Event 30: $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball Day 2 | 2012 World Series of Poker

06-17-2012 00:27 UTC-6

Cantu Clear Leader Heading to the Final Table of Event 30: $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball

MarcC

Level 16 : 1,500/3,000, 700 ante

Event 30: $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball played down to a final table today from the 66 that started at 2:00 PM. The field was star-studded from the off and it’ll be no different heading into the final table tomorrow. Brandon Cantu came into today as one of the biggest stacks and ended the day as clear chip leader.

Michael Mizrachi won a huge pot right at the beginning of the day and used his chip prowess to apply pressure all day long, before late slide saw him drop back to third spot. He did set the final table though when he knocked out John Pham in 8th place.

Cantu had a very similar day too, and for a while took over the chip lead from Mizrachi, before it was wrestled back off him. Cantu finished super-strong and regained it in the last hour of play. His aggressive style worked well in this No-Limit format and when he needed hands he found hands, and when he didn’t, he drew very well.

Cantu knocked out Bryan Devonshire in 9th, Leo Margets in 22nd, and also Galen Hall in 32nd. Other notable players who cashed included, Stuart Rutter, (10th), Erik Seidel (13th), Jennifer Harman (19th), Scott Fischman (25th), and David Sklansky (33rd).

Those not so lucky to even cash today included Liv Boeree, Michael Binger, Ted Forrest, Bryce Yockey, Michael Watson, Greg Raymer, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. None was more unlucky than Todd Bryson, the bubble boy. He was one of the many who failed to overcome Cantu in a hand.

Play resumes at 2:00 PM tomorrow on the secondary feature table in the Pavilion room. Here’s how the final seven players players will line up tomorrow:

Seat	Player	Chip Count
1	Erick Lindgren	185,600
2	Ryan Tepen	51,100
3	Rep Porter	233,400
4	Brandon Cantu	336,100
5	Michael Mizrachi	206,800
6	Andrew Lichtenberger	161,100
7	Larry Wright	116,200

The PokerNews team be on hand all day and the live stream will also be available for your viewing pleasure on WSOP.com.

Tags: Brandon Cantu

06-17-2012 00:09 UTC-6

John Phan Eliminated in 8th Place ($7,748)

Happy_Freaked

From the hijack John Phan just moved all in for his final 24,800 chips, and he got called by Michael Mizrachi who was on the button. Larry Wright tanked for quite some time from the big blind, but eventually he folded his cards.

Phan took one card and Mizrachi stood pat.

Michael Mizrachi
John Phan

Phan needed a ten, nine, six, five or four in order to stay alive, but he turned over de {a-Hearts} ending his run in eight place. Phan will get $7,748 for his efforts as we have reached the final table!

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Mizrachi	200,000	24,000
John Phan	Busted

Tags: John Phan Michael Mizrachi

06-16-2012 23:32 UTC-6

Bryan Devonshire Eliminated in 9th Place ($5,955)

Happy_Freaked

As we were writing up Stuart Rutter's bustout there was also plenty of action going on just a couple of feet away from us.

Apparently Bryan Devonshire had got himself all in against Brandon Cantu who added some more chips to his stack. "It was a smooth hand," Cantu declared afterwards and unfortunately that were all the details we could get. Luckily for all of us Devonshire Tweeted shortly after his bustout.

devopoker Bryan Devonshire I bust 9th place for $5955. Sigh. Folded to Cantu in SB, he raise, I shove 43k in BB, he calls, 1:2, he makes a 9, I make a K. #wsop30 June 16 2012

We are now down to just eight players and there will be a redraw.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bryan Devonshire	Busted

Tags: Bryan Devonshire

06-16-2012 23:29 UTC-6

Stuart Rutter Eliminated in 10th Place ($5,955)

Happy_Freaked

From the button Michael Mizrachi had put in a raise to 5,000, and Stuart Rutter moved all in for little chips from the small blind. Mizrachi called and Rutter stood pat. The chip leader needed a card and we got to see the following cards.

Stuart Rutter
Michael Mizrachi

Mizrachi needed a nine, eight or deuce in order to knock Rutter out and he caught a {2-} . Rutter's done and we're down to nine. One more and we will redraw for the last table. The final table will be reached as soon as we hit seven players.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Mizrachi	285,000	15,000
Stuart Rutter	Busted

Tags: Michael Mizrachi Stuart Rutter

06-16-2012 21:55 UTC-6

Brian Brubaker Eliminated in 12th Place ($4,682)

Happy_Freaked

We just saw one of the biggest pots of the day between Andrew Lichtenberger and Brian Brubaker. The latter got coolered, and he's out in 12th place.

Lichtenberger raised it up to 5,000 from the hijack after which Brubaker made it 15,000 from the cutoff. The button and both blinds folded after which it was back on Lichtenberger.

