Mike Bennett Leads Final 249 After Two Starting Flights
On Saturday, the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club Main Event kicked off. A total of 646 total entrants ponied up the $1,675 entry fee in hopes of making the illustrious second day of play. Mike Bennett was the man sitting on all of the chips at the end of the first flight as he was able to overcome the 388 entrants and build his stack to 213,900. The second flight drew 258 entrants and saw Jonathan Bakhshian accumulate the largest stack as he finished the night with 149,300 in chips.
Bennett accumulated a solid chunk of his stack toward the end of the first flight when he was involved in a hand during the 500/1,000/100 level. He opened with a raise, an opponent three-bet to 5,100, and action folded back to Bennett when made it 12,000 to go. His opponent called, and the flop brought 
. Two checks prompted the 
to appear on the turn, and Bennett fired 10,000. His opponent flat-called, and the 
completed the board. Bennett moved all in .and his opponent debated calling off his last 16,000. Eventually, the player released his cards, and Bennett showed the 
for top set.
Also moving forward to Day 2 is Jared Jaffee, who, despite several setbacks throughout the day, managed to finish his run in the first starting flight with a stack of 80,700. Jaffee was forced to make big lay downs throughout the day, and our Live Reporting Team was fortunate enough to catch two examples of these folds.
Jaffee first had to release pocket jacks in a large pot. A few hours later, he was forced to fold queens before the flop, doing so face up.
Other notable names and big stacks moving on from the first starting flight include Chris Rauscher (165,300), Mark Kerness (154,400), Natasha Barbour (133,200), Tripp Kirk (89,300), Pedro Rios (62,200), Lee Childs (61,300), Bryan Campanello (59,300), Jonathan Tamayo (53,400), Mark Maletic (34,300) and Adam Levy (30,500).
As the first flight came to a close and 139 players bagged up for Day 2, the second round of runners took their seats for their shot at poker glory. The field included both first-time participants in the event as well as those who busted from the first flight and wished to re-enter.
As previously mentioned, Bakhshian finished the second flight with the largest stack in the room. He bagged 149,300 and earned a good portion of those toward the end of the night when he slayed Aaron Overton.
The flop read 
, and Bakshian snap-shoved all in at the sight of the flop for more than two times the pot. Overton quickly called for his tournament life.
Bakhshian:
Overton: 
Overton's set of fives were ahead, but he met his ultimate demise when the 
turned and the rivered, giving Bakhshian a club flush and the best hand.
Notable names among the 110 runners to advance from the second flight include Ryan Carter (141,200), Harrison Gimbel (106,900), Clint Tolbert (96,100), Josh Arieh (85,500), David Nicholson (77,600), David Diaz (43,200), Rex Clinkscales (33,300) and Ylon Schwartz (29,600).
Players who were unable to survive either one or both starting flights include Shaun Deeb, Huy Nguyen, DJ MacKinnon, Cary Marshall, Ari Engel, Sam Cohen, Travell Thomas and John Esposito.
Play resumes on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST where the final 249 players will once again take to the felt. Be sure to join PokerNews as we provide you with all of the big pots, bad beats and bust outs moving forward.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
face up.
with two hearts, both players checked, and the turn was the 
. Khavin led out for 1,300, and Yang called. The 
completed the board, Khavin checked, and Yang moved all in for an undisclosed amount, Khavin called, and Yang flashed 
for air.
