Jonathan Little is the Wire-to-Wire Chip Leader After Two Days of Play
With a total of 128 runners returning to compete in today's second day of six-handed action, several of the game's brightest stars were shining on the biggest stage in poker. Jonathan Little turned in a wire-to-wire performance, leading the chip counts after Day 1, and remaining on top by the end of play tonight. Little will return with 1,290,000 at his disposal, after busting Max Steinberg on one of the last hands of the night.
Justin Young, Bertrand Grospellier, Phil Galfond, Brian Hastings, and T.J. Cloutier are just some of the pros who fell short of the money here today, with the level of play intensifying as each hour passed. For the bigger buy-in events held every summer, the game's elite players bring their best to the table, and that fact was evident as the night progressed.
Brian Rast (54th), Olivier Busquet (51st), and Eric Froehlich (49th), Daniel Negreanu (39th), and Justin "Boosted J" Smith (19th) all secured a spot on the payouts list, but for pros of this caliber nothing short of first place was sufficient.
Among the notable names still vying for that coveted win here at the World Series of Poker, and the gold bracelet that goes with it, are Allen Bari (1,191,000), Dan Smith (719,000), Andrew Robl (554,000), Erick Lindgren (525,000), Jonathan Aguiar (455,000), and Lee Markholt (431,000).
Check back with PokerNews tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. local time as the remaining 14 players work their way to the final table stage, and potentially, a life changing bracelet win.
With just a few hands left before bagging and tagging his chips for the night, Max Steinberg scored a key double up through Erick Lindgren, when "E-Dog" tried to bluff Steinberg off of top pair, but a few hands later all of those chips belonged to Jonathan Little.
The carnage began when Little opened for 16,000 holding the button. Steinberg elected to test Little's mettle, three-betting to 56,000 in defense of his small blind. Little then moved all in for roughly 180,000, and Little called rather quickly.
Showdown:
Little:
Steinberg:
The players at the table murmured among themselves when the hands were tabled, as both Steinberg and Little were flipping coins for stacks of chips.
Flop:
Little vaulted into the lead with top pair on the flop, and the on the turn put him further in front. When the completed the board on the river, Steinberg stood to make the long walk out of the Amazon Room, his 15th place finish no consolation after coming so close to a WSOP final table.
After a Dan Smith open from the cutoff and calls from Vasile Buboi (button), James Miller (small blind), and Allen Bari (big blind), the pot was around 90,000 when the flop came .
It checked all around, then the turn brought three more checks followed by a bet of 57,000 from Buboi. Miller then raised to 114,000 and Bari called, forcing folds from both Smith and Buboi.
The river brought the and a rapid all-in push by Miller, called quickly by Bari. Miller showed for two pair, but Bari had for a full house, knocking Miller out. Miller adds a 16th-place finish to his seventh place in Event #26: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship.
Meanwhile Bari is still stacking his chips, but that hand looks to have catapulted him up over 1.1 million to challenge for the chip lead with about 15 minutes left in the last level of the night.
Benjamin Reinhart opened to 20,000 from under the gun, before Andrew Robl asked for a count of Reinhart's stack from the small blind. Getting the information he needed from the dealer, Robl moved all in for around 200,000 in chips, as Reinhart made the call for less.
Reinhart:
Robl:
The board ran out to see Robl take out another player, as he moves up to 360,000 in chips.
Just before the re-draw of the last three tables, a big hand saw Massimo Mosele get crippled down to just 2,000 in chips.
We arrived at the table to find Mosele betting out 50,000 from the small blind and finding a call from Ryan D’Angelo in the big blind on a flop reading . Both checked the on the turn, before the river produced the . Mosele checked, and after short pause, D’Angelo slid out a bet of 110,000 in chips. Mosele also thought for a moment before making the call.
D’Angelo table for bottom two-pair, as Mosele upsettingly showed his .
The re-draw saw Mosele moved into the small blind, so he was all in for his last 1,000 after the other 1,000 was used as his ante.
In that hand, Andrew Robl moved all in from under the gun for 102,000, before Benajmin Reinhart asked for a count. He then also moved all in, as the button got out of the way.
Mosele:
Robl:
Reinhart:
The board ran out , to see Mosele eliminated in 18th place, Reinhart falling to 133,000 and Robl moving up to 220,000 in chips.
