Main Event Day 2 | 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Caesars Atlantic City

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!

Tags: Joseph McKeehen

Welcome back to Atlantic City! Yesterday, two flights of players ponied up the $1,675 entry fee to get into this tournament, and after nine levels of play, 270 players remain. The overwhelming chip leader coming into today is Benedetto Bianco, who bagged a whopping 174,600 chips. The next closest competitor, Gregory Mitchell, is almost 60,000 behind, as he bagged up 118,900. Mitchell led the way in the pack of Day 1b players.

Other big stacks who will be joining them today are Gary Bolden and Micah Raskin. Bolden won back-to-back Circuit rings at the Las Vegas Caesar’s stop last year, and will be looking to add a third to his collection in this tournament. He comes into today with 107,100. Raskin has been on a heater in 2013 so far, with two six-figure cashes, as well as a near $80k score in the Aussie Millions in January. He will bring an even 106,000 into today.

Joining these individuals are familiar faces Christian Harder (64,400), Mitch Schock (59,600), Ting Ho (53,500), Matt Glantz (42,200), Lee Childs (27,700), and Mark “Pegasus” Smith (33,000), who is looking to win his record tying 6th ring.

Anyone who did not play in and bust both of yesterday’s Day 1 flights can come in this morning and reenter before play starts. And of course if you didn’t enter yesterday, you still have that option as well. It’s worked out before. Last year, Freddy Deeb brought in on the morning of Day 2, and took his 20 big blinds all the way to the final table, where he defeated Circuit King Alex Masek heads up.

Play is set to get underway at noon Eastern Time, and the schedule says that we will play down to a final table today, or until 2 AM local time, whichever comes first. We here at Pokernews will provide all the updates from today’s Day 2, so get ready for the action!

Tags: Benedetto Bianco