After a while Lichtenberger moved all in, and it took Brubaker around ten seconds to make the call.

Both players stood pat.

Lichtenberger showed {8-} {7-} {6-} {5-} {3-} and disappointed Brubaker threw his cards into the muck. He had just been eliminated in a massive pot, and this brings us a step close to reaching the final table.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrew Lichtenberger	195,000	120,000
Brian Brubaker	Busted

Tags: Andrew Lichtenberger Brian Brubaker

06-16-2012 21:42 UTC-6

Erik Seidel Eliminated in 13th Place ($4,682)

MarcC

Erik Seidel has been eliminated by Larry Wright. We missed the hand but Seidel's last 34,000 went to his right after Wright claimed to us that he broke a ninety-eight to bust the living poker legend.

Player	Chips	Progress
Larry Wright	118,000	27,000
Erik Seidel	Busted

Tags: Erik Seidel Larry Wright

06-16-2012 21:35 UTC-6

Raising Controversy; Wright Doubles

Happy_Freaked

The acton started off slowly with a raise from the cutoff by Larry Wright. He had made it 5,500 and Michael Mizrachi made the call from the small blind. Stuart Rutter was in the big blind and he took two stacks of purple 500 chips, removed two chips, and starting sliding his chips forward. This is when things got really interesting all of the sudden.

"I'm all in," Larry Wright declared at lightning speed while Rutter was still holding on to his chips.

"Does my bet stand?" Rutter asked the dealer who called the floor over right away.

Brandon Cantu, who was sitting to the left of Rutter immediately got involved while Rutter sat in silence.

The floor staff was convinced Rutter's bet would have to stay, but to not make any rash decisions he called someone over for a second opinion.

"He did it like that," Cantu said to the floor as he reenacted how Rutter had supposedly put his chips out.

The second opinion stated that Rutter had to leave his chips out, and he wanted to pull his big blind back, something he had been doing all tournament long. The only player that objected was Brandon Cantu, and after some back and forth talk, he was allowed to take his chips back, since Rutter had been making all his raises from the blinds like this.

The bet stayed and Wright was all in for a total of 42,800.

"I'm more worried about you," Mizrachi said as he was contemplating his move and looked towards Wright. Eventually he folded and Rutter wanted a count. After getting the amount confirmed he made the call and immediately announced he would stay pat. Wright drew one card.

Larry Wright
Stuart Rutter

"Yes!" Rutter shouted when he saw that Wright needed to draw a card which gave him a good shot at taking this pot down. Unfortunately for Rutter, Wright drew a {9-} and doubled up. After the hand was over, Cantu started talking again.

"The same thing happened to me when I was deep in the Main Event, but they ruled it against me. The guy literally had his chips into the middle of the pot, but they ruled he could pull it back. If I had won that pot I would've been massive chip leader," Cantu said about the 2008 Main Event in which he ended up finishing 20th for $257,334.

Times have changed. Back in 2008 Rutter maybe could've pulled his chips back, but now they had to stay. In the end, he lost a big pot, Wright was happy with his double up and Cantu was left frustrated about the Main Event he played four years ago. Click this link to read back what happened back in 2008.

Player	Chips	Progress
Larry Wright	91,000	46,000
Stuart Rutter	24,000	-46,000

Tags: Brandon Cantu Larry Wright Michael Mizrachi Stuart Rutter

06-16-2012 20:17 UTC-6

Jennifer Harman Eliminated in 19th Place ($3,762)

MarcC

The lovely Jennifer Harman has been eliminated by Michael Mizrachi, who's right back on the heels of Brandon Cantu.

We saw Harman leaving her seat and we dashed over to see that she drew one and paired up with {8-} {6-} {5-} {2-} - {8-} . Mizrachi had {10-} {9-} {5-} {4-} {2-} out in front of him and took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Mizrachi	174,000	44,000
Jennifer Harman	Busted

Tags: Jennifer Harman Michael Mizrachi

06-16-2012 14:46 UTC-6

Event 30: $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball, Charging Towards The Final Table

Happy_Freaked

We started this event yesterday with 285 players and after eight levels of play we are down to just 66. Play will resume at 2:00 PM and we will be charging towards the money, which will be reached at 35, and ultimately to the final table of seven.

The chip leader heading into day two is be Michael Mizrachi who had an amazing day one. He leads the pack with 86,025, while his two nearest competitors, Andrew Lichtenberger and Brandon Cantu, have just over 60,000 chips apiece. Plenty of big name players remain among which John Phan, Leo Margets, Scott Fischman and Galen Hall all have very good stacks.

The plan for today is to plan ten levels or stop whenever we hit the final table. The min-cash at place 35 will get players $2,593 while a spot at the final table guarantees at least $10,318. The winner tomorrow will walk home with the WSOP gold bracelet and $101,975.