When we started today’s play, 222 players were still alive and in contention for a coveted gold bracelet in Day 2 of Event 13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em. After 10 hours full of min raises, we are down to just 25. Leading the way is Leonid Bilokur, who bagged up a mountain of chips that totaled 318,000. Not far behind is Ian Johns, who is taking 258,000 into tomorrow, and Chris Swan, who has 256,000.
Only 81 of the 222 players that started the day left with extra money in their pockets. Amongst the players who didn’t make it to the money plateau were Chad Brown, Jason Mercier, JC Tran, Michael Mizrachi, Matt Glantz, David Sklansky, Randy Lew, and Huck Seed, who ended up being our bubble boy after an up and down ride on the money bubble.
We also lost a handful of notable faces after the bubble burst. Amongst them were Justin Bonomo, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Humberto Brenes, Brett Jungblut, John Racener, and Eric Buchman.
We didn’t lose all the notables though. Roland Israel will have 199,000 when he comes back tomorrow. Isaac Haxton(72,000) is still around looking for that elusive first bracelet. Jennifer Harman (63,000) will also be joining us tomorrow, as will Alex Queen (66,000) and Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri (214,000).
That wraps it up for us tonight! We will be back tomorrow at 2:00 PM, where we will play down to a winner. Be sure to stay tuned to Pokernews for every flop, turn, and river. Until then, so long from Las Vegas!
Jason Mercier had a great start to his day, but we just saw his demise in three consecutive hands. The hand that did most the damage occured in a heads up pot with Andrew Brongo. Brongo made it two bets preflop, and Mercier three bet in the cut off. It folded back to Brongo, and he put in a fourth bet. Mercier called, and they went heads up to the flop.
The board ran out all low cards, coming , and Mercier called a bet from Brongo on every street. At showdown, Brongo showed , and Mercier mucked, dropping him to just 1,200 in chips.
That 1,200 went in on the next hand, and he got calls from both the blinds. They checked down a board that showed , and Mercier showed , which was good enough to secure the pot.
On the last hand, Mercier came in for a raise, and only the big blind called. The flop came , and the big blind checked to Mercier, who fired out a bet. He was check raised, and Mercier committed the rest of his chips.
Mercier:
Opponent:
Mercier would need a jack to win the pot, and he didn't get it on the turn, but the did give him some more outs. The on the river was not one of them, and he hit the rail just before the end of level 10.
Welcome back to the Rio! Yesterday, we had 8 levels of Limit Hold'em action, and after the dust settled Tom Cage was looking down on everyone else with a whopping 50,500 in chips. By our counts, that was nearly 20,000 more then anyone else in the room! He will certainly be the biggest force to be reckoned as play gets back underway today.
Cage will have a ton of stiff competition to deal with, however. Former November Niner and bracelet winner Eric Buchman is coming into today with 32,000 in chips. Two other November Niners from 2010 are still in: John Racener and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. They are also joined by Jennifer Harman, Isaac Haxton, and Justin Bonomo.
Team PokerStars is also well represented at this Day 2. We have Randy Lew, Humberto Brenes, Nacho Barbero, Chad Brown, and Jason Mercier all bracelet hunting — as Mercier likes to put it.
We will be playing 10 levels today, or until we reach the final nine players. Once that is done, the players will bag up their chips and return tomorrow to play out the rest of the tournament. Stay tuned to Pokernews for updates all day!
, and Mercier called a bet from Brongo on every street. At showdown, Brongo showed 
, and Mercier mucked, dropping him to just 1,200 in chips.
, and Mercier showed 
, which was good enough to secure the pot.
, and the big blind checked to Mercier, who fired out a bet. He was check raised, and Mercier committed the rest of his chips.
did give him some more outs. The 