Matt Waxman has been open-pushing his short stack several times during Level 19, and just now got a taker in Harry Bienenfeld. Waxman had and Bienenfeld , and when the next five cards came low — — Waxman had won the race to survive.
Soon after the hand Erick Lindgren called over from the next table and subsequent chat brought up the
WSOP Player of the Year race in which Daniel Negreanu (who busted this event in 39th earlier this evening), with Tom Schneider not far behind.
"I think if I win I take the lead," said Waxman to Lindgren. "Yeah, but Schneider has two," replied Lindgren, alluding to Schneider's two bracelets won this summer.
"Yeah, but so would I," noted Waxman, referring to his win in Event #7 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
For now, Waxman's hopes for a second win and a boost in that WSOP POY race remain alive.
On a board of , Erick Lindgren watched Ryan D'Angelo lead out for a bet of 18,000, and he plunked out 46,000 for a raise. D'Angelo called to bring the to the table on the turn, and both players checked.
When the arrived on the river, D'Angelo fired a bet of nearly 100,000 into the pot, and Lindgren released his hand with a pained smile on his face.
Max Steinberg is Trying His Best to Wrest the Chip Lead Away From Jonathan Little
Max Steinberg was sitting comfortably in second position with just 22 runners remaining, but he had his eyes on Jonathan Little's chip lead.
We saw Steinberg tangle with Little twice recently, and both time Little ended the hand unscathed.
First, Steinberg opened to 15,000 from the button, and Little called to take a flop of . Little then check-called a bet of 18,000, and both players tapped the table on the turn. The on the river prompted two more checks, and Little rolled over the for the winner.
Next, Steinberg opened for 19,000 from under the gun, and Little called from the button, while the small blind got in on the action as well. On the flop, Steinberg continued with a bet of 27,000, Little called, and the small blind got out of the way.
The came on the turn, and Steinberg fired his second barrel, making it 59,000 to play. Little called to see the complete the board on the river, and he also called Steinberg's third bet of 125,000 to bring on a showdown.
When Little saw Steinberg's , he offered a "nice hand" while tabling his own , and the pot was chopped up with no harm done.
Dan Smith Just Knocked His Teammate Nicolas Cardyn Out in 24th Place
With two members of Team Ivey Poker seated next to one another at a six-handed table, it was only a matter of time before Nicolas Cardyn and Dan Smith clashed.
In the end, there could be only one, and Smith was the one to lop his opponent's head off in one clean slice.
Cardyn's short stack was already in the middle when we arrived, and Smith made the call with . He had his teammate on the ropes, as Cardyn held the , and a final run out of left Cardyn with no pair.
He exited the tournament floor in 24th place, while Smith was left to carry the mantle of Team Ivey Poker.
Today, Miller is proving that his Seniors run was no fluke by duking it out against competitors that, while only half his age, have likely played millions more hands than he ever will.
We just saw Miller drag another pot his way, with the board reading . Miller's value bet of 40,000 was called on the river, and his for the low straight was good enough for the win.
Miller has survived through a day and half of grueling six-handed action here in Event #32, playing against a star-studded field that included many of the game's elite figures. While Phil Hellmuth and Phil Galfond fell short of the money, and Oivier Busquet and Daniel Negreanu busted shortly after cashing, Miller's still healthy stack puts him squarely in contention to reach his second final table in a single week of WSOP tournament play.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
on the turn put him further in front. When the 
completed the board on the river, Steinberg stood to make the long walk out of the Amazon Room, his 15th place finish no consolation after coming so close to a WSOP final table.
and a rapid all-in push by Miller, called quickly by Bari. Miller showed 
for two pair, but Bari had 
to see Robl take out another player, as he moves up to 360,000 in chips.
. Both checked the 
. Mosele checked, and after short pause, D’Angelo slid out a bet of 110,000 in chips. Mosele also thought for a moment before making the call.
for bottom two-pair, as Mosele upsettingly showed his 
.
— Waxman had won the race to survive.
, Erick Lindgren watched Ryan D'Angelo lead out for a bet of 18,000, and he plunked out 46,000 for a raise. D'Angelo called to bring the 
on the river prompted two more checks, and Little rolled over the 
for the winner.
came on the turn, and Steinberg fired his second barrel, making it 59,000 to play. Little called to see the 
, and the pot was chopped up with no harm done.
