100,000 or so with 
and picking up a caller in Hend Matthews who had 
.
The community cards came 
, then , then 
. A pair for Liu, but a flush for Matthews, and Liu is out in 20th.
Play will continue either to the end of this level or the next elimination, whichever comes first.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
795,000 | 115,000 |
|
Busted |
Matthew DeLuca Eliminated in 21st Place ($7,412)
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
The knockouts keep coming here during the final level of the night. The latest to go was Matthew DeLuca, with the last of his chips going across the table to Dave Fox.
DeLuca was all in and at risk with and hoping to catch versus Fox's 
. But the board ran out 
, giving Fox a straight and ending DeLuca's run in 21st place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
895,000 | 335,000 |
|
Busted |
Xiaofeng Hu Eliminated in 22nd Place ($6,302)
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
We didn't catch the action as it happened, as we were watching another hand play out at a different table. However, we did walk over when we heard "payout", and saw that Hu's 
had failed to hold up against the 
of Hend Matthews. The board ran down 
, and Matthews's queens and jacks were good enough to collect the bounty.
Matthews upped her stack to 680,000 after winning that pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
680,000 | 170,000 |
|
Busted |
Randy Nelson Eliminated in 23rd Place ($6,302)
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Action folded all the way around to Tony Sinishtaj in the small blind, and he moved all in, easily having the big blind, Randy Nelson, covered. Nelson looked down at his cards, and immediately slid his chips into the middle.
Nelson:
Sinishtaj: 
Sinishtaj said that he only looked at the king when he moved all in, and as it turns out, it was a blessing in disguise, as Sinishtaj hit the 
flop. Nelson caught flush draw outs when the 
hit the turn, but the gave him no lifeline.
Nelson headed to the payout desk while Sinishtaj stacked his new chips, putting him at 651,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
651,000 | 331,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Jeffery West Eliminated in 24th Place ($6,302)
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Earlier this evening Joseph McKeehen was joking about too-good-too-be-true, "made-for-TV" hands. And now at the end of the night he's been involved in just such a sequence... something that had to be seen to be believed.
On the very next hand following McKeehen's elimination of Norman Michalek, he opened again with a raise and got a single caller in Jeffery West from the blinds. The flop came , and when West led with a bet McKeehen put in a hefty raise. West thought a bit, then called all in.
West showed for top pair. McKeehen then tabled his hand... ! Pocket aces on consecutive hands! And after the turn and river, consecutive knockouts for McKeehen as well.
That sequence catupults McKeehen up around 1.8 million, about twice that of his nearest competitor.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,800,000 | 320,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Norman Michalek Eliminated in 25th Place ($5,427)
Level 23
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
We've just had a major tangle between the chip leaders, the result being an elimination and a major move of chips.
Joseph McKeehen opened for 25,000 from early position, then Norman Michalek reraised to 62,000 from a seat over. It folded back to McKeehen who sat quietly for a moment, then pushed out a column of chips to make it 128,000 to go.
Michalek responded quickly by saying he was all in, and McKeehen instantly called.
Michalek:
McKeehen:
The board ran out , the result being flushes for both, but the nut flush for McKeehen. Suddenly Michalek is out, and McKeehen is edging toward 1.5 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,480,000 | 705,000 |
|
Busted |