Day 2 - The 2006 WPT Festa al LagoBrandi Hawbaker Emerges As Chip Leader On The Second Day Of The World Poker Tour Event |
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The remaining field of 202 players returned to the Fontana Bar for five more levels of tournament poker, and to move one day closer to crowning the first-ever WPT Festa al Lago champion.
Play began at 12:08 p.m. PDT with $400-$800 blinds and $100 antes. After racing off the $25 chips, the players continued to create space by jettisoning each other from the tables. By the 55-minute mark, 20 participants had exited tournament play, an elimination rate of one per minute.
Some players to drop out of contention early on day two included Blair Rodman (on the first hand of the day), Barry Greenstein, Kristy Gazes, Phil Hellmuth, and Jeff Madsen.
While a number of notable pros fell, the biggest hand of early action involved amateur player Brandi Hawbaker. In a heads-up match against Tony Lacastro, Hawbaker called an all-in bet on a K
K
9
8 4 board, and took down the pot when her 9 9 made a full house that bested Lacastro's K J. With both players in the top eight, Lacastro's elimination put Hawbaker at the top of the leaderboard with $245,000.
One level later, another hand with day-changing ramifications occurred, only this time the benefactor was not a tournament newcomer but a former WPT event champion, Victor Ramdin. After turning a straight and taking down a huge four-handed pot (and eliminating Ray Lynn in the process), Ramdin started a steady climb up the leaderboard that put him in the top five by the end of the day.
As the money bubble approached, a number of other pros established themselves as threats to go deep into the tournament. Tim Phan doubled through Patrik Antonius when he turned trip eights and cracked Patrik Antonius's two pair. Shortly after, Nick "The Takeover" Schulman called an all-in bet by Jon Friedberg on a J 6
3 2 board. Schulman's Q J held up against Friedberg's pocket tens and "The Takeover" dragged a pot that bumped his stack up over the $140,000 mark.
At 5:40 p.m. PDT, Mike Matusow sent Paul Magriel home with a turned straight, and the money bubble for the Festa al Lago officially burst. As expected, eliminations came fast in post-bubble play, and Chad Layne earned the distinction of being the first player to exit the tournament with a paycheck ($12,525).
Controversy soon followed when tournament personnel announced that play would stop after every nine eliminations to allow for table redraws. The policy met with open resistance, and no player was more vocal about his displeasure than Mike Matusow. "The Mouth" led an impromptu player revolt and, despite receiving a 20-minute penalty for profanity, helped to bring about the dismissal of the nine-elimination policy.
In a show of solidarity, the remaining field chanted "Free Mike," and Matusow was allowed back into tournament play without missing a hand.
At 9 p.m. PDT, after director Jack McClelland turned the clock off and switched to a six-hand cap, day two of the Festa al Lago ended.
The top five chip counts at the day's conclusion were as follows:
1. Brandi Hawbaker - $541,000
2. Brandon Cantu - $396,400
3. Scott Lundberg - $385,000
4. James Van Alstyne - $$350,500
5. Victor Ramdin - $258,800
Other notables near the top of the board were Alex Jacob ($251,000), Nick Schulman ($216,100), Tim Phan ($213,000), Jennifer Harman ($213,000), Mimi Tran ($185,200), Steve Zolotow ($180,300), and Erik Seidel ($148,700).
For complete standings, please visit http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/chip_counts/2319.
Some pros not moving on to day three included Huck Seed, Joe Bartholdi, Hasan Habib, John Phan, Patrik Antonius, Scotty Nguyen, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Evelyn Ng, and Mike Matusow, who exited shortly after his pocket queens were cracked by Chip Jett's flopped set of jacks.
The remaining 64 players return at noon PDT.
Stay tuned to Cardplayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and for a new edition of "The Circuit."
Quote of the Day: "Free Mike, Free Mike, Free Mike" - The tournament field protesting the 20-minute penalty given to Mike "The Mouth" Matusow.
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