The action began when Phil Ivey raised to 120,000 from the hijack. David Eldridge called from the cutoff, and the rest of the table folded to take two players to the flop.
Ivey and Eldridge both checked the K♥9♦3♦ flop.
When the 10♠ came on the turn, Ivey checked, but Eldridge opted to fire 180,000. Ivey folded in response as Eldridge won the pot.
The hand began when Sean Winter chose to raise to 140,000 from under the gun. Roman Hrabec raised to 480,000 in the next seat over, which was enough to put Winter all in.
The table folded around, and Winter called to head to a showdown.
Sean Winter: K♠K♦J♠2♣
Roman Hrabec: A♦A♥J♥7♦
Winter needed help to stay alive, but the 4♣6♦7♥6♥Q♥ runout instead improved Hrabec to a flush to send Winter out of the tournament.
Action folded to David Eldridge on the button, who raised to 115,000. Ka Kwan Lau then three-bet from the small blind to 460,000. The big blind got out of the way, and Eldridge moved all in, covering Lau's stack. Lau made the call, and the cards were turned on their backs.
Ka Kwan Lau: A♠Q♥J♥3♦
David Eldridge: Q♠Q♣J♣6♠
The flop gave Lau a flush draw, coming 5♥8♥6♦, and he didn't need to wait long to hit it. The turn provided the 9♥, and the inconsequential river came the 8♦.
The dealer counted down Lau's full stack, confirming it to be 770,000. A dismayed Eldridge then slid a stack of chips to his opponent, giving him a late night double-up.
Heading to a flop of 7♥7♦2♥ with around 200,000 in the middle, Erick Lindgren tossed in a bet of 75,000 from early position. Roussos Koliakoudakis check-raised to 250,000 from the big blind and Lindgren called.
The turn brought the 4♥ and Koliakoudakis shoved all in for roughly 450,000. Lindgren nearly beat him into the pot and the cards were tabled.
Koliakoudakis flopped a full house but Lindgren turned a bigger one, leaving Koliakoudakis drawing to just a single out. The river was the 9♥ and Koliakoudakis headed to collect his payout.
Action was joined as Jonas Kronwitter and Phil Ivey were locked in battle. There were 580,000 chips already in the middle, and a flop of K♣2♣Q♥ had already been dealt.
Both players checked the flop, but when Kronwitter checked again on the 8♥ turn, Ivey bet 580,000.
Kronwitter didn't waste any time in folding, and Ivey continued to build his stack towards the end of the day.
Talal Shakerchi raised from the cutoff to 120,000, and Phil Ivey, on the button, three-bet to 420,000. Action folded back to Shakerchi, who elected to call.
The flop came down a monotone 7♣10♣3♣, and both players checked.
The dealer then revealed the 6♠ turn, and Shakerchi bet out for 475,000. Ivey called, and the players went to a river.
The 10♠ paired the board but didn't slow Shakerchi down, as he bet 625,000. Ivey snap-called and received the bad news.
Shakerchi turned over A♣Q♣J♦9♦ for the flopped nut flush. Ivey turned over just the K♣ and the 4♣, showing he had flopped the second nut flush.
Shakerchi suggested to Ivey that all the chips should have ended up in the middle, as he pulled in a mammoth pot with just a few hands remaining.
During the last five hands of the night, Thomas Taylor and Petko Tsakov clashed in an all-in pot when Taylor raised from the hijack to 100,000 and was re-raised by Tsakov to 360,000. Taylor called to see a flop.
The flop fanned out A♦K♥5♦. Taylor checked, and Tsakov bet 700,000 to put Taylor all-in. Taylor called to go to a showdown.
Thomas Taylor: K♦Q♥J♦2♥
Petko Tsakov: A♠A♣10♣3♠
Taylor had a straight draw and a flush draw, but none of his outs appeared when the turn came 8♥ and the river came 3♣ to send Taylor out of the tournament during the twilight of Day 2.
