WSOP Tournament of Champions
Day 2 Completed
2010 World Series of Poker
WSOP Tournament of Champions
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010 World Series of Poker
Prize Pool
$1,000,000
Entries
27
Level
19
Blinds
8,000 / 16,000
Ante
2,000
Day 2 Concludes, Matusow Talks Himself into the Lead
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow stole the show on Day 2 of the Tournament of Champions, building a stack high enough to rival the volume of his chatter. He finished in the lead with 85,500, followed by Huck Seed and Johnny Chan. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier will return with the most work to do, as he's down to 21,400. Antoinio Esfandiari is also in critical condition.
After an hour, the 22 players who returned for Day 2 of the Tournament of Champions had whittled themselves down to 18. But they only got rid of one more player in the next three levels. Doyle Brunson was the first to make his exit, followed soon after by reigning Main Event Champion Joe Cada, Internet qualifier Andrew Barton, and "poker's greatest ambassador" Mike Sexton. Once they redrew to the two ESPN feature stages, action slowed down...waaaay down. Dan Harrington was the only unlucky soul to find himself down and out without a chance at the freeroll cash.
Since 17 players survived Day 2, tournament staff had to do some quick rescheduling. They were supposed to return on July 4th already down to nine players, but with 17 left, they decided to resume on Saturday, July 3rd at 7 p.m. to play to a final table. However, if one of the remaining players is still alive in the $25k Six Max event or in Ante Up for Africa, they'll scrap that plan and return at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
Join us Saturday night right here at PokerNews for Day 3 coverage of the Tournament of Champions!
Daniel Negreanu Doubles Through Chris Ferguson
![[user25067]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Daniel Negreanu opened for 2,200 and Chris Ferguson made the call from the big blind.
The flop was 
. Ferguson checked to Negreanu, who bet 2,500. Ferguson raised to 6,000 and Negreanu moved all-in for his remaining 18,000. Ferguson made the call.
Negreanu 
Ferguson 
Ferguson needed a runner-runner miracle to KO Negreanu, but didn't get it. The turn was the 
, the river was the 
and Negreanu doubled to 41,700 with his set of sixes.
17 Left and One Day of Play... What to Do?
With almost two full tables of players remaining and only one more day of play scheduled, the powers that be at the WSOP are hastily putting together an alternate plan for playing down to a winner. Bringing the players back on Friday, July 2 at Noon was discussed, but that option was quickly scuttled as it not only conflicts with the $25,000 6-max event but also Howard Lederer's annual "World Series of BBQ" fundraiser at the Golden Nugget.
The latest we've heard (and this is of course unconfirmed), is that everyone will have to return at 10 a.m. on July 4th to play this tournament out. Not sure how well such an early start will go over with this crowd, who isn't used to getting up before Noon.
Hellmuth Can't Call the River
The action folded around to Phil Hellmuth, who limped in. Daniel Negreanu checked his option in the big blind.
The flop was 
. Negreanu checked and Hellmuth checked behind. The turn was the 
and Negreanu took a 1,500-chip stab at the pot. Hellmuth called. The river fell the 
and Negreanu led again, this time for 3,000. Hellmuth said something about how much he lives for big pairs, which drew chuckles from around the table. He folded and Negreanu took the pot.
Harman Takes a Stand
Allen Cunningham raised to 2,500, and Johnny Chan called. Jen Harman joined from the big blind to see the 
flop. Harman checked, and Cunningham c-bet 4,000. Chan believed him and folded, but Harman check-raised all in for her last 19,200. Cunningham had no interest in calling all of that, and he capitulated quickly. She took the pot, moving back to 31,000. Cunningham fell a bit to 53,000.
Duke Puts Up a Fight
Joe Hachem raised to 2,700 under the gun, and both Jen Harman and Annie Duke made the call. The flop came out 
, and Duke checked from the big blind. Hachem bet 2,900, and Harman slowly called. Duke, on the other hand, check-raised to 11,000. That was enough to scare Joe away. Harman thought about it for several minutes, and eventually she decided it was enough to get rid of her as well, sending the pot in Duke's direction. Annie is up to 47,000, while Harman has slid back to 22,000 since her double up soon after arriving at this table.
Harman and Hachem Go Head-to-Head
This table sure loves the split pots. Johnny Chan opened to 3,100, and Joe Hachem three-bet to 7,200. Then, after a silent minute, Jen Harman moved all in for 25,000 total. Chan folded, and Hachem looked her up, only to discover they both held the same hand. It was Harman's 
and Hachem's . The board ran out 
. Sigh.
Split it up!
Hellmuth Ships it In
Phil Hellmuth opened for 2,200 and Huck Seed made the call from the button. Both players checked the 
flop. The turn came the 
and Hellmuth led out for 3,000. Seed raised to 10,000 and Hellmuth wasted little time moving all-in. Seed decided against calling the additional 26,000 and let his hand go.
Hellmuth is on about 40,000 in chips.
Run, Antonio, Run
Antonio Esfandiari is still alive in Day 2 of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. He started the day with average stack but has been blinding away for a little over an hour. They're approaching the money bubble now, so he's been running back and forth between the TOC stage and his seat at a table directly across the aisle.
Earlier, Esfandiari asked the TD whether or not a player can move all in and leave the table without killing his hand. Apparently, a player's hand is only dead if they step away from the table with action remaining. So he just ran over to his table, moved all in, and ran back without staying to see if he'd been called. After he folded his hand here, he dashed back to see that he had been called, but Antonio didn't stay to find out the other player's hand. Someone just called out, "You doubled up!" so it looks like his strategy is working so far.