The first level of Day 2 is coming to a close, with more than 30 eliminations having already occurred during the first hour of play.
Incidentally, the non-ring Ladies Event is also playing out alongside the Main Event here at Harrah's Cherokee here today, and it drew an impressive 218 entrants today — one of the bigger turnouts for Ladies tourneys on the WSOP Circuit this year.
Juan Mora just earned a needed double to his short stack after putting himself at risk with versus the of Robert Myers. After the preflop all-in, the flop came , then the turn brought the to give Mora an unbeatable full house.
Chris Bell's Main Event run has come to a close early on Day 2. The Raleigh-based player started the day short on chips, became a little shorter, then survived to a table change before finally having to commit the last of his stack and failing to improve.
Just before the level changed, Mark Handy opened to 7,200 on the button. Charles Carver defended from the big blind, and the flop fell . Both players checked.
The turn was the , Carver checked again, and Handy fired 6,300. Carver quickly called.
The river was the , and Carver checked a third time. Handy tossed out 10,500, and Carver tossed his hand into the muck.
Danny Bavongkhoun open-shoved for his last 11,600 in middle position, and James Porter called in the cutoff.
Bavongkhoun:
Porter:
The flop changed very little, but the slammed on the turn, giving Bavongkhoun the lead. The completed the board, and Bavongkhoun doubled. Porter was left with just 47,000 chips.
A few hands later, John Courtney opened to 8,000 in middle position. Porter three-bet to 19,000, leaving just 15,000 or so behind, and Courtney tank-called. The flop came , and Courtney led out for 4,000. Porter moved all in for 9,000 more, and Courtney snap-folded.
Rick Hensley has had a tough hour-and-a-half thus far today. He began with over 400,000 chips and a large chip lead with 201 players left. But now he sits with less than 55,000 and a below average stack.
After losing a huge 300,000-plus chip pot to Larry Gurney after running into the latter's pocket aces, Hensley was just now limping in from early position, then watching Fernando Tobal raise to 15,000 from a seat over.
Hensley called the bet, then when the flop came he checked. Tobal continued and Hensley folded, and Tobal showed Hensley his hand — he'd run into again.
On the next hand, Hensley raised and it folded around to Gurney in the blinds. "You would call," said Gurney of Hensley with a grin before folding, and Hensley showed his to gather a few chips back.
Darryl Harvey and Scott Naylor were heads up in a three-bet pot, and after a series of bets and raises, all of the money was in the middle.
Harvey:
Naylor:
The turn was the , giving Harvey a set of fives and prompting the table to yell in excitement, and the river was the , giving Naylor a bigger set and prompting the table to yell even louder.
Naylor is now above 200,000 chips, while Harvey is down to 30,000 or so.