Event 44: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 Completed
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 44: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 2
Conway Tops Day 2; Robinson Close Behind
Level 21
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
After ten additional levels of No-Limit Hold'em action, Event 44: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em is history with just 16 players remaining. Thomas Conway won the day by bagging the most chips - 880,000 to be exact. Right behind him is Nelson Robinson with 871,000 in chips.
Day 2 began with 297 players, but they dropped like flies as we lost over 100 players within the first hour, including notables Victor Ramdin, Barry Hutter, Pascal LeFrancois and Erik Seidel.
Others who fell during Day 2 include Joe Cada (112th), Jonathan Little (104th), Soi Nguyen (88th), Jude Ainsworth (78th), Ivan Demidov (76th), Joe Tehan (73rd), Maya Antonius (65th), and Amnon Filippi (62nd), who was eliminated by Travell Thomas after coming into Day 2 as one of the chip leaders.
As more and more of the field was wiped out, many eyes were on Blair Hinkle, who recently got 4th place in Event 38: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Hinkle was near the chip lead for some time, however, he eventually busted in 24th place after running top two pair into Niel Mittelman's top set for all his chips.
One to watch during Day 3 is our last woman standing, Anke Berner. Berner came into Day 2 with just 7,600 in chips and said she expected to play just one hand. Instead, Berner will come into Day 3 with 655,000 and will look to use those chips to become the first woman to win an open World Series of Poker event since Vanessa Selbst back in 2008.
Here are our final 16 players and chip counts:
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Thomas Conway | 880,000 |
| Nelson Robinson | 871,000 |
| Darren Rabinowitz | 760,000 |
| Patrick Karschamroon | 678,000 |
| Francisco Azares | 678,000 |
| Anke Berner | 655,000 |
| Keven Stammen | 654,000 |
| Niel Mittelman | 578,000 |
| Jaspal Brar | 551,000 |
| Kevin Elia | 503,000 |
| David Forster | 437,000 |
| Jason Everett | 399,000 |
| Rocco Palumbo | 382,000 |
| Travell Thomas | 368,000 |
| Mario Delis | 234,000 |
| Paul Sokoloff | 209,000 |
Play is set to begin tomorrow at 1:00 PM PST. Be sure to stick with us right here at PokerNews as we race our way to a final table and crown an eventual champion!
Until then, we wish you a good night!
Official End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
880,000 | 824,200 |
|
871,000 | 825,200 |
|
760,000 | 700,100 |
|
678,000 | 652,900 |
|
678,000 | 611,400 |
|
655,000 | 647,400 |
|
654,000 | 577,000 |
|
578,000 | 536,300 |
|
551,000 | 492,600 |
|
503,000 | 408,800 |
|
437,000 | 396,700 |
|
399,000 | 384,500 |
|
382,000 | 333,200 |
|
368,000 | 335,000 |
|
234,000 | 186,500 |
|
209,000 | 161,200 |
Azares Scores Big Double Near Night's End
We had one last big chip swing during the final hands of the night, occurring in a hand between Francisco Azares and Niel Mittelman.
The board was showing 
, and when the river card arrived, Mittelman set out a stack of orange chips for a bet of 100,000 (something close to the size of the pot). That's when Azares said he was all in for the 281,000 he had left, sending Mittelman into the tank.
Mittelman went through a series of exasperated expressions as he gathered together the calling chips. Then he finally pushed the chips forward, looking upward at the ceiling as he did as if he didn't want to see what Azares was going to turn over.
Mittelman did look down, however, and saw the bad news — 
for Azares, giving him a full house. Mittelman had to laugh as he mucked, saying he'd had a flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
720,000 | 380,000 |
|
|
590,000 | -460,000 |
Four More Hands...
Level 21
: 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
The tournament director has just announced that our remaining two tables will play out four more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Chip counts and the recap will come shortly.
Miltiadis Kyriakides Eliminated in 17th Place ($16,588)
Miltiadis Kyriakides opened with a raise to 25,000 from middle position, Jason Everett called from the button, and Keven Stammen called as well from the big blind. The flop came 
. Stammen checked, Kyriakides continued for 35,000, Everett folded, and Stammen called.
The 
landed on the turn, and both players checked. The river then brought the 
. Stammen contemplated for a moment, then led with a bet of 84,000. Kyriakides then pushed all in and Stammen quickly called.
Stammen tabled 
for quads, eliciting "wows" from several at the table. Kyriakides briefly flashed his hand — 
for eights full — before mucking his cards. He had a broad smile on his face, though, and quickly stepped over and reached across the table to shake Stammen's hand. "Sorry, man," said Stammen, who was grinning as well. And still was several minutes later, too.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
660,000 | 270,000 |
|
Busted |
Jeremy Halaska Eliminated in 18th Place ($16,588)
It was folded around to Jeremy Halaska in the hijack, who pushed all in for his last 135,000. Action folded around to David Forster in the small blind and he also went all in. The big blind folded and hands were revealed.
Halaska: 
Forster: 
The 
board kept Forster in the lead and he eliminated Halaska in 18th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Updated Chip Counts (18 Remain)
Rather that do a full-blown redraw to two tables, the empty ones were quickly filled, so most of the remaining players are still in their same seats from the redraw at 27. Here's how the counts look with about a half-hour left to play this evening.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,240,000 | 180,000 |
|
|
1,050,000 | 425,000 |
|
|
990,000 | 240,000 |
|
|
710,000 | -185,000 |
|
|
630,000 | 415,000 |
|
|
570,000 | 321,000 |
|
|
540,000 | 130,000 |
|
|
390,000 | 50,000 |
|
|
340,000 | 205,000 |
|
|
295,000 | 135,000 |
|
|
295,000 | 55,000 |
|
|
295,000 | -220,000 |
|
|
290,000 | -50,000 |
|
|
280,000 | 70,000 |
|
|
260,000 | -325,000 |
|
|
255,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
220,000 | -65,000 |
|
|
195,000 |
Michael Bena Eliminated in 19th Place ($13,297)
Michael Bena open-pushed all in for 150,000 from under-the-gun and, immediately behind him, Travell Thomas also went all in himself for 175,000. Everyone else folded and hands were revealed.
Bena: 
Travell:
The board ran out 
and Travell busted Bena with a superior two-pair.
Thomas is up to 340,000 as a result of the knockout.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
340,000 | 190,000 |
|
Busted |
David Copeland Eliminated in 20th Place ($13,297)
The eliminations keep coming, with David Copeland the latest to fall. Jason Everett was the beneficiary in this one.
With the board reading 
and a pot of 20,000 or so, Everett fired a bet of 12,000 which Copeland then raised to 26,000. Everett thought a moment, then called. The turn brought the and a check from Everett, and after a lengthy pause Copeland announced he was pushing the rest of his short stack all in, and Everett quickly called.
Copeland had 
for tens, while Everett had him dead with the 
for a straight, making the river 
just an extra bit of trivia.
One more elimination before another redraw — and a pay jump.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
515,000 | 150,000 |
|
Busted |