June 16 marked the eighteenth consecutive day of action at the Rio for the 39th Annual World Series of Poker. For a rare change today we saw only five tournaments run today, one less than the six that have been running simultaneously the past fifteen day.

There were to bracelets awarded today and one of them was won a very impressive final table that included Jonny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda and David Benyamine. We have a separate article covering this event with is a must read; see our Event #28 Final Table Recap.

To read about the other bracelet win see: Vitaly Lunkin wins Event #27.

This report will cover the other three tournaments played today:

Event #29 – $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Day 2

Day two began at 2:00 pm with the plans to play down to the final 9 players who would make up the final table. There are 81 players remaining of the initial 716 players who entered the tournament. These 716 players created a first place prize of $434,789! Day two should start fairly gingerly as it’s very close to the money. The top 72 will be in the money.

Coming into day two Alex Zaslavsky had the chip lead and looked to build on that. Here are the top 10 players and chip counts:

Alex Zaslavsky 187,100
Ryan Young 148,500
Matt Vengrin 147,000
Hjalti Jacobsen 132,800
Alex Melnikow 130,100
John Phan 127,400
Earl Plyler 118,100
Douglas Miranda 111,100
Roberto Romanello 107,600
Vincent Peraino 100,600

Some well known faces that are still around for day two include: Jimmy Fricke, Kathy Liebert, Ryan Young, Alex Zaslavsky, David Singer, poker babe Kristy Gazes, Beth Shark and Stuart Paterson.

Key hands of the day:

The bubble boy went to Roberto Romanelo when we ewnt all in preflop with pocket queens against Alex Zaslavsky. Zaslasky held AA and Romanelo needed a lot of help, especially when the flop came 4-6-A! Nothing materialized for Romanelo and he went home empty handed.

From the cutoff Jimmy Fricke moved all in and Thuyen Doan made the call from the big blind. Fricke held Ks-8c and Doan held As-5d. The board ran Ah-4c-Kd-10h-9s and Doan’s pair of aces beat Fricke’s pair of kings. Fricke was sent home in 33rd place and $9,287 in prize money.

Alex Melnikow had a great tournament but finally fell in 27th place which earned him $11,264. On a flop of 6c-10c-Ad Johnny Neckar checked and Melnikow bet out 13,000 and Neckar raised to 52,000, Melnikow called. The turn brought a Jack of diamonds and Neckar bet out 80,000 and Melnikow moved all in and Neckar made the call with A-10. Melnikow showed 3c-4c for a flush draw, which missed when a 5 of hearts came on the river and was eliminated in 27th place.

12th place went to Lee Childs after he ran into David Singer in the blinds. Both players put there chips in and Singer showed Kd-Ks and Childs showed Ad-6d. The board ran dry for Childs and Singer claimed another victim on the day.

Linda Lee finished in 11th place earning $24,702 after she pushed all in preflop for 85,000 and was called by David Singer in the small blind. Singer showed As-Qs and Lee held Qh-Jh. The board ran Ks-9d-5c-Ac-Ah and Singer’s trip aces was more than enough to send Lee home.

With some preflop action and a flop of 8c-6c-4d David Singer put Alex Bolotin and Bolotin called immediately and showed 8-8 for top set and Singer rolled over Q-Q. Singer was unable to hit a queen on the turn and river to catch up and Bolotin doubled through Singer and is now sitting with a impressive chip stack.

When there were 10 players left ESPN asked the players to fill out a bio sheet for the final table coverage. However, all the players refused and claimed that it might be bad luck before actually reaching the final table.

The final table bubble boy was Alex Zaslavsky who was eliminated in 10th place earning $24,702. When he was under the gun he open raised to 45,000 and Matt Bengrin from the small blind re-raise to 100,000. This put Zaslavsky in the tank and he decided to move all in. It was Vengrin’s time to hit the tank and finally made the call. Vengrin showed 10c-10s and Zaslavsky flipped over Ah-Ks. The board ran 4-3-9-3-Q and Vengrin’s hand held up. Zaslavsky failed to his first ever WSOP final table.

Day 2 wrapped up leaving with the final table of 9 players that are competing for a World Series of Poker bracelet and a first place prize of $434,789. The tournament will resume on Wednesday at 2:00 PM.

