Taylor Black went all in and when asked how much, he said, "Nine big blinds."
David Williams said, "Well, if you put it like that, I have to call."
Taylor Black: 10♥10♣
David Williams: K♦J♥
The flop held true for Black as it fanned across 3♥2♣7♥. The turned 6♠ was fine for him too. At this point Williams split his hand apart and pushed the J♥ above where the river would land and when the J♦ rolled off he reminded everyone that it was a "skill game".
Black was eager to get back on the felt and rushed to try to late register the $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em happening just a few tables over.
After an open to 125,000 by Eric Wasserson, Xizhe Yuan moved all in for 960,000 and action folded back around to Wasserson.
Wasserson then went into the tank for around 30 seconds before he finally shook his head and made the call to put Yuan at risk.
Xizhe Yuan: K♦J♣
Eric Wasserson: A♣9♠
Yuan would need some help to stay alive, but the flop of 2♥A♦4♦ made it a lot harder as Wasserson paired his ace. The 4♥ on the turn left him drawing dead and the 5♦ completed the board as he headed to the payout desk in 11th place.
Mason Vieth and Kevin Eyster had a battle of the blinds, completing their raising battle with an all in and a call. Vieth seemed to sense bad news, as he was heard hoping his opponent had big slick but it wasn't the case.
Mason Vieth: Q♣Q♦
Kevin Eyster: A♣A♦
Veith was up and out of his seat sweating the board and hoping for a queen but Eyster's aces held when the board ran out 4♥J♣6♥4♣3♠ and Veith went on his way.
Jack Salter moved all in preflop for 435,000 and action folded to Jesse Lonis, who had just lost most of his stack to Wesley Fei a few hands before. Lonis moved all in for slightly less, and Dong Meng shoved over the top, covering both.
"It's a bit of a s**t sandwich over there, isn't it?" James Bullimore joked at Drew Gonzalez, who was last to act and faced with three all-ins.
Gonzalez shook his head and laughed as he tossed in his cards and the other three tabled their hands.
Jesse Lonis: A♣10♠
Jack Salter: K♦Q♣
Dong Meng: A♠J♦
"Wow, the king-queen is so live!" Salter declared as he saw what he was up against.
Unfortunately for him and Lonis, the board ran out 8♦3♣2♦4♠7♠ for Meng to scoop the pot with his ace-jack high and they were both sent to the payout desk.
Short-stacked Jack Maleeh moved all in preflop and Brady Hinnegan shoved over the top to his direct left. The other players folded around and the two exposed their cards.
Jack Maleeh: 4♦4♥
Brady Hinnegan:K♦K♠
When Maleeh saw what he was up against, he sighed and began to gather his belongings as he knew hew would need a lot of help to survive. Unfortunately, the runout of Q♥6♥J♠8♠5♦ did not save him and he was eliminated in 16th place.
Connor Heelis and Jack Salter were also quick to get their chips in the middle preflop at the start of day and they were also in a classic flip.
Connor Heelis: J♠10♠
Jack Salter: 2♦2♣
The flop scrolled across 4♥5♥5♠, keeping Salter in front, but the turn was a sweat with the 8♠, giving Heelis the flush draw. Unfortunately for Heelis, it wasn't meant to be and the the A♣ worked as a brick on the river.
Welcome to Day 2 of Event #89: $1,000 FLIP & GO No-Limit Hold'em presented by GG Poker at the 2023 World Series of Poker, where the final 18 return to Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to crown a champion today.
A total of 128 players survived the Flip stage of this unique event, creating a prize pool of $1,182,810. The winner will take home $160,490 and the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
The field is led by Pete Chen, returning to action today with 75 big blinds. Chen is followed by James Bullimore and Mason Vieth, both looking to close the gap as the battle for the WSOP hardware heats up.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Pete Chen
Taiwan
2,990,000
75
2
James Bullimore
United Kingdom
1,840,000
46
3
Mason Vieth
United States
1,715,000
43
4
Jack Salter
United Kingdom
1,675,000
42
5
Dong Meng
United States
1,420,000
36
6
Xizhe Yuan
United Kingdom
1,245,000
31
7
Eric Wasserson
United States
1,200,000
30
8
Jesse Lonis
United States
1,120,000
28
9
Drew Gonzalez
United States
960,000
24
10
Brady Hinnegan
Canada
945,000
24
Among the notables returning for Day 2 are WSOP bracelet winners Kevin Eyster, Jesse Lonis and David Williams.
The action resumes at 12:00 p.m. local time with 30-minute levels and blinds at 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante. Play will include 15-minute breaks after every four levels, with a dinner break to scheduled later in the day.
Stay tuned to the PokerNews live reporting team for full coverage as we play down to a champion tonight.