Raj Vohra has set up shop at his new table in the far corner of the Brasilia room, and we haven't had a chance to catch him in a hand since dinner. However, we did walk by his table and saw that he is down from the last time we saw him. He is still plenty healthy, but his current stack of 280,000 is less then the 370,000 he had around dinner.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
280,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
||
Before the flop, action folded around to the small blind, who raised to 2,600. John Hennigan called from the big blind. Both players checked the 
flop, and the small blind then bet out when the 
fell on the turn. Hennigan called, and the river brought the 
. The small blind checked, and Hennigan bet 7,300. His opponent thought for a minute, then called, and Hennigan turned over 
for a winning pair of queens.
After the hand, "Johnny World" is up to 167,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
167,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
||
Catching the action with the board reading 
and roughly 33,000 in the middle, Max Lehmanski moved all in for his last 16,000 from the button.
His lone opponent in the hand deliberated for nearly two minutes before splashing the pot with a call.
Lehmanski tabled his 
and his opponent mucked as the German moved to 65,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
65,000
49,400
|
49,400 |
When we arrived at the table, Richard Lyndaker and Octo-Niner Russell Thomas were heads up on a flop of 
. Both players checked.
The turn was the , Lyndaker led out for 3,000, and Thomas raised to 9,300. Lyndaker called. The on the river paired the board and brought a third diamond, and Lyndaker checked. Thomas tossed out 15,000, and that bet was good enough win the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
170,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
133,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
Just a few minutes after taking out a player with 
against 
, Rupert Elder got himself into another race that was eerily similar to the last.
In middle position Elder had a bet of 5,800 in front of him after some unknown preflop action. From there, a woman in the big blind had reraised to 14,000. Action folded back around to Elder who effectively moved all in by dropping a stack of 100,000 chips in front of him, which was more than enough to put the player at risk. After a few seconds of thought, the player called it off and the two hands were turned up.
Elder: 
Big Blind: 
The flop was no good for Elder when it came 
, but the turn was just what he needed when the 
peeled off to put him way ahead in the hand. The river was the safe 
and that allowed Elder to notch his second coin-flip knockout in row here in the Main Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
264,000
25,800
|
25,800 |
A selection of images from level 9 of today's Main Event Day 2a/b
Photos by Joe Giron
Ever since Sergio Castelluccio crossed the 300,000-chip mark earlier today, he's managed to maintain his big stack while frequently remaining active.
Just now he was involved again in a hand that saw him and a single opponent reach an 
flop after having together built a pot of about 9,000. The action checked to him, Castelluccio bet 3,600 and his opponent called.
The turn brought the and checks from both players, then the earned another check from Castelluccio's opponent. He then fired 7,400 into the middle and after considering the situation for nearly a minute his opponent called.
Castelluccio turned over his hand — 
— and his eights and queens beat his opponent's 
to earn him yet another pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
328,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
Action folded to Larry Wright, who raised to 2,200 from the cutoff and both the small and big blinds came along. Both blinds checked to Wright on the 
flop and he continued for 2,500. The small blind reraised to 6,200 and the big blind folded.
Wright thought about it and then folded showing a red jack. The small blind showed 
and Wright told him they held the same hand. The small blind seemed a little shocked at that piece of information.
Brigette Lau has been steadily adding chips all day after returning to almost exactly the tourney's starting stack with 29,950 to begin her Day 2a.
Not too long ago she earned a big boost to her stack in a hand that saw her reraising an opponent before the flop, him pushing all in and Lau calling right away.
Her opponent had , but Lau had , and after the board came 
, then , then , another player hit the rail and Lau bounded up over 140,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
145,000
115,050
|
115,050 |
Max Lehmanski got a walk in his big blind. Lehmanski looked at his cards before returning them to the dealer, then turned them up for the table to see: 
.
