Ben Palmer Leads Final 20 Players After Day 2 of $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed; Mercier Seeking Bracelet #6
Another ten levels have come to an end in Event #28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed and 20 players have found themselves a bag moving forward to the final day. Ben Palmer will lead the charge with 1,595,000 chips when the action resumes at 12pm local time at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
Palmer quietly went about his business throughout the day and slowly built up a stack, not engaging in any huge pots while doing so. The Florida native has two cashes at the 2018 World Series of Poker and this will be his third, and largest one, thus far. With over $2,000,000 in career tournament earnings, the already accomplished Palmer is looking for that one big payday and title to go with it to cement his legacy.
It won't be an easy road for the chipleader, however, as there are many well-known poker pros still left in the field that all have their sights set on that WSOP gold bracelet. Yorane Kerignard (1,219,000) won an 800,000 chip pot against Anatoly Filatov (751,000) in the last few hands of the night to become the only other player to bag a seven-figure stack. Darren Rabinowitz also had a steady day but tailed off late, still managing to bag 990,000 to round out the top three.
There is also a five-time bracelet winner contending as none other than Jason Mercier moved on to Day 3 holding 587,000 in chips. Mercier is the only bracelet winner left in the field, but after taking a small break from poker over the last year, there is no doubt he is hungry to win another title. Ana Marquez (682,000) is the lone lady left in the field but proved she has what it takes to battle against the best, sitting at Mercier's table throughout the majority of the day. Some other key names to watch out for include James Mackey (559,000), Gal Yifrach (420,000), Tony Dunst (391,000), and Kyle Hartree (375,000).
Day 2 Action
The day began with 186 players returning from Day 1, and the action got off to a quick start right out of the gates. The short stacks started dropping left and right, while others looked to start building a healthy stack of their own. One of the early surprises was the bustout of Federico Petruzzelli, who came into the day as one of the top stacks but was shown the door before the money bubble.
With 132 players remaining, hand-for-hand play began but it would be long before the bubble burst. Micky Blasi was all in on the flop holding pocket aces and was called by David Mock who flopped an open-ended straight draw. Mock rivered his straight and Blasi became the bubble boy. The remaining 131 players were all guaranteed $4,489.
The field was still full of notable names including WSOP Main Event winners Ryan Riess (65th - $5,809) and Greg Merson (64th - $5,809) who unfortunately fell by the wayside. Some other notables to fall short of moving on include Sergio Aido (54th - $6,555), Manig Loeser (52nd - $6,555), Mike Watson (49th - $6,555), Jeremy Ausmus (39th - $8,902), Cliff Josephy (34th - $10,703), Erik Seidel (29th - $13,132), and Olivier Busquet (26th - $13,132).
The cards will be in the air again on Friday, June 15 at 12:00 p.m. and the plan is to play down to a winner. The action will resume on level 21 with the blinds at 6,000/12,000 and a 2,000 ante. The blinds will continue at 60-minutes in length with a 15-minute break after every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break after the sixth level. A full table redraw will occur with 18, 12, and 7 players remaining throughout the day.
Continue to follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as we bring you all of the live updates throughout the entire event.
. Kyle Hartree checked from the small blind and Anatoly Filatov tossed in a bet of 28,000 from the big blind. Hartree called and the 
landed on the turn.
completed the board. Hartree checked for the third time and Filatov announced all in. Hartree was the one sitting on the shorter stack with around 213,000 and he thought for a minute before electing to lay his hand down.
. The turn was the 
and the river brought the 
. Duta doubled up through Riess, leaving the 2013 Main Event champion with under 6,000 chips. Riess would go on to be eliminated within the next few hands.
but was up against the 
of Alaniz. 
on the turn gave Merson a straight draw but the 
on the river bricked. The 2012 Main Event champion quickly followed Riess to the payout desk to collect their winnings.
and the action checked around to the 
and Joseph check-called a bet of 5,500 from Harmon.
and both players checked to the 
for two pair and Harmon mucked his cards. Joseph was able to take a pot off Harmon who has had a red-hot start to the day, amassing one of the largest stacks in the room.
and an all in was heard from Maxime Heroux. Bozzano quickly called and started celebrating when Heroux tabled 
. Bozzano flipped over 
and Mock made the call.
