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Dan Heimiller recently moved to a new table, and he is thriving in his new location.
We arrived at the table on the river of a recent hand, with the board reading 
. Action had checked to Dan Heimiller, who put out a bet of 20,000. His opponent thought for a minute, then pushed forward a stack of chips to call. Heimiller turned over 
for a straight, and his opponent mucked.
Heimiller now has 112,000 in chips.
Level: 15
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
We saw a player quietly adding a few more chips to an already sizable stack, and after a bit of investigation, we found out that longtime tournament player Makram Merhom was the proud owner.
While Merhom's name may not ring a bell for the casual poker fan, a quick search of the Hendon Mob database shows that the California circuit grinder rubs elbows with some pretty elite company when it comes to all-time tournament cashes.
Ranked 43rd on that website's comprehensive list of lifetime cashes in poker tournaments played on American soil, with 164 spread out over multiple decades, Merhom has actually made the money more times in U.S. play than Barry Greenstein (156), Phil Ivey (132), and Johnny Chan (130).
The man known as Mak to his friends can add another cash to his impressive resume, after making the money here in the Seniors Championship, and with more than double the average stack at the moment Merhom has put himself in position to snag the biggest score in his illustrious poker career.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
121,000 | 66,100 |
We arrived at the table to see a showdown, with the board reading 
. Marcel Sabag showed 
for a pair eights. Another player held and had been ahead preflop, but Alan Losoff held 
and had rivered a straight to knock out both opponents.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
102,000 | -6,000 |
In most tournaments, players wouldn't be caught dead reading a poker book at the table for fear they would be viewed as a novice. That doesn't seem to be the case in this tournament. There have been several books spotted at the table but the best may be "How to Win No-Limit Hold'em Tournaments" by Don Vines and Tom McEvoy. It just so happens to be open to Chapter 4: Key Concepts of Tournament Poker. Good luck, sir. You may want to read a bit faster.
We came up as Young Ji was facing an all in bet from Dave Gomersall with the 
board already dealt. Ji got out of his chair to count his chips and to asses the situation. He eventually made the call with only to see the 
of Gomersall.
He had a mini meltdown but his opponent came over to shake his hand and he did so with a smile on his face, congratulating his opponent on his hand. Ji is visibly disappointed but he is putting up a good show. "It's great to be here. It's a good day."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
123,000 | 87,600 |
|
23,000 | -15,000 |
James Miller is rapidly adding chips to his stack, and other players at the table are giving him a lot of credit. In a recent hand, Miller raised to 4,500 from late position, the button called, and then the small blind three-bet to 11,000. Miller called, the button folded, and the players saw the flop heads-up. The dealer spread 
, and the small blind checked. Miller bet 10,000 and his opponent folded 
face up, apparently putting Miller on an ace.
After the hand, Miller sits comfortably with 226,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
226,000 | 100,700 |
While Day 2 has not seen Young Ji as ebullient as he was yesterday, the excitable tournament veteran has still been involved in the action.
A pair have hands Ji recently played illustrate the roller coaster of emotions that defines the game of poker.
First, Ji played a heads-up pot with the board reading 
, having his bets called on the flop and fourth street. On the river, Ji led out for 4,500, and his opponent looked him up, but mucked when Ji confidently rolled over the for two pair.
Just moments after that win, Ji looked down to behold the prettiest sight in poker: 
in the hole. With two limpers in the pot, Ji raised his button to 7,500, and both Stephen Lutz and the other player came along.
On the 
flop, the first player checked to Lutz, who immediately moved all in. Delighted at the turn of events, Ji snap-shoved over the top, trying to isolate the at risk Lutz. That's when things became a little more interesting.
The third player in the pot also pushed his stack forward, and suddenly Ji's pocket rockets looked like a hand that had been cracked.
Showdown:
Ji:
Lutz:
Unknown Player: 
Although it had appeared that one of the all-in players must have hit the flop hard, both revealed merely a single pair, and Ji was pleasantly surprised to see his aces out in front.
Turn:
River:
It was all a con for Ji, who was poised on the precipice of huge double elimination, only to see the rug pulled out from under him with a jack on the turn. With this loss, Ji will have to rebound in a hurry if he hopes to make his second consecutive deep run here at the World Series of Poker. Lutz, meanwhile, managed to triple up from way behind, and with this win he moved well above the average chip stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
72,000 | 43,200 |
|
|
38,000 | -41,000 |
Marcel Sabag, who was nearly eliminated on the third hand of day one, has had a fairly short stack all day but is still surviving. According to Sabag, he recently doubled up with pocket deuces when he flopped a set against pocket fives.
He currently sits with 25,000 and is looking to add to his stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
25,000 | 9,000 |
We arrived at the table on the flop with the board showing 
to see Daryl and another player get all their chips in the middle. Katz turned over , and his opponent showed 
. Both players had flopped top two pair, and it looked like it would be a split pot. The turn and river, however, came 
, , giving Katz a flush and knocking his opponent out of the tournament.
After the hand, Katz was up to 120,000. He lost a few chips on the next hand trying to knock out a short stack, and now sits with 108,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
108,000 | 61,900 |
