It's a sunny Sunday morning in Cherokee, North Carolina where Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event will be commencing about an hour from now. A total of 201 players survived out of the 856 entries in this $1,675 buy-in event, with Rick Hensley of Morganton, North Carolina returning to the biggest stack of 401,400 to start today's play.
That stack gives Hensley about five times the average at the moment, with Joe Stark of Lawrenceville, Georgia and George Zinaty of Charlotte, NC the only other players with more than 300,000 after one day of poker.
Next in line in the counts is three-time WSOP ring winner David Nicholson, with Kyle Cartwright, Claudia Crawford, Ken Aldridge, and Greg Raymer among the many returning to sizeable stacks.
That total of 856 entries makes the WSOP-C Harrah's Cherokee Main Event the fourth largest on the WSOP Circuit during the 2012-13 season. It also creates a whopping $1.284 million prize pool, with $250,380 of that reserved for the winner. The first-place finisher also will be earning a spot in the WSOP National Championship in May as well as a seat in the 2013 Main Event in Las Vegas this summer (the latter a special prize here at Harrah's Cherokee).
The top 90 finishers will be cashing, meaning just under half of those left will be making the money. That money bubble will probably be bursting later this afternoon, of which the many short stacks — and in truth, everyone still alive — are well aware.
Join us at noon ET as we continue our coverage here from Harrah's Cherokee at PokerNews.
Our start-of-day chip leader, Rick Hensley, began today by eliminating an opponent on just the second hand to push all of the way up to 460,000. But he quickly began to bleed chips thereafter, and just now suffered a major hit to his stack as Level 16 comes to a close.
Again we only arrived in time to catch the counting down and redistribution of chips, but it appeared Hensley had gotten involved from early position, then Larry Gurney had woken up with in the blinds.
Subsequently we learned that the chips had gone in on the flop with Hensley holding but for a gutshot straight draw. The turn was the and river the , and Gurney's aces had held.
The hand earned Gurney a more than 340,000-chip pot — likely the biggest pot of the tournament thus far — and good enough to catapult Gurney into first position early on Day 2.
Rick Hensley peaked at 460,000 on Day 2, and now, 100 minutes into the day, he's out.
After plummeting from the top of the counts in a series of hands, he found himself heads up with Keith Fox on a flop of . Hensley open-shipped for a little more than the pot, and Fox called.
Fox:
Hensley:
Fox's hand held, and Hensley gathered this things before exiting.
George Zinaty opened to 22,000 from middle position, Kyle Cartwright jammed for roughly 120,000 or so on his left, and Jason Gwinn re-jammed in the cutoff. The action folded back to Zinaty, who painstakingly folded face up.
Cartwright:
Gwinn:
Gwinn's kings held as the board ran out , and Cartwright was eliminated.
When we arrived at the table, James Steen and Daniel Weinman were heads up on a board of . Weinman checked, Steen fired 90,000 into a pot of around 200,000, and Weinman went deep into the tank.
Weinman eventually called, and Steen turned over ace-high. Weinman tabled for a pair of fives.
"Good call," Steen said genuinely. "Good call."
Weinman is back up to 425,000 chips, while Steen slipped to 715,000.
Greg Raymer's WSOP Circuit Main Event run here at Harrah's Cherokee has come to an end with a 29th-place finish.
Raymer battled with a short stack for the last couple of hours before a hand arose in which chip leader Daniel Weinman opened with a raise to 24,000. When it folded to Raymer he then shoved for his last 150,000 or so, and Weinman called.
Weinman had while Raymer needed improvement with his .
The flop came with one diamond, then the fell on the turn to give Raymer flush hopes. But the river was another , and Raymer was eliminated.
As is his custom, he signed the fossil he'd been using as a card protector today and gave it to Weinman while congratulating him on the hand.
That's more chips for Weinman, who is now over 1.8 million.
Cary Marshall opened with a raise to 35,000 from under the gun, then John Bowman reraised to 80,000 from middle position. It folded back around to Todd Osborne in the big blind who called the three-bet, then Marshall called as well.
The flop came , and Osborne led with a bet of 100,000. Marshall then pushed all in for more than 250,000, and after Bowman stepped aside, Osborne thought for a short while before calling Marshall's shove.
Osborne had for an overpair while Marshall held for a couple of live cards and a flush draw. The turn was the and river the , and Marshall wished the others good luck before heading to the cashier's desk.
Milan Dragic limped in from middle position, Richard "Rick" Robb moved all in for 134,000 more near the button, and the action folded back to Dragic, who called.
"I haven't played a hand in an hour!" Robb complained before the hands were tabled.
Robb:
Dragic:
To Robb's surprise, Dragic actually had a strong hand. The flop came , changing very little, but the turned, giving Robb a pair of kings. The spiked on the river however, giving Dragic Broadway, and Robb was eliminated in 23rd place.
Charles Tidmarsh open-raised all in for his last 190,000 or so from middle position, and it folded around to John Bowman in the big blind who called right away.
Tidmarsh had , and when he saw Bowman's he already began to rise from his chair.
The delivery of the five community cards — — completed Tidmarsh's move up and out of his chair, and before long he was making his way out of the Harrah's Cherokee Event Center and to the cashier's desk located just outside.
in the blinds.
flop with Hensley holding but 
for a gutshot straight draw. The turn was the 
and river the 
, and Gurney's aces had held.
. Hensley open-shipped for a little more than the pot, and Fox called.
. Weinman checked, Steen fired 90,000 into a pot of around 200,000, and Weinman went deep into the tank.
for a pair of fives.
while Raymer needed improvement with his 
.
fell on the turn to give Raymer flush hopes. But the river was another 
, and Raymer was eliminated.
for an overpair while Marshall held 
for a couple of live cards and a flush draw. The turn was the 
versus the 
, and Naylor's hand was best, reducing the field to 23 players.
he already began to rise from his chair.
