Welcome to Day 2 of the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Main Event. Two days ago 316 players took their shot at the last $1,675 Main Event of the season, but only 51 would survive. Yesterday another 446 players took their shot in the second starting flight, bringing the total number of entries to 762—a nearly ten percent increase over last year’s 694. Of those just 74 advanced, meaning today will start with 125 players.
That mean we’ll need to lose 44 players before the money is reach as the $1,143,000 prize pool will be paid to the top 81 players with $228,600 and a seat into the National Championship going to the eventual winner. The man best positioned to capture the top prize is Day 1b chip leader Rahul Deevara, who leads the pack with 466,000. Another player to keep an eye on is Day 1a chip leader Ben Mintz, a pro from New Orleans who sits with 313,000.
Of course there are plenty of other stories to follow here at Harrah’s New Orleans. For instance, the Massey Brothers, Aaron and Ralph, both made it through to Day 2, and we all know what can happen when to brothers make it deep in a WSOP Circuit Main Event (see the Bros. Hinkle at WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs); in addition, WSOP bracelet winners Robert Cheung and Nick Jivkov are still in contention, as are traveling roommates Ben Reason and Cord Garcia. Throw in big stacks Daniel Weinman (373,000), Claudia Crawford (313,000) and Daniel Lowery (308,500); October Niner Rob Salaburu; National Championship qualifiers Joseph McKeehen (Caesars Atlantic City Main Event Champion), Jonathan Tamayo (Palm Beach Kennel Club Main Event Champion), Kevin Saul (Foxwoods Main Event Champion) and Tripp Kirk (at-large qualifier), and you can just tell it’s going to be an interesting day.
Action is set to kick off at 1200 CST, which is about 90 minutes from now. The plan is to play down to the final table or as close as we can get to it in ten levels, which are now one hour long. Join us then as we bring you all the action and eliminations from the 2012-2013 Harrah’s New Orleans Main Event!
In a recent hand Lowery opened and then called when Wesley Brockhoeft shoved for roughly 75,000. Lowery held the and had the of Brockhoeft dominated. The board ran out and Lowery's boat sent yet another player to the rail.
"That's like the sixth person he knocked out," someone said. Speaking of players being knocked out, Joseph McKeehen is no longer with us. While Lowery didn't do the deed, we the current Harrah's New Orleans champion won't be adding points to his total today. With that said, McKeehen is already qualified for the National Championship thanks to his win in the Caesars Atlantic City Main Event. That means if he captures the Casino Championship, which he likely will after notching a ring and runner-up finish here in the "Big Easy," another seat will be opened up for the at-large qualifiers.
The World Series of Poker Circuit is part of the massive WSOP brand. Over the recent years, the Circuit has seen some great changes applied by the WSOP, which have sparked a boom of sorts with much larger field sizes and prize pools. Even the overall WSOP Circuit schedule has grown, adding three new stops for the next go-round.
While this final stop in New Orleans marks the close of the 2012-13 season for the WSOP Circuit, the tour won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Recently, the WSOP announced the plan for the 2013-14 season, which will kick off this August at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
The 10th season of the WSOP Circuit will feature 22 stops, each offering 12 gold ring events with buy-ins ranging from $365 to $1,675. Just like this season, each WSOP Circuit Main Event winner will receive an automatic berth into the WSOP Circuit National Championship, as will the “Casino Champion,” the player who accumulates the most points throughout the 12-event gold ring schedule, at each participating venue.
While much will remain the same for the new season, there are some key changes that have been implemented. First and foremost, the National Championship will be taking place at Caesars Atlantic City. The second big change is that one “Last Shot” online tournament series is planned for WSOP.com that will award seats to the National Championship. Then, there are three brand new stops to the tour at Horseshoe Cincinnati, Casino Montreal and Horseshoe Cleveland, and those all plan to be very big stops.
Anyway you look at it, the WSOP Circuit has been very much revived since its big overhaul a few seasons back, and it's a tournament series that is doing very, very well for itself. For your chance at a WSOP Circuit gold ring and a shot in the National Championship, check out the schedule today and start planning your trips!
The bubble has finally burst, and no surprise that it took a bad beat for it to happen.
