The remaining 23 players of Event #66: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em will return Friday to play down to a winner who will receive $428,423 along with a WSOP gold bracelet.
Day 2 started with 308 players returning and only 14 spots from the money. Yordan Petrov was the unfortunate bubble; his elimination guaranteed the remaining 294 players a minimum payout of $2,248.
Kenny Hallaert ended Day 2 as chip leader with 1,779,000, and only 8,000 chips behind is Schuyler Thornton (1,771,000). Dylan Hortin sits third in chips with 1,571,000. Other notables coming into Day 3 include Chris Klodnicki (1,442,000), Darren Elias (619,000), Ben Zamani (500,000), Alex Rocha (493,000), Vojtech Ruzicka (320,000), Aditya Prasetyo (256,000), and Brian Hastings (201,000).
Tommy Tran began the day as chip leader but finished in 58th. Other notables who cashed but busted before the end of the day were Ben Yu, John Racener, Eddy Sabat, Christian Harder, Dutch Boyd, Joe Serock, and Jackie Glazier.
Day 3 begins at noon in the Miranda room, and PokerNews.com will have all of the live updates and hand-for-hand play from the final table.
Ben Zamani was in middle position and raised to 28,000. Ulrich Schnetter was on the button and made it 80,000 to go. Zamani moved all in for 236,000 and Schnetter called having him covered.
Ben Zamani:
Ulrich Schnetter:
The board ran out and Zamani heads into the last hand of the night with a nice double up.
Kenny Hallaert was under the gun and raised to 22,000. Eugene Schwartz was in middle position and called. Philippe Bretan was on the button and three-bet to 77,000. Hallaert and Schwartz called.
The flop was and Hallaert checked. Schwartz moved all in for approximately 390,000. Bretan called with about 210,000 and Hallaert called having both players covered.
Kenny Hallaert:
Eugene Schwartz:
Philippe Bretan:
Hallaert was in a great spot just needing to fade a club and he did just that when the turn came down the and the river the . Hallaert eliminated both players sending us to the three table re-draw with 26 players remaining and he is now the overall chip leader of the tournament.
Carlos Figueroafernandez limped in from the hijack. Dylan Hortin was in the small blind and raised to 35,000. Figueroafernandez immediately moved all in for roughly 200,000, and Hortin called.
Dylan Hortin:
Carlos Figueroafernandez:
The board ran out , and Hortin held his dominating lead in the hand, scooping up a nice pot and eliminating another player as he approaches the million-chip mark.
Eddy Sabat moved all in for 49,000 from under the gun and was called by a player in middle position. A player in late position moved all in for 250,000, and it folded back to the middle-position player, who folded.
Sabat:
Opponent:
The board ran out , and Sabat was sent home in 50th place, collecting his sixth cash this summer, which includes two final table appearances.
As told by Melissa Gillett, she bluffed all in and got caught on a board. Her opponent bet the turn, Gillett moved all in with her , and her opponent called, holding a . The river was a and no help to Gillett.
Gillett was in good spirits when she busted, as she has gone deep in several WSOP events this summer. For her first summer at the WSOP, she has four total cashes, including this event and a fourth place finish in Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for a total of $149,982.
Gillett said she was planning to to play the Ladies Event, and now she has the freedom to. Expect to see her in the updates tomorrow for Event #70: $10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship (ladies' discounted price is $1,000).
According to a player at the table, a massive pot erupted between Kenny Hallaert and Kevin O'Donnell.
Hallaert opened to 11,500 pre-flop and was called by Kevin O'Donnell in the small blind and Tommy Tran in the big blind.
The flop was and everyone checked to the turn which was the . The blinds checked and Hallaert bet 16,500. O'Donnell called and Tran folded.
The river was the and O'Donnell led out for 51,500. Hallaert moved all in and after about a five minute tank, O'Donnell called. Hallaert tabled for the nut flush and O'Donnell showed for the turned straight. It is unclear how much O'Donnell was left with after the hand and Hallaert's all in was for around 200,000.
A player raised, and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier moved all in from the small blind. He was called by the original raiser and went heads-up for his tournament life.
Elky:
Opponent:
The board ran out , and ElkY held to get a double-up.
and Zamani heads into the last hand of the night with a nice double up.
and Hallaert checked. Schwartz moved all in for approximately 390,000. Bretan called with about 210,000 and Hallaert called having both players covered.
and the river the 
. Hallaert eliminated both players sending us to the three table re-draw with 26 players remaining and he is now the overall chip leader of the tournament.
, and Hortin held his dominating lead in the hand, scooping up a nice pot and eliminating another player as he approaches the million-chip mark.
, and her opponent called, holding a 
and no help to Gillett.
and O'Donnell led out for 51,500. Hallaert moved all in and after about a five minute tank, O'Donnell called. Hallaert tabled 
for the turned straight. It is unclear how much O'Donnell was left with after the hand and Hallaert's all in was for around 200,000.
, and ElkY held to get a double-up.
