Event #12: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 Completed
Day 2 Completed
Live Highlights
Eric Crain Leads Back-to-Back Final Tables
Day 2 of Event #12: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em is officially in the books! We began today with 62 players returning out of the original 535 entrants. After just over eight levels of play only the final nine remain with none other than Eric Crain leading the way. Crain, fresh off of a fourth place finish in Event #8: $2,500 Eight-Game Mix, is poised and ready to try once more to earn his first gold WSOP bracelet.
The day began with players returning and vying for a spot among those to cash. Even before the money hit notable players such as Jeremy Ausmus, Griffin Benger, and Melanie Weisner were seen heading to the rail. After the bubble burst, players began dropping at an even more rapid rate with the likes of Martin Staszko, defending champion Nick Jivkov, Matt Stout, Kevin O'Donnell, Adam Geyer, Cary Katz and Jason Mercier walking away with extra money and dreams of winning a WSOP bracelet dashed.
Also returning to the final table is five-time WSOP bracelet winner Allen Cunningham. Cunningham had a relatively quiet day and finally found his stride when he was able to double with set-over-set against Jaspal Brar. Cunningham's stack continued to grow and he will return to the final table second in chips. Cunningham is gunning for his first bracelet since 2007 and his experience will certainly be an asset at this final table.
As the day wore on Crain's stack was on a roller coaster ride. While he managed to build a massive stack, he also managed to double up several short stacked players. Crain's big confrontation came when he and Jonathan Roy butted heads during the final two tables. Crain opened with a raise and Lev Rofman flat called. Roy three-bet a pot-sized raise and Crain potted it right back. Rofman folded and Roy called for his tournament life.
Crain: 
Roy: 
Crain stood on his chair as the dealer fanned a 
flop. The 
on the turn gave Crain several more outs that allowed him to make a straight and a flush. He made the latter on the river when the 
drilled the felt and Roy was suddenly eliminated from play in 15th place. This pot gave Crain a huge chip lead that propelled him into the lead heading to the final table.
On the last hand of the evening Crain won a crucial race to eliminate final table bubble boy and Day 1 chip leader Robert Corcione. The two had all of Corcione's chips in before the flop with Corcione holding 
to Crain's 
. Crain paired his queen on the flop and the rest was history.
Event #12 Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Cunningham | 452,000 |
| 2 | Nicolas Halvorson | 110,000 |
| 3 | Jean-Nicolas Fortin | 47,000 |
| 4 | Eric Crain | 620,000 |
| 5 | Jaspal Brar | 382,000 |
| 6 | Timothy Reilly | 282,000 |
| 7 | Anthony Harb | 178,000 |
| 8 | Lev Rofman | 200,000 |
| 9 | Kenneth Shelton | 160,000 |
Players will return on Friday to play out their final table at 1:00 PM PST. Be sure to stay tuned as PokerNews is on hand to provide you with all of the updates from this exciting final table!
For now, we'll leave you with Kristy Arnett who has the highlights from across the Rio today:
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
|
|
620,000 | |||
|
|
452,000 | 5,000 | ||
|
|
382,000 | -25,000 | ||
|
|
282,000 | -21,000 | ||
|
|
200,000 | -27,000 | ||
|
|
178,000 | |||
|
160,000 | 25,000 | |||
|
110,000 | -65,000 | |||
|
47,000 | -16,000 |
Robert Corcione Eliminated in 10th Place ($10,320)
Timothy Reilly opened with a raise to 20,000 from under the gun and it folded around to Eric Crain who three-bet to 55,000. Robert Corcione moved all in from the big blind and Reilly folded. Crain called and the hands were tabled:
Corcione:
Crain:
Corcione was in the lead at the moment but quickly fell behind when the flop brought 
. The turn was the and Corcione needed a heart or a ten to stay alive in the tournament. It was the 
, however, and he was eliminated from play as the final table bubble boy.
|
|
|
620,000 | 235,000 | ||
|
Busted |
- Level:
- 19
- Blinds:
- 5,000/10,000
- Ante:
- 0
Unofficial Final Table Draw
| Seat | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Allen Cunningham |
| 2 | Nicolas Halvorson |
| 3 | Jean-Nicolas Fortin |
| 4 | Eric Crain |
| 5 | Jaspal Brar |
| 6 | Robert Corcione |
| 7 | Timothy Reilly |
| 8 | Anthony Harb |
| 9 | Lev Rofman |
| 10 | Kenneth Shelton |
|
|
|
447,000 | 17,000 | ||
|
|
|
407,000 | 92,000 | ||
|
|
|
385,000 | -15,000 | ||
|
|
|
303,000 | 83,000 | ||
|
|
|
227,000 | 37,000 | ||
|
|
|
178,000 | -42,000 | ||
|
|
175,000 | -80,000 | |||
|
|
135,000 | -20,000 | |||
|
|
132,000 | 2,000 | |||
|
|
63,000 | -127,000 |
Break
Players are currently on a 20-minute break.
Pim de Goede Eliminated in 11th Place ( $10,320)
Allen Cunningham raised to 16,000. When action folded to Pim De Goede, he went all in with 
and Cunningham called with 
After the flop of 
came, Cunningham stated that the flop was his. But the 
turn was de Goede's giving him and open-ended straight draw. Unfortunately, the 
river did not improve de Goede's hand and he was eliminated in 11th place.
|
|
|
430,000 | 190,000 | ||
|
|
Busted |
James Uschuk Eliminated in 12th Place ($10,320)
Lev Rofman opened with a raise to an unknown amount and James Uschuk three-bet all in for 56,000 from the very next seat over. It folded back around to Rofman who snapped him off.
Uschuk: 
Rofman:
The board ran out 
and Uschuk was unable to improve, eliminating him in 12th place.
|
|
|
190,000 | 80,000 | ||
|
Busted |
Cunningham Doubles Through Brar
Allen Cunningham opened to 20,000 from the small blind and Jaspal Brar called from the big blind. The dealer fanned a flop of 
and Cunningham continued for 16,000. Brar made it 34,000 to go and Cunningham announced all in for 98,000. Brar snapped him off and showed .
A dejected Brar then looked across the table to see Cunningham's hand- the 
for a higher set. The board compelted with the 
and the , allowing Cunningham to double with a superior set. He's now sitting around 240,000 while Brar has fallen to 315,000.
|
|
|
315,000 | -50,000 | ||
|
|
|
240,000 | 115,000 |