Matt Vengrin 1,007,500
Johnny Neckar 796,000
David Singer 534,000
Stewart Newman 398,000
John Phan 396,500
Thuy Doan 369,500
David Singer 334,000
Tony Dunst 333,000
Sebastian Segovia 128,500

Event #30 – $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship Day 2

The players came into Day 2 with 97 entrants from an initial 218 players and planned on making it to day 3 by becoming one of the last 9 players remaining that would shape the final table. The $10,000 buy in created a monstrous prize pool that is $2,049,200, with first place scooping up a bracelet and $496,931.

Familiar faces that came into day 2 include: Andy Bloch, Michael Mizrachi, Alex Kravchenk, Dewey Tomko, Hoyt Corkins and Huck Seed.

Some key hands of the day:

Huck Seed and Nick Schulman were eliminated early in the 2nd round of day two (round 10) both players failed to cash as well. Seed was eliminated by Eric Froehlich when seed got all of his chips in with Kh-Qd and Froehlich held 2-2. The board ran Jh-6d-10d-7d-5h which gave Seed several extra outs on the turn and river, but couldn’t get any help. Schulman was eliminated by Spencer Lawrence when Schulman put his last 2,200 chips in on a Ks-2d-6s board. The turn brought a 8 of hearts and a 3 of hearts. Lawrence showed As-Kc and Schulman’s cards hit the muck.

Aaron Katz took out John Hennigan just before the dinner break when Hennigan made a preflop raise and Katz called from the big blind. The flop came 5d-Jd-Qd and Katz bet enough to put Hennigan all in and he called. Katz showed 2-4 for a flush and Hennigan felt he was pot committed when he called with As-6s, apparently. Hennigan needed a ton of help from the poker gods to hit running high diamonds, which failed to happen and Hennigan was eliminated.

A few well known players were also eliminated early in round 12. Howard Lederer ran his Kd-Jd into Brock Parker’s Ad-Qs and Howard couldn’t improve and was sent home out of the money. Todd Brunson was the next big name to bite the dust when a flop came 10c-Ac-4s and Brett Richey check called Brunson’s bet on the flop. The turn brought a 3 of diamonds and Richey continued to bet and Brunson put the rest of his stack in. Richey held As-Ks and Brunson held 9d-10d. The river fell a 4 of hearts and Brunson was eliminated.

The $10,000 World Championship Limit Hold’em event crowned the bubble boy who was Tim Kasparoff. Kasparoff put his remaining chips in from the small blind and got action from Tommy Hang. Kasparoff held pocket eights and Hang held A-10. The flop was great for Kasparoff as he dodged a ace and a ten. Although, the turn was not as friendly with a 10 hitting and Kasparoff failed to hit a eight on the river and was eliminated as the bubble boy.

Minutes after the bubble burst Alex Kravchenko was eliminated in 27th place. His remaining chips went in when the flop came 4s-6h-9c when holding Ks-Qs. His opponent, Jerrod Ankeman held 7c-8c and the 7-8 ended up winning when the turn and river were both clubs. Kravechenko earns $20,492 for his finish.

Eric Froehlich was eliminated in 12th place after he ran into JC Tran who was holding Ah-As. Froehlich had Kd-Qh and was open-ended on a Js-10c-8c flop and all the money went in. Froehlich failed to improve and walked away with $35,861.

The final table bubble boy went to Eric Buchman who finished 10th and earned $35,861. His outing hand came when Aaron Katz preflop raised and was 3-bet by Buchman with Katz calling. The flop came 9c-10c-8s, Katz bet, Buchman raised, and Katz called. After some confusion with what actually happened with this betting on the flop it was determined that Katz was betting in the dark and if Buchman called he would be all in. Buchman made the call when the turn was a 3 of clubs. Katz was holding Qc-8c for a flush and Buchman was holding 10-10 for top set. The river brought a queen and the flush was enough to eliminate Buchman from the tournament.

After Buchman was out the final table was set and will resume play at 2:00 PM tomorrow. Final table players and stack sizes:

Aaron Katz 1,232,00
Rob Hollink 893,000
Tommy Hang 578,000
Jerrod Ankenman 441,000
Andy Bloch 370,000
J.C. Tran 247,000
Cy Jassinowsky 231,000
Chris Vitch 201,000
Brock Parker 166,000

Event #31 – $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-handed

The $2,500 No Limit six handed hold’em event began today at 12:00 PM and had a impressive turn out with 1,012 players. Amongst these players there are several big name players that are looking forward to the aggressive short handed play. Recognizable names include: Hoyt Corkins, Humberto Brenes, Shaun Deeb, Scott Clements, Andy Black, Bill Chen, Lee Watkinson, Hevad Khan, Chad Brown, Chris Lee, Max Pescatori, Barry Greenstein, Greg Raymer, Roy Winston, Men The Master Nguyen, Mini Tran, Jennifer and Tilly. These players will be competing for a gold bracelet and a first place prize of $528,418 out of the $2,327,600 prize pool.