It happened front and center up on the stage when Darrell Smith moved all in from early position holding . Luke Graham, who has chipped up nicely here on Day 2, made the call with while the rest of the field got out of the way.
Smith was a big favorite to double, and even more so after the flop came down . Unfortunately for Smith, the next card was a . Graham hit his card to take the lead, though Smith could still win with a nine on the river. The dealer burned and put out a . With that, the bubble was burst.
Eli Loewenthal played and ran well all day yesterday, but a big hand here on Day 2 has reversed his fortune.
It began when he raised preflop and received a call from Corrie Wunstel in the big blind. The flop saw Wunstel check and Loewenthal took the opportunity to continue for approximately 13,000. Wunstel then woke up with a check-raise to 25,000, Loewenthal called and the dealer burned and turned the .
From there, Wunstel bet 55,000, Loewenthal called and the completed the board on the river. Again Wunstel bet, this time a hefty 110,000, and Loewenthal thought for several minutes before dropping in a call. Wunstel tabled the for aces and deuces, which was good as Loewenthal simply sent his hand to the muck.
In the third and final round of sparring between Corrie Wunstel and Eli Loewenthal, Loewenthal opened for a raise in middle position and Wunstel put in a three-bet. The action folded back to Loewenthal, who four-bet jammed, and Wunstel quickly called.
Loewenthal:
Wunstel:
Loewenthal flopped a pair of kings when the dealer fanned , but was unable to make trips to win or Broadway to chop when the turn and river came , respectively. He hit the rail, while Wunstel now has around 700,000 chips.
After winning a three-bet pot off of Daniel Weinman with against Weinman's aces, Rogen Chhabra was heads up with the Harrah's Cherokee runner-up once again.
When we arrived, the board read . Weinman had led out for 390,000 into a pot of around 600,000 or so, and Chhabra was standing at the table. He tanked for the better part of two minutes, then finally folded face up.
Weinman instantly mucked his hand facedown, and now sits with over 1.3 million chips.
Ben Mintz, who is rocking an "Andy's Team" shirt for his good friend who has been diagnosed with stage four cancer, opened for a raise to 26,000, two players called including Chip Ervin in the blinds, and the flop fell . Ervin checked, Mintz continued for 39,000, and the player in the middle folded. Ervin moved all in for what Mintz believe to be 200,000 or so, and Mintz called.
A massive pot just took place that has resulted in Ben Mintz pulling out to a decent chip lead.
It began when action folded to him on the button and he opened for 26,000. Luke Graham, who was in the small blind, then three-bet to 100,000, Mintz called and the flop came down 6h7c10h]. Graham proceeded to check-call a bet of 88,000 and then checked the turn. Mintz kept the pressure on with a big bet of 170,000, Graham wasted little time in called and the completed the board on the river.
Graham checked for a third time and Mintz announced that he was betting 225,000. Graham thought for about ten seconds before making the call, but he mucked just as soon as Mintz tabled the for a flopped set. With that, Mintz is up to a robust 1.5 million while Graham dropped to 200,000.
and had the 
of Brockhoeft dominated. The board ran out 
and Lowery's boat sent yet another player to the rail.
. Unfortunately for Smith, the next card was a 
. With that, the bubble was burst.
flop saw Wunstel check and Loewenthal took the opportunity to continue for approximately 13,000. Wunstel then woke up with a check-raise to 25,000, Loewenthal called and the dealer burned and turned the 
.
, but was unable to make trips to win or Broadway to chop when the turn and river came 
, 
respectively. He hit the rail, while Wunstel now has around 700,000 chips.
. Weinman had led out for 390,000 into a pot of around 600,000 or so, and Chhabra was standing at the table. He tanked for the better part of two minutes, then finally folded 
face up.
. Ervin checked, Mintz continued for 39,000, and the player in the middle folded. Ervin moved all in for what Mintz believe to be 200,000 or so, and Mintz called.
completed the board on the river.
for a flopped set. With that, Mintz is up to a robust 1.5 million while Graham dropped to 200,000.
, and was in good shape to double up against Brad Johnson's 
.
, but the 
turned, giving Johnson a pair. The 
completed the board, and Waite was eliminated.
