Day 2 of Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold'em has come to a close here in the Amazon Room. The day began with 60 players returning to the felt, all vying to be part of the top 16 and make the money. At the end of the day, it was Al Decarolis who finished with the largest stack among that elite group, bagging up 1.261 million in chips.
Decarolis, a restaurant owner from Los Angeles who spends most of his time in Costa Rica, had no live tournament cashes to his name prior to today. Now, this restaurateur leads the final 16 players in the third-largest buy-in event of the 2014 WSOP. On his path to the top, Decarolis scored a key double up early in the day against start-of-day chip leader Vanessa Selbst. In that hand, Decarolis flopped a set of tens against Selbst's top two pair and held for a double up. Decarolis was able to springboard his early success into domination later in the day as he sent 2013 WSOP ONE DROP High Roller champion Tony Gregg to the rail.
While Decarolis holds the top position coming into Day 3, several notable names are hot on his heels. JC Tran, who finished in fifth place in the 2013 WSOP Main Event, bagged up the second largest stack of the day with 1.251 million. Rounding out the top three is none other than Selbst, who rode her start-of-day chip lead to finish with 1.224 million.
The returning field was positively stacked with notable names and faces. Unfortunately for most of those players, their run at the second bracelet of the 2014 WSOP would come to an end by the bag and tag. Players like Tim West, Daniel Negreanu, Andrew Lichtenberger, Mark Radoja, Jason Mercier, David Benefield, Sam Trickett, Phil Hellmuth and Eugene Katchalov all fell before the day came to a close.
Phil Ivey was on the hunt for his tenth bracelet today but ended up falling just short of the money. In a late-day confrontation with Tran, Ivey flopped a Broadway straight against Tran's flopped flush. Tran held up as the board finished and Ivey was eliminated in 18th place. Soon after Ivey's elimination, John Juanda became the official bubble boy when he fell at the hands of Robert Tepper.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. local time in the Amazon Room where the players will take their seats for four-handed action. Play will continue four-handed until the final four players are reached. From there, heads up matches will occur to determine the winner. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide all of the latest from the tournament felt! Goodnight!
Eugene Katchalov was first to act, and raised to 20,000. JC Tran three-bet to 50,000 on his direct left, Phil Ivey moved all in for 325,000 on his direct left, and Katchalov tanked for a minute or so before calling all-in for 275,000. Tran folded.
Katchalov:
Ivey:
The Ukrainian was in great shape to double, but the flop gave Ivey a set of nines. The on the turn left Katchalov with two outs to survive, and the on the river was not one of them.
He hit the rail, while the nine-time WSOP bracelet winner is now up to 654,000 chips.
After losing a big chunk of his stack to JC Tran, Phil Ivey raised to what looked like 20,000 on the button. Justin Bonomo moved all in for around 150,000 out of the small blind, and Ivey called.
Ivey:
Bonomo:
Ivey improved to two pair on a flop of , but Bonomo could still survive with running kings, tens, or a queen for a straight. The turn () and river () were both bricks, however, and Bonomo was eliminated.
Phil Ivey opened with a raise to 20,000 from the cutoff and it folded around to Eugene Katchalov in the big blind who moved all in. Ivey called all in for his tournament life of 148,000 and the cards were turned over.
Ivey showed and was off to the races against Katchalov's . The flop came down and Katchalov's sixes remained out in front. That all changed on the turn, however, as the struck the felt and gave Ivey the lead with a pair of kings. The completed the board and Ivey secured a double up.
Ivey's stack now sits around 305,000 while Katchalov has fallen to about 110,000.
The 2014 World Series of Poker is officially underway and the crew brings you the first podcast of the summer. Rich, Donnie and Jason discuss the 25K Fantasy draft, David "ODB" Baker's fantasy league and the first open event of the summer, Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold'em.
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Al Decarolis raised to 16,000 in the cutoff, Tony Gregg, known in some circles as the "End Boss," called on the button and Jason Mo defended his big blind. The flop fell , Mo checked and Decarolis continued for 25,000. Only Gregg called. The turn was the , Gregg called another 60,000 from Decarolis and the completed the board.
Decarolis checked, Gregg moved all in for 100,000 or so, and Decarolis called. The 2013 WSOP ONE DROP High Roller winner turned over , then quickly mucked the wired aces when Decarlois revealed for trip jacks.
"Good luck, everyone," Gregg told the table before exiting.
Back in 2011, Brian Rast defeated Phil Hellmuth in heads-up play in the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship. It was a memorable moment as Hellmuth was pursuing his twelfth bracelet only to have it snatched away after losing three crucial flips.
Ever since then, the two have had a bit of a rivalry and the legend of it has grown here in the $25K. It happened when Jason Mo opened for 14,000 from the hijack and Hellmuth called from the cutoff. Rast then three-bet to 36,000 from the button, Mo folded and Hellmuth snap-shoved for 96,000 more. Rast seemed put off by the insta-shove, and he hit the tank.
"I'll take it right here," Hellmuth told him, seemingly content with what had already been pulled into the middle. Rast thought a little more and then made the call.
Hellmuth:
Rast:
Hellmuth was on his feet for the race, but he didn't like it when the flop fell to give Rast the lead.
"That's why I'm a champion," Hellmuth mumbled to himself.
The "Poker Brat" then watched helplessly as the was put out on the turn followed by the on the river.
"Just remember that one later, Rasty," Hellmuth warned before exiting the tournament floor.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
.
flop gave Ivey a set of nines. The 
on the turn left Katchalov with two outs to survive, and the 
, but Bonomo could still survive with running kings, tens, or a queen for a straight. The turn (
) and river (
) were both bricks, however, and Bonomo was eliminated.
. The flop came down 
and Katchalov's sixes remained out in front. That all changed on the turn, however, as the 
struck the felt and gave Ivey the lead with a pair of kings. The 
completed the board and Ivey secured a double up.
- no help to Terry - giving Mo a set of nines to score the elimination.