Key hands:

From under the gun Tony Cousineau limped in with Ah-Kc and then called Fu Wong’s raise to 300. The flop came 10d-Qh-Ks and called Wong’s continuation bet of 300. The turn was a 3 of spades and Wong bet 400 and received a call. Cousineau spoke, “Stop Milking it, it’s getting painful over here” The river brought a 7 of clubs and both players checked. Cousineau showed AK and Wong mucked.

Big name early exits that did not have a hand report include: Humberto Brenes, Karl “Mantis” Mahrenholz, Alexander Kostristyn, Beth Shak, Men The Master Nguyen, Phil Ivey and Greg Raymer.

Jamie Gold felt his pocket two’s were good and moved all in preflop and received a call from pocket eights. Gold ended up hitting his two outer on the flop and avoided an eight on the turn and river ahd moved his stack to 7,600 in chips.

The Norwegian Stephan Kjaerstad when his Ac-9c was against 10s-Qs and the board ran 7c-J-s-Jd-Jc and a 10 of diamonds hit the river to send Kjaerstad home.

Team Betfair player John Tabatabai is hoping to have a performance like he did in the World Series of Poker Europe main event where he finished second. He just got all his money in preflop with 9s-9h against Js-Jc and the flop landed him a 9. Tabatabai is now sporting a 9,500 stack after this hand.

From the button David “Devilfish” Ulliot raised all in and received a call from the big blind. Devilfish held AcKd and his opponent held Qh-Jc and board ran A-2-8-3-7 and the Devilfish claimed his first victim and took a nice pot down. Jim Sachinidis found himself eliminated after putting in his short stack all in under the gun with A-6 and was called by KQ. The board ran 7-Q-7-3-4 and Sachinidis was out the door.

From a flop of 9d-7h-Kh Gus Hansen pushed all in holding 9c-7c and was called by an opponent holding a monster draw with Jh-10h. The turn brought a 6 of diamonds and the river hit an 8 of spades giving his opponent a straight and eliminating the Great Dane.

Barry Greenstein had a fatal run in with the Devilfish in a preflop all in. Greenstein pushed all in from the big blind and Devilfish called holding As-Qs and had Greenstein dominated who held Ac-10d. The board ran 8-Q-7-K-10 and Greenstein went back to signing more copies of his new poker book.

Hevad Khan big blind was raised to 3,000 and he decided to make it to 7,000 and the small blind went all in. Khan called with the rest of his chips holding pocket jacks. His opponent held pocket nines and a nine hit the board putting Khan on the rail.

Pocket 9’s seem to be the best hand to hit a set with this tournament and Robert Williamson III just recently found this out when he put all his chips in with KK and received a call from 99. The board came 9-10-2-Q-4. William’s final words after getting eliminated were, “Whatever, are you kidding me?”

Near the end of the day fan favorite Scotty Nguyen felt generous and bought a round of drinks for his table. Nguyen ended up on the “loud” table that could be heard from across the Amazon Room.

Justin Filtz made a well timed double up against Steve Gross. Filtz raised to 3,600 and was re-raised by Dario Minieri to 11,000. Gross raised all in for 58,000, which got Minieri out of the way and Filtz made the call with As-Kh and Gross showed Ah-Qh. The board ran 7-8-8-6-J and Ace King high was good for a double up. This pot put Filtz over 175,000 in chips.

The remaining 73 players out of an original 1,012 entrants will be back for Day 2 on Tuesday and play will resume at 2:00 PM. Day 2 will play down to the final 9 players which will shape the final table. The players are competing once again for a gold WSOP Bracelet and a piece of the $2,327,600 prize pool. Official chip leaders and stack sizes after day 1:

Alon Shahar 264,100
Dario Minieri 191,600
Justin Filtz 180,200
Randall Brueckner 131,100
Frank Rusnak 127,800
Michael Skomac 123,700
Ed Fernandez 121,800
Andrew Emory 121,400
Cory Albertson 120,500
Brendan Keenan 119,100