With the two-card variant of High Rollers wrapped up yesterday, it was time for everyone to turn their attention to the "Great Game of PLO." Over the next couple of weeks, many pot-limit Omaha High Rollers will take place at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas and the four-card specialists will have their sights set on winning a World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
Today, a massive turnout flooded the tables inside the Horseshoe Events Center for Day 2 of Event #51: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha, which attracted a total of 489 entries. Over the course of 10 levels, the field was whittled down to just 28 players who advanced to Day 3 of this four-day competition. Each player will be hoping to grab the biggest chunk of the $11.5 million prize pool with the $2,292,155 first-place prize.
Leading the field with a massive stack of 7,845,000 chips, good for nearly 200 big blinds, is Australian Najeem Ajez. In the late stages of the day, Ajez cemented his lead at the top of the leaderboard with a pair of knockouts, including Sean Winter.
Ajez just started playing in Las Vegas last year, but he is still looking for his first WSOP final table and his first cash this summer. The majority of his $2.5 million career earnings stem from his native land, "Down Under," but an extended run in this event could mark his largest ever score.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Najeem Ajez
Australia
7,845,000
157
2
Lautaro Guerra
Spain
6,444,000
129
3
Tomasz Gluszko
Poland
4,400,000
88
4
Petko Tsakov
United States
4,255,000
85
5
Gjergj Sinishtaj
United States
4,255,000
85
6
Daniel Geeng
United States
4,205,000
84
7
Bryn Kenney
United States
3,965,000
79
8
Talal Shakerchi
United Kingdom
3,850,000
77
9
Frank Brannan
United States
3,565,000
71
10
Isaac Haxton
United States
3,545,000
71
Revenge is on the Table
This large buy-in event attracted many of the usual suspects that you would see in the no-limit hold'em high rollers, along with the PLO specialists. A whopping 489 players ponied up the $25,000 to play this event, including 119 that entered the field during the last two levels of late registration today.
There was no surprise that Martin Kabrhel and David Peters landed next to each other after the hand that has gone viral across the world from just a couple of days ago. This time, the Czech Joker got his revenge on Peters, in what he called "Revenge of the Sith" when he sent Peters to the rail.
However, Alex Foxen soon took the seat of Peters and another rivalry restarted. Despite Kabrhel getting the better of Foxen in the last few events, some could say that revenge is a dish best served cold. The two were engaged in a heads-up pot where Foxen fired out three barrels, the last of which was for all of Kabrhel's chips. After making the call, Kabrhel was given some of his own medicine when Foxen gave him a slow roll, ultimately showing a full house to eliminate Kabrhel before the dinner break.
Martin Kabrhel and Alex Foxen
Big Money Bubble
Upon returning from an extended break, the field had its sights set on the money bubble, just a few eliminations away. The action was moving at a snail's pace and the tournament director opted to go hand-for-hand earlier than expected. On the stone bubble, it was Cliff Josephy who put himself at risk with kings and deuces. However, Thomas Taylor turned a flush and Josephy was left drawing dead to the river.
The remaining players were guaranteed a payday of at least $50,205 and it appeared to be a race to see who could collect the money the fastest. A line to the payout desk ensued as the short stacks dropped like flies. Some of the notables to cash out without advancing included Ryan Riess, Jeremy Ausmus, Daniel Negreanu, and Laszlo 'omaha4rollz' Bujtas. Foxen had one of the biggest stacks in the room at one point in the day, however, he was forced to settle for a 39th-place finish and just over $61,000.
Some other notables to keep an eye on that advanced to Day 3 include Lautaro Guerra, Isaac Haxton, Erick Lindgren, and Bryn Kenney. There is no question that these players all have the talent and experience required to make another deep run and add to their bracelet collections.
Lautaro Guerra
Remaining players will return for Day 3 at 12 p.m. local time with the action resuming on Level 21 and the blinds at 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 big blind ante. There will be one table rotated through the PokerGO stream throughout the day until just five players remain to compete on the final day.
Stay tuned to the PokerNews live reporting for all of the up-to-date action en route to the final table and eventually crowning a champion.
