Jonathan Little entered this Day 2 as he chip leader, and while he has held relatively steady in terms of his position on the leaderboard, he has dropped a few small pots along the way.
We saw Little playing a pot on the board, and when his opponent tossed out a bet of 10,000, Little's cards went into the muck.
Despite losing a few early skirmishes, Little is still the owner of an above average stack, but with Daniel Negreanu seated two seats to his left, he will have to work hard to protect those chips.
The action started with McLean Karr opening to 3,200 from the hijack, before James Carroll moved all in for 17,400. Karr asked for a count, and made the call, as both players tabled their cards.
Carroll:
Karr:
“Really?” sighed Carroll, as the board ran out to give Karr the victory with a flopped pair of kings.
The question understandably caused us to slow down amid a tour of the tables. It was McLean Karr, currently sporting the only cowboy hat on this side of the room, who had asked the question of Lee Markholt as a hand played out involving two other players at their table.
"About 15 years ago," answered Markholt, who indeed at one time rode extensively. "Did you get eight seconds on your last ride?" asked Karr as a follow-up, and Markholt affirmed that he did. "Going out on top!" said Karr with a grin.
Markholt went on to explain how his uncle had been a world-class rider, which is how he had gotten into the sport. Their conversation was soon cut short, however, as the hand completed and the next hand was dealt, the dealer taking less time to deliver two cards to each of the table's players than had been the length of Markholt's last ride.
We saw Micah Raskin abruptly stand and stride away from the tournament area, signalling that he had just been eliminated.
Sure enough, Justin "Boosted J" Smith was stacking enormous towers of chips net to Raskin's vacant spot at the table, and with his recent win, Smith has eclipsed the 200,000 chip plateau.
Brendon Rubie started the hand by opening to 3,200 from under the gun, before being met with a raise to 7,200 from Petr Bartagov in the cut-off. Rubie then opted to move all in, and was snap-called, as both players tabled their cards.
Rubie:
Bartagov:
Rubie was covered by Bartagov, and when the board ran out , the young Australian was sent to the rail, as his opponent moved up to 110,000 in chips.
Jackie Glazier was just all in for her last 60,000 or so with and in the unfortunate position of being up against the of T.J. Cloutier.
The flop came , then the fell on the turn to improve Cloutier and leave Glazier drawing dead. "It's been lovely playing with you," said Glazier as she shook Cloutier's hand and he returned the compliment before the last remaining woman in the tournament departed.
We saw a preflop raising war erupt between Randy "nanonoko" Lew and Steve Sung, with both players eventually getting their chips into the middle.
The action began when Sung opened for 1,600, and Lew responded with a three-bet to 3,300. Sung then moved all in for his last 60,000 or so, which put Lew to the test for his tournament life.
Lew tanked for at least three minutes before ultimately making the call, shrugging as he turned over the . Sung revealed the and the two were off to the races, but the board ran out , leaving Lew with no pair and no chips.
The hand started with Chris Klodnicki opening to 3,500 from the button, and was called by Daniel Negreanu in the small blind. The flop came down and both players checked, before the fell on the turn. Negreanu quickly threw out a bet of 5,100, and was called moments later, as the was turned over, completing the board.
Negreanu checked over to Klondicki, who took his time, before throwing out a bet of 11,000.
“I’m thinking you have ace-ten, or I got you,” Negreanu said, thinking about his decision. He finally made the call and tabled his which was good to win the hand, as Klodnicki’s cards flew into the muck.
“Ace-ten?” asked Klodnicki, “That’s all?”
“Well I thought you might have that. I just don’t like folding. I always want to know,” concluded Negreanu, as he raked in the pot.
Negreanu moves up to 155,000 as Klodnicki falls down to 97,000 in chips.