Day 2 of Event #46: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em has been officially stored in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) archives and the man at the top of the chip counts is Joey Weissman who has just sealed 1,239,000 chips in a transparent plastic bag. That bag will be opened at 1:00 PM but until then, let us guide you through the main milestones, in what has been a tumultuous day of poker.
It was Ryan D'Angelo who started the day with the chip lead, but it was snatched from him in the very first level. Frank Rusnak on the receiving end of a bevvy of bluffs from Yordan Jeliazkov to move up to 225,000 chips. That mis-step from Jeliazkov placed him towards the lower end of the counts, but he made an incredible comeback to finish the day with 678,000 chips. Rusnak also made it through to the final day with 345,000 chips.
The unfortunate honour of bubble boy went to Gordon Vayo who lost a three way all-in versus Hunter Frey and Rene Angelil to be eliminated in 172nd place. As usual, the floodgates opened after we moved into the money and we lost the likes of Mike Leah, Marvin Rettenmaier and Kenni Nguyen.
With the short stacks moving all-in at will, it seemed that Michael Gagliano was gobbling up most of them, and he soon became our chip leader. Then we saw a huge hand between Hayden Fortini and Ryan D'Angelo that cemented D'Angelo's place back at the top. Fortini five-betting with and then calling the six-bet jam from D'Angelo who was holding .
At that time Ryan D'Angelo was the man that everyone was talking about. He was making moves and dragging in more pots than anyone out there. Then it all went wrong when he lost a huge pot to WSOP bracelet holder Pascal LeFrancois. D'Angelo slipped from grace, and the lead at the top changed hands more times than bacteria. D'Angelo would eventually fizzle out in 38th place whilst Jeliazkov, Joey Weissman, Michael Gagliano and William Reynolds would all take turns of being the main man.
The WSOP Main Event champion, Pius Heinz, was having one of his rare 2012 deep runs but it wasn't to be. Heinz eliminated in 43rd place and fellow bracelet holder LeFrancois followed not long after in 42nd. Two more bracelet holders remained in the field after the elimination of LeFrancois, and they belonged to the wrists of Konstantin Puchkov and Vanessa Selbst, both players making it through to our final day.
So Weissman will have his twelve hours of glory as he sits on the top of the leader board. We will return at 1:00 PM where Weissman and the rest of the pack will return to continue this quest for WSOP gold.
The ink is not yet dry on the Pius Heinz v Joe Gualtieri post and the German champion is out.
Larry Duplantis raised to 18,000, Pius Heinz moved all-in for 77,000 and the decision was back on Duplantis. There were a few verbals before Duplantis told Heinz he was here to gamble and turned over . Heinz showed for the slight lead, which would change on a board of . Heinz was out and the gambling Duplantis was up to 430,000.
In other news Adria Balaguer and Fernando Brito just played out a sick half a million pot. It all went in on a flop of with Balaguer holding and Brito holding . The turn and river placing the hand in the record books and Balaguer was stunned.
Michael Gagliano has just become the latest player to hold the number one spot. He has just eliminated the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet holder Shankar Pillai. We missed the detail of the raising war but believe Gagliano raised, Pillai three-bet, Gagliano put him all-in and Pillai called.
Gagliano
Pillai
Board:
Gagliano fades most of the deck on the turn and moves up to 780,000 chips.
Firstly, the elimination and we have lost the dangerous German player Philipp Gruissem. We joined the action on the turn with the board showing and Gruissem had moved all-in for 37,000. His opponent, in the hand, was Bobby Moore and while he was in the tank Gruissem started talking to him. We are not sure if this pushed Moore to call, but he did, and Gruissem did not want a call.
"I have my favourite hand, but it's no good on that board," said Gruissem before tabling .
Moore turned over for second pair and after the came on the river he moved up to 200,000; Gruissem was out.
The triple up came courtesy of Vanessa Selbst and the benefactor was Gil Morgensztern. Selbst was holding , Morgensztern was holding and a third player in the hand had folded under an isolation raise by Selbst. The board ran out , Morgensztern moved up to 65,000 and Selbst now had 270,000.
There are seventy-eight players left with forty-minutes to go before the dinner break and here is a news update for you.
The big success story of the level has been William Reynolds. Reynolds has over $1.5 million in live tournament earnings and has so far cashed in 3 events this Summer. Reynolds is currently sitting on a stack of 500,000.
Another shaker during the previous few levels is our World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion. Pius Heinz is sitting on 300,000 chips despite just doubling-up Joseph Gualtieri v .
