Day 2 of Event 53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em began with 348 hopefuls of the original 3,166 looking to make a deep run and work their way to a final table. When all was said and done, Hugh Henderson would stand tall as chip leader with 1,168,000 in chips. Nipping at his heels is Randy Ashe with 1,150,000.
As is always true in tournament poker - there can only be one eventual winner. Day 2 began began just 24 eliminations off of the money bubble, which burst within the first level of play after six players busted on the last deal of hand-for-hand play. Others who were unable to survive into Day 3 include David Sands (237th), Cherish Andrews (187th), Martin Staszko (183rd), Day 1 chip leader Mario Nagel (170th), Matt Affleck (146th), Brock Parker (85th), Nick Jivkov (83rd) and Jonathan Little (62nd).
Of the 28 survivors of Day 2 - many eyes are sure to be on Victoria Coren (934,000) and Lee Childs (501,000). Both players are looking to add a World Series of Poker gold bracelet to their already-impressive poker resumes. Coren's biggest cash to date occurred when she took down the European Poker Tour Main Event back in 2006 for £500,000. Childs, on the other hand, may be best remembered for his seventh-place finish in the 2007 WSOP Main Event - good for $705,229.
Also in the hunt is Max Steinberg (518,000) who already won a bracelet earlier this year in Event #33: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em. A win here today would put Steinberg in an elite club of multiple bracelet winners in a single year.
Here is the seating chart going into Day 3:
Table
Seat
Player
Chips
402
1
Georgios Tzimas
349,000
402
2
Marcio Cid
572,000
402
3
--Empty —
402
4
Lee Childs
501,000
402
5
— Empty —
402
6
Peter Kamaras
197,000
402
7
Hai Chu
565,000
402
8
Zachary Humphrey
404,000
402
9
Ryan Hughes
832,000
403
1
Vladimir Mefodichev
802,000
403
2
Matthew Sahagian
198,000
403
3
Neil Willerson
671,000
403
4
Age Ravn
345,000
403
5
Michael Batell
269,000
403
6
Frederic Soria
653,000
403
7
Bryan Piccioli
1,097,000
403
8
— Empty —
403
9
— Empty —
407
1
Luke Nettles
332,000
407
2
— Empty —
407
3
Jeffrey Bryan
214,000
407
4
Carl Edwards
212,000
407
5
Matthew Graham
421,000
407
6
James Rann
205,000
407
7
Randy Ashe
1,150,000
407
8
— Empty —
407
9
Paul Ratchford
390,000
408
1
— Empty —
408
2
Victoria Coren
934,000
408
3
Max Steinberg
518,000
408
4
Darin Dawson
232,000
408
5
— Empty —
408
6
Lanny Levine
368,000
408
7
Hugh Henderson
1,168,000
408
8
Getty Mattingsley
206,000
408
9
Sylvain Gonon
470,000
Play is set to resume at 2:00 PM PST - where we will play down to a final table and eventual champion! Please stick with us here at PokerNews as we provide you with all the action!
Vladimir Mefodichev opened to 45,000 from the cutoff only to find Carl Edwards ship all in from the small blind for his last 210,000. Mefodichev sat shuffling chips while pondering his action.
"It's a gamble," said Mefodichev before plopping down enough chips to make the call. Mefodichev showed and was against Edwards' .
The flop came .
"That makes it fun," someone from the other end of the table commented. Mefodichev was ahead with his pair but Edwards had any king, queen, or spade as outs.
Unfortunately for Edwards, the turn and river brought the and the respectively, ensuring that he would be our eighteenth place finisher.
Victoria Coren opened the action with a raise to 45,000 from the hijack. Randy Ashe called from the cutoff and Lanny Levine tagged along from the small blind as well.
The flop was and Levine quickly tapped the table. Coren continued out with a bet of 150,000. Ashe thought for a moment before dropping 300,000 into the center and Levine got out of the way.
"Wow," Coren muttered. "Really?" About thirty seconds passed before Coren said "I guess I'm all in."
Ashe announced a call and showed for bottom set which was crushing Coren's . The turn and river were the and the and just like that Coren was sent packing.
It was folded around to Lee Childs in the cutoff seat, who announced he was all in for a bit under 300,000. Action then folded over to Ryan Hughes in the small blind, who announced he was also all in. Everyone else got out of the way and hands were revealed.
Hughes:
Lee:
Lee shot up from his seat and said, "C'mon!" clearly sweating the race situation.
Unfortunately for Lee, the board left Hughes with a pair of jacks and Lee was eliminated.
Bryan Piccioli opened to 48,000 from under-the-gun and Hai Chu called from middle position. Action the folded over to Michael Batell in on the button, who announced he was all in for about 430,000 total. Piccioli quckly mucked, but Chu asked for a count and called after some deliberation to put Batell at risk.
Batell:
Chu:
Batell was in great shape to double, however, the flop came , leaving Chu with a set of tens. The turn and river bricked out for Batell and he was eliminated.
Action folded to Matthew Graham's small blind. Graham raised to 51,000 and Paul Ratchford replied by moving all in from the big blind. Graham released a sigh and announced a call.
Graham:
Ratchford:
Ratchford retained his lead through the flop of but was in need of help when the struck fourth street and paired Graham. The on the river gave Graham two pair and ensured Ratchford's elimination from this tournament.
Marcio Cid opened to 51,000 from the button and action folded over to Zachary Humphrey in the big blind, who three-bet to 153,000. Cid responded by pushing all in for his last 700,000 and Humphrey made the call to put Cid at risk.
Cid:
Humphrey:
The board failed to improve Cid's hand and he was sent to the rail.
With the flop reading Lanny Levine announced that he was all in for his last 410,000. Ryan Hughes quickly called and Randy Ashe got out of the way. Hughes tabled and was crushing Levine's for king high.
The turn was the which left Levine drawing dead to the river. Levine will take home $42,656 in tournament winnings.
Peter Kamaras opened to 70,000 from under-the-gun and action folded around to Neil Willerson on the button, who three-bet to 200,000 and change. Action folded back around to Kamaras, who announced he was all in for about 700,000 total. Willerson quickly called to put Kamaras at risk.
Kamaras:
Willerson:
The board was of no help to Kamaras and he was eliminated just shy of a final table.
Ryan Hughes opened with a raise to 65,000 and received four callers to the flop.
The dealer produced a flop of and two checks came to Sylvain Gonon who bet out 175,000. Neil Willerson called and the rest of the table folded. The two went heads up to the turn. Gonon moved a large stack of green t25,000 chips into the center for a bet totaling 500,000.
Willerson contemplated for a moment before moving a stack of green chips of his own into the middle for a call. The river was the and Gonon checked. Willerson announced that he was all in a Gonon snap-called. Willerson showed for the nuts and a frustrated Gonon threw his {8h across the table. Gonon's flopped set was defeated by Willerson's flush and he was sent to the rail. Willerson's stack is now sitting at about 3,800,000 in chips.
Gonon's elimination has now set in motion the final table of this World Series of Poker event.