Day 2 of Event #37: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em started with 238 players. All of them knew they had cashed for at least $1,678, but they had their sights set on the first prize of $292,880 and the gold WSOP bracelet.
Twenty players will come back on Wednesday to play for the win. The overwhelming chip leader after Day 2 is Chris Johnson with 1,242,000 chips after having knocked out Craig Varnell in the last minutes of the day. Second in chips is Vlad Darie with 902,000, and third in the chip counts is Joep Raemakers with 890,000. Other notables still in the hunt are Day 1 leader Chad Eveslage (564,000), Michael Gathy (672,000), and Eric Blair (825,000).
Among those who did not make it through the day were Barry Greenstein, Martin Jacobson, Mark Seif, Louis Salter, and defending champion Chase Bianchi, who left the tournament in 28th place.
Day 3 will kick off at noon on Wednesday in the Brasilia room and play down to a winner. For a complete look at the seat draw, visit WSOP.com. You can follow all the updates here at PokerNews.
Shaun Davis, in the under-the-gun position, raised to 22,000. Jeff Blenkarn, in mid-position, called. Michael Bernat, on the button, shoved all in for 136,000 in total. Davis also shoved all in which made Blenkarn take a bit of time to consider his options. In the end, he folded.
Shaun Davis:
Michael Bernat:
The board ran out - no help for Bernat and he's been eliminated.
Shaun Davis, in the under-the-gun position, raised to 22,000. Phillippe Ktorza, in the hijack, went all in. Davis asked the dealer for a count. Ktorza had 95,000 left in total. Davis called.
Shaun Davis:
Phillippe Ktorza:
The board ran out - Davis knocks out Ktorza with a flopped straight.
On a flop, Reginald Hampton, in the big blind and Michael Gathy, on the button, were the two players involved. Hampton bet 40,000, and Gathy called,
The turn was the . Hampton bet 50,000, and Gathy called again.
The on the river completed the board, and Hampton bet 100,000. Gathy took the time to think, wanting to see how much Hampton still had behind. In the end, Gathy folded.
"Show the bluff!" the rest of the table said. Hampton turned over for a stone-cold bluff.