We reported earlier how James Akenhead had doubled Alessandro Speranza, well Akenhead is now out. He got it in with v of Daichi Oda and Oda's hand stayed strong. Joining Akenhead on the rail is our two-time WSOP bracelet holder Steve Zolotow. We didn't see how the action unfurled but we do know that Zolotow held and Steve Schwann held to eliminate him.
Finally, Fernando Brito has doubled up to 108,000 after winning a flip v .
A player from early position started this wild hand off by raising it up to 6,500. The table folded around to Ryan D'Angelo on the button who made it 14,000. Pascal LeFrancois was up next and he four-bet to 29,500. The early position player got out of the way and we were back to D'Angelo who took a few moments before announcing "all in", he was quickly called by LeFrancois. D'Angelo was the one with more chips, so it was LeFrancois who was at risk.
D'Angelo:
LeFrancois:
D'Angelo was in bad shape and looked like this hand would take the chip lead away from him, but anything can happen.
The flop came and D'Angelo was still well behind. The on the turn and the on the river were of no help, and D'Angelo shipped over large portion of his stack to the ever resourceful LeFrancois.
[user169505]
Mike McDonald is in a whole lot of trouble
With ninety-five players remaining we realise that there is a long way to go, but Jeremy Quehen has just given himself a great chance to extend his deep run. As always, with any success story there is somebody who would rather things took a different course, and this time that man is Mike 'Timex' McDonald.
We caught the action on the flop and the pot was already enormous. It was heads-up, with Timex in the blinds, and he checked to Quehen when he saw the flop. Quehen pushed 40,500 towards McDonald and the pair stared directly into each other's eyes until Timex announced all-in - so softly - the dealer had to ask him twice. Quehen called and it was bad news.
Quehen
McDonald
The and sent McDonald's eyes to the roof of the Amazon room and the majority of his chips over to Quehen. McDonald was left with 30,000 and we believe Quehen has around 350,000 (his stack was still dirty when we left).
It was not that long ago that we were reporting Hayden Fortini with 188,000 chips. Then we see his name in the list of eliminations and assume that it must me a Jedi mind trick. We saunter over to his table and not only is Fortini missing, but so is D'Angelo.
Wait!
There's D'Angelo, hidden behind the biggest stack of the chips, this side of the Amazon Room! The players at the table filled in the pieces of the Hayden Fortini elimination jigsaw for us.
Kenny Hallaert opened under the gun, Fortini three-bet from the button, D'Angelo four-bet from the small blind, Hallaert folded, Fortini five-bet, D'Angelo jammed and Fortini called.
D'Angelo
Fortini
No ace or queen and Fortini was out. D'Angelo has 440,000 chips.
[user169505]
Philipp Gruissem with trip nines to eliminate Gaspard
Philipp Gruissem is one of Germany's finest exports. Last year he broke his World Series of Poker (WSOP) cash duck when he finished in 28th place in the Main Event for $242,636. But it is the European High Roller events that Gruissem is well known for, earning an impressive $2 million in live tournament winnings, mainly in those type of events. Here he is moving over the 200k mark and eliminating Jean Gaspard in the process.
We caught the action on a flop of with Gaspard in the small blind, Gruissem in position and Gaspard check-calling a very quick 22,000 bet. The turn card was the and this time Gaspard led for 21,500 and Gruissem made the call. Fifth street was and Gaspard moved all-in, an action that was snap-called by Gruissem. The German turned over for trips and Gaspard showed before taking his leave of absence. Gruissem now has 220,000.
![[user169505]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and then calling the six-bet jam from D'Angelo who was holding 
. Duval's opponent had 
.
and Duval wasn't able to catch up and was subsequently eliminated.
. Heinz showed 
. Heinz was out and the gambling Duplantis was up to 430,000.
with Balaguer holding 
and Brito holding 
. The turn 
and river 
placing the hand in the record books and Balaguer was stunned.
and Gruissem had moved all-in for 37,000. His opponent, in the hand, was Bobby Moore and while he was in the tank Gruissem started talking to him. We are not sure if this pushed Moore to call, but he did, and Gruissem did not want a call.
.
for second pair and after the 
, Morgensztern moved up to 65,000 and Selbst now had 270,000.
.
v 
on the river were of no help, and D'Angelo shipped over large portion of his stack to the ever 
flop. Quehen pushed 40,500 towards McDonald and the pair stared directly into each other's eyes until Timex announced all-in - so softly - the dealer had to ask him twice. Quehen called and it was bad news.
and 
with Gaspard in the small blind, Gruissem in position and Gaspard check-calling a very quick 22,000 bet. The turn card was the 
for trips and Gaspard showed 