2012 World Series of Poker

Event 50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 2
Event Info

2012 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
$952,694
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$4,704,700
Entries
1,001
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
15,000

Forty Eight Remain With Julius on Top; Dato Close Behind

Level 20 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Day 2 chipleader Kyle Julius
Day 2 chipleader Kyle Julius

Today's stacked field of poker pros and up-and-comers battled it out for ten additional levels in Event #50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em. When all was said and done - 48 survived into Day 3. Sitting at the top of the pack is Kyle Julius with 867,000 in chips. Not too far behind is Andrea Dato with 736,000.

Day 2 began with 303 hopefuls looking to make a deep run. However, as is always true in tournament poker - there can only be one eventual winner. Some early eliminations included Jackie Glazier, Phil Hellmuth, Terrence Chan, Jennifer Harman, Andy Frankenberger Jeff Lisandro and Main Event champions Peter Eastgate, Jonathan Duhamel and Pius Heinz. The remaining field was trimmed down steadily and before dinner break, Alex Gomes would claim the unfortunate title of 'bubble boy' after his {A-}{J-} failed to improved against Thiago Nishijima's pocket kings all in preflop.

However, many notables held on long enough to survive the bubble and cash, including Nam Le (103rd), Allen Kessler (99th), Neil Channing (97th), Matt Matros (79th), Matt Brady (75th), Brock Parker (74th), Will "The Thrill" Failla (67th), Ana Marquez (59th) and JP Kelly (50th).

One of the more impressive highlights toward the end of the night was Brendon Rubie, who ran his stack up to nearly 700,000 during the second-to-last level. However, despite being chipleader toward the end of the night, Rubie took a series of hits to his chipstack. Not long after, Joseph Cheong then doubled through Rubie and knocked him down to under 300,000. By the end of the night, Cheong would bag up 482,000 and Rubie 343,000.

In the end, Julius ended up on top by steadily building his chipstack throughout the day. Julius, who recently came in second place at the PCA Main Event, made his fifth cash of the series today and will be looking to capture his first gold bracelet.

Others who will come back for Day 3 include Tommy Vedes (363,000), Galen Hall (304,000), Alexander Kravchenko (266,000), Ronald Lee (189,00), Randy Lew (143,000) and Dan Smith (477,000), who recently won three European Poker Tour events and the Aussie Millions $100,000 buy-in event.

Play is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 1:00 PM PST and continue until a winner is crowned, however, with so many remaining players, a Day 4 appears very likely due to the hard 3:00 AM stop. Either way, be sure to stick with us here at Pokernews as we race our way to a final table and crown an eventual champion!

That's it from us here at Day 2. Until next time - goodnight from Vegas!

Tags: Kyle Julius

Duhamel Done & Dusted

Jonathan Duhamel
Jonathan Duhamel

We saw 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel exiting the Purple Section of the Amazon Room. While we didn't catch his elimination hand, Will "The Thrill" Failla was kind enough to fill us in.

According to him, Duhamel opened with {Q-}{Q-} only to have Harold Evans, who happened to hold {A-}{A-}, three-bet. Duhamel responded by moving all in and Evans, who had him covered by a couple thousand, made the call. The board ran out dry and Duhamel fell shy of the money.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Duhamel ca
Jonathan Duhamel
Busted

Tags: Jonathan Duhamel

No Payday for Childs

Lee Childs
Lee Childs

We saw Lee Childs, who finished seventh in the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, standing on the rail packing his headphones, which lead us to believe he's been eliminated.

He confirmed our suspicions and informed us that his demise came after an opponent opened for 4,200 and he moved all in for 27,000. His opponent, who held {A-}{Q-}, made the call, and Childs' {K-Clubs}{J-} didn't improve.

Player Chips Progress
Lee Childs us
Lee Childs
Busted

Tags: Lee Childs

No Hall Pass for Ivey as He Has Been Eliminated

Phil Ivey on Day 1.
Phil Ivey on Day 1.

We caught the action on the turn with the board reading {9-Diamonds}{10-Spades}{A-Hearts}{8-Spades}. Galen Hall had a bet of 8,300 out in front of him and action was on Phil Ivey, who opted to move all in for right around 20,000. Hall snap-called and had Ivey in dire straits.

Showdown
Ivey: {K-Clubs}{J-Hearts}
Hall: {A-Spades}{K-Clubs}

Hall held top pair with top kicker, meaning Ivey needed to hit his open-ended straight to stay alive. Unfortunately for Ivey fans everywhere, it was not in the cards as the {6-Clubs} blanked on the river.

Player Chips Progress
Galen Hall us
Galen Hall
WSOP 1X Winner
150,000 20,200
Phil Ivey us
Phil Ivey
WSOP 10X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
Busted

Tags: Galen HallPhil Ivey

A Winning Poker Approach from a WSOP Champion

Level 11 : 500/1,000, 100 ante
Jonathan Duhamel signing copies of his book "Final Table"
Jonathan Duhamel signing copies of his book "Final Table"

Prior to the start of Day 2, the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champ, Jonathan Duhamel, was seen outside the Amazon Room signing copies of his new book, Final Table: A Winning Poker Approach from a WSOP Champion.

The book, which touches on poker strategy, mindset, and a bit about Duhamel's life, was just released at this year's WSOP. As the books states:

In Jonathan Duhamel's Final Table, discover what it takes to win $8.9 million in one tournament. Duhamel takes readers through crucial game moments and traces his strategic thinking. Should he go all-in? Should he fold? What is the right balance between risk and caution? Duhamel reveals the specific qualities winning poker players need.

We'll have to see if Duhamel takes his own advice here today as he looks to run up his starting stack of 38,000 on his way to a second WSOP title.

Tags: Jonathan Duhamel

Maimone Leads Stacked Field Going into Day 2

Galen Hall - among the chip leaders.
Galen Hall - among the chip leaders.

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino for Day 2 of Event #50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em! The survivors of Day 1 are currently preparing to duke it out, burst the money bubble and race to an eventual final table. Best positioned to do so is our current chip leader Nick Maimone, who managed to bag up 196,600.

Yesterday we saw 1,001 entrants take to the felt - generating an impressive $4,704,700 prizepool. This event saw a notable increase from last year's event, which drew 865 players. When all was said and done, just 303 players remained at the end of the day. Among those who fell short and were eliminated during Day 1 include Lex Velhuis, Layne Flack, Jason Mercier, JC Tran, Isaac Haxton, Vanessa Rousso, Allen Cunningham, David Benyamine, Joe Cada, Tony Dunst and Swedish-sensation Viktor Blom, who ran into trips and bricked his flush draw to get knocked out early.

Although Maimone is on top for now, there are many others looking to dethrone him, including Galen Hall (129,300), Phil Hellmuth (79,000), Allen Kessler (75,000), Phil Ivey (72,200), David Williams (28,400) and Jackie Glazier (94,7000), who got second place just a few days ago in Event #41: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em. With those big names and many more remaining, the competition is sure to be fierce for the duration of the event.

Play is set to begin at 1:00 PM PST in the Amazon Room, so please stick with us here at PokerNews as we inch ever-so-closer to bursting the money bubble and work our way toward deciding a final table!