After 10 levels of play, Marco Johnson leads the Day 2 field of Event #8: $2,500 Eight-Game Mix after he bagged 354,300. A mere 19 players remain out of the 192 that started the day, and Johnson stayed among the leaders for most of the day.
One of the survivors is Greg "FBT" Mueller, who is gunning for nothing less than the championship after finishing second in this event to David "ODB" Baker for $167,637 last year. Mueller currently ranks fifth in chips with 258,200. He trails Johnson, Steven Wolansky (321,400), Chris Tryba (287,800) and Dario Alioto (261,400). Other notable remaining players include Robert Mizrachi (157,000), Day 1 chipleader Eric Crain (117,700) and former main event third-place finisher Josh Arieh (101,600).
It seemed that Mueller was on a downward spiral after Crain dealt Mueller a huge blow late in the night during the No-Limit Hold'em round when he made quad jacks after shoving preflop with jack-eight. Mueller managed to battle back to a top-five stack despite the setback.
Greg Raymer, who came into the day with a very short stack, hit the rail early on, and a slew of top pros from the loaded field joined him. They included Phil Ivey, Allen Kessler, David Williams, Todd Brunson, Scott Fischman, Justin Bonomo and Vanessa Selbst among others.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. PST tomorrow, and we will continue to update you as the players are whittled down to a champion, who will earn $225,104 and a coveted gold bracelet.
Eric Crain opened with a preflop raise to 5,000. Greg Mueller three-bet to 13,000 from the next seat over and it folded back to Crain who moved all in for 67,500 total. Mueller went into the tank.
"I told myself if you did that I was going to call," said Mueller to a motionless Crain.
After a moment of posturing, Mueller decided to go with it.
Crain:
Mueller:
Mueller was out in the lead and for a brief moment in time it looked as if it'd stay that way as the was the card in the window. However, as the dealer's hand revealed the rest of the flop, everyone gasped. The final two cards were the and the , giving Crain flopped trips.
The hit the turn and Mueller needed to significantly improve on the river to beat Crain. The river was the , however, and gave Crain quad jacks for good measure.
"I knew you were blowing up that hand," said Mueller. "It's unreal."
Mueller is now down to about 110,000 while Crain has doubled to around 140,000.
Action folded around to the player on the button. He opened with a raise to 3,500. Chris Tryba called out of the big blind.
The flop saw hit the felt and Tryba checked. His opponent continued out for 3,800 and Tryba cut out a raise to 15,000. Tryba's opponent thought for some time before flat calling. Fourth street was the and Tryba slowed down with a check. His opponent checked it back and the hit the river. Two more checks prompted Tryba to show . His opponent mucked and Tryba dragged in the pot. He's now sitting on roughly 172,000 in chips.
We picked up with the action on fourth street to see Scott Fischman throw out a bet. Chris Reslock called and the same action occurred on fifth. Fischman checked sixth and Reslock led out. Fischman called and checked once again on seventh. Reslock bet once more.
Fischman sat up straight in his seat and looked disheartened, but tossed out a call. Reslock rolled over for a straight and Fischman flung his hole cards at the muck. Reslock scooped up the pot and now has about 74,000 in chips. Fischman, on the other hand, has been crippled to only 8,000.
Richard Ashby opened with a raise and Calvin Anderson three-bet enough to put Ashby all in. He called and the boards ran out. Ashby was unable to best Anderson's pair of kings and mucked after looking at his last card. Anderson scooped up the pot and now has about 64,000 in chips.
Robert Mizrachi opened with a raise and Scott Seiver called out of the small blind. The player in the big blind three-bet the action and Mizrachi came back with a four-bet. Seiver called and the big blind called for all of her chips.
Mizrachi drew one, Seiver two, and the big blind three.
Seiver checked and Mizrachi continued. Seiver came back with a raise and Mizrachi made it three bets. Seiver four-bet and Mizrachi called. Both stood pat while the big blind took two.
There was a bet and raise again and the two stood pat once more. The big blind took two again. Seiver bet and Mizrachi called one more bet.
"I have number three," said Seiver fanning . Mizrachi fanned the same hand and the two chopped it up.
"I have a ten," shrugged the big blind as she gathered her belongings and left the tournament area.
We caught up to find David Williams and Jeff Lisandro looking down at a board of . Williams plopped out enough chips to put Lisandro all in and Lisandro called for his tournament life.
Williams:
Lisandro:
The turn was the and the river the , securing Lisandro would double up with his pair of aces. He's now sitting on about 15,000 while WIlliams has fallen to around 65,000.
The buzz inside the walls of the Rio extends beyond just the tournaments on the 2013 World Series of Poker schedule. Online poker in Nevada is a very, very hot topic right now, and WSOP.com is making a lot of noise.
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In addition to the 36-Seat Giveaway, a “Hot Seat” promotion will allow any player who signs up for a WSOP.com online account and wears their WSOP.com patch on their chest at the table while playing an event to be randomly selected to receive 500 bonus dollars deposited directly into their WSOP.com online account once the site has received all regulatory approvals and launches.
With 62 WSOP gold bracelet events and three winners promised for the Main Event, this promotion includes $32,000 worth of value to those participating.
Brendan Taylor raised from late position and Phil Ivey cut out a three-bet. It folded back to Taylor who flat called.
Both players drew two cards and Taylor checked. Ivey continued with his aggression and Taylor called once more. Taylor took one this street and Ivey did the same. Taylor checked a second time, Ivey fired out another bet and Taylor hesitated for a moment. His gaze looked up, pondering his action. Eventually he decided to call and draw one. Ivey stood pat.
Taylor checked once again and Ivey checked it back.
"Ninety-six," said Taylor, spreading on the felt. Ivey mucked and Taylor took it down.
was the card in the window. However, as the dealer's hand revealed the rest of the flop, everyone gasped. The final two cards were the 
and the 
, giving Crain flopped trips.
hit the turn and Mueller needed to significantly improve on the river to beat Crain. The river was the 
, however, and gave Crain quad jacks for good measure.
and Tryba slowed down with a check. His opponent checked it back and the 
hit the river. Two more checks prompted Tryba to show 
. His opponent mucked and Tryba dragged in the pot. He's now sitting on roughly 172,000 in chips.
/ 
/ 
for a straight and Fischman flung his hole cards at the muck. Reslock scooped up the pot and now has about 74,000 in chips. Fischman, on the other hand, has been crippled to only 8,000.
/ 
/ 
. Mizrachi fanned the same hand and the two chopped it up.
