Field Narrows for Two Events at the 2006 WSOP

Day 2: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em - The Road to the Final Table

For the second day in a row, the massive Amazon Room at the Rio Hotel and Casino buzzed with the sounds of simultaneous poker tournaments. Over 1,200 players shuffled chips, built stacks, and dragged pots on an afternoon that included both the $1,500 no-limit and $1,500 pot-limit World Series of Poker events.

The first cards of the no-limit tournament hit the air at 2 p.m. PDT. The 122 remaining players, survivors of a starting field of 2,726, all entered action in the money.

Tournament officials roped off the final 13 tables, and fans crowded along the rails to watch the action leading up to the event's final day.

Carlos Mortensen appeared in good position to advance as he entered play near the top of the leader board and spent most of the day building on his already formidable chip stack. Ten minutes before the 7:30 p.m. dinner break, Mortensen eliminated two players on the same hand, and, with over $600,000 in chips, nearly doubled his lead over second-place player Brandon Cantu.

A number of pros who failed to advance past day 2 included Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon, Paul Darden, Bill Gazes, and Tuan Le.

Shortly after midnight, Tom Nguyen was knocked out of the tournament in tenth place and the final table was set. Brandon Cantu enters the final table as the chip leader with $753,000. Carlos Mortensen survived to make the final nine as well. He enters tomorrows play in seventh place with $337,000. The final table will take place tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Day 1: 1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em - Boiling Pot

The pot-limit tournament began at noon PDT with a field of 1,102 players. Some of the biggest names in the sport, many of them having already been eliminated from the no-limit event, turned out in pursuit of the $345,984 first-place prize.

The pros dominated early action and the chip leader board included familiar names like Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Erick Lindgren, Chris Ferguson, and John Juanda.

As the evening progressed, and the money bubble approached, the table action and player demeanors grew increasingly intense. One example of the tournament's mounting tension involved poker pro Tim Phan. He argued with an opponent about an apparent string bet after the player had dropped a $500 chip onto the felt, then proceeded to move all in. Unable to settle the dispute, the dealer called in a floor manager who, in the end, sided with Phan.

With only 99 places paying, the bubble burst shortly after 11 p.m. Play continued for another hour and a half before play ended with only 71 players left. Play will continue tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and for a new episode of "The Circuit" radio show.

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