2007 WPT World Poker Open - Day 2

One hundred seventy-four players were ready to roll at noon for day 2 of the eighth annual World Poker Open at the Gold Strike Casino and Resort. Here in Tunica, along the Mississippi river, action ran at a southern pace, with players grinding it out over five more levels. There were big names and even bigger disappointments, as one-by-one, hands unfolded and players faced eliminaton. After completing 10 levels, it seems it will take another day before anyone walks away with money. And with 44 competitors returning on Tuesday, there'll be 17 more WPO entrants investing even more of their precious time without achieving results.

Players were on their sixth level, starting day 2 at $300-$600 blinds with a $75 ante.

In early action, J.C Tran surfaced from the depths, doubling up to around $45,000. Tuan Le caught an early break, but his hopes were soon dashed after moving all in and missing the board only a few hands later. Chris Moneymaker took a hit when his K Q missed an outside straight draw against his opponent's pocket eights (8 8). And just before the break, Allen Kessler put his pocket fours up against his opponent's pocket nines and watched helplessly as his inferior pair missed the board.

Meanwhile, Barry Greenstein, who started the day in the lead, was still on the upswing. "Nobody's calling me," he explained.

Justin Bonomo cracked Jimmy Tran's aces when he committed his last $7,000 to the pot with pocket fours. The flop came Q 8 4, giving Bonomo a set. The turn and river (3 9) sealed his win, forcing Tran to fork over one of his short stacks.

The blinds went to $400-$800 with a $100 ante on the seventh level, and Jeff Shulman, Cyndy Violette, Jason Stern, John Juanda, Bill Edler, and John Phan were the next ones to exit the arena. Daniel Negreanu and Amir Vahedi butted heads when Negreanu raised the stakes to $2,800 preflop and Vahedi called. J-9-8 hit the felt and both players checked to a 4 on the turn. Vahedi bet $3,500 and Negreanu called. A queen came on the river and Vahedi bet out another $7,000. Negreanu called and turned over a-whole-other-kind-of bottom pair: pocket threes. Vahedi made some noise, stood from the table, and then mucked his hand.Nenad Medic and Ted Lawson soon called it a day, while J.C. Tran found his rhythm, Victor Ramdin chopped down two players at once to swing him into chip leader status, and Greenstein stayed on a roll.

Right before the break, there was a lot of rumbling going on at Kido Pham's table, and when the dust settled, Pham was pulling in a pot worth over $100,000. Carefully stacking his $333,000 in chips ate up several minutes of his off time.

Notable eliminations included Chris McCormack, Jon Friedberg, Carlos Mortensen, and Michael Gracz.

There were 96 players remaining at the end of the sixth round, and the price of poker was still climbing at $600-$1,200 with a $200 ante.

Eric Mizrachi met his fate after all-in raising Brian Gabrielle before the flop. Mizrachi had A K and Gabrielle turned over A J. Gabrielle paired his kicker on a flop of J 8 5, and the board didn't improve for Mizrachi, who went out just before the break.

Level 7 saw John Phan, Bob Stupak, and Chris Moneymaker to the rail, while Kido Pham and Victor Ramdin vied for the chip lead. Meanwhile, Greenstein was still on a roll.

When the blinds reached $1,000-$2,000 and a $300 ante, there were still 65 players in the field.

Negreanu chipped up after raising $6,000 preflop. The big blind called to see a flop of 10 9 8. The big blind checked and Negreanu made it $12,000 to go. The big blind thought for a moment and then pushed all in. Negreanu called and turned over A 9 for middle pair and a flush draw. The big had top pair with 10 9. But Daniel completed his hand when the 2came on the turn. The river was a blank and Negreanu sat at $148,000.

Despite playing for nearly $1 million in first-place prize money, Gavin Smith found the time and energy to yak it up with Ramdin. Catching Ramdin unaware, Smith rushed to his table and knocked over a nearly $400,000 tower of chips. After cleaning up his stacks, Ramdin returned the favor by snatching Smith's hat off of his head, exposing Smith's infamous locks and self-made receding hairline.

In all seriousness, it was getting late and players were noticeably fatigued.

Chau Giang was the next one out, eliminated by J.C. Tran after pushing all in on a flop of Q 8 2 with K 10. Tran called with K Q, paring the other king with a better kicker. Chau needed to pair his 10, draw a jack, or catch another heart. But the 5 and the 5 came on the turn and river. Chau was one of the last eliminations of the day.

That is, until Hoyt Corkins picked a spot to put Phil Hellmuth all in. All that reporters witnessed from the safety of the media desk was Hellmuth reeling from his chair, as it fell with a "thump" to the floor. "How can you possibly play that (expletive)?" he asked Corkins. "What the (another expletive)?" For safety reasons, and so as not to push Hellmuth any further on tilt, reporters were content to collect the story after the situation appeared under control. It seems that Hellmuth had moved in preflop with a pair of nines, and Corkins called him with A-6 suited. Corkins must have spiked an ace, because that was the end of Hellmuth's 2007 WPO run. Though it wasn't the last we'd see of him. Hellmuth takes just as much time leaving a tournament area as he does getting to it.

Tournament officials announced that there would be seven more hands played until calling it a night and bagging up chips.

Just before the whistle blew, Erik Seidel made a run for the door with David "Devilfish" Ulliott on his heels. Don Mullis chipped up when his pocket kings held up against an opponent's big slick, and Daniel Negreanu (in the No. 1 seat) was blindsided by an opponent (in the No. 9 seat) who took put a dent in Negreanu's stack. Meanwhile, Greenstein had gotten called enough times to move him down a bit in the rankings.

Here are the unofficial top 10 heading into day 3:

Kido Pham: $585,000
Victor Ramdin: $504,400
Hoyt Corkins: $390,400
John Racener: $251,100
J.C. Tran: $244,200
Bryan Sumner: $243,200
Paul Clark: $232,900
Don Mullis: $219,100
Gavin Smith: $200,500
Gary Kainer: $192,800

Other notable players remaining are Matt Graham, James "Catfish" Bullard, Jerri Thompson, Mark Seif, Daniel Negreanu, and Barry Greenstein.

Play resumes at noon on Tuesday. Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for more exciting action. Though Hellmuth is always good for the paparazzi, we'll have to depend on Kido Pham, Daniel Negreanu, or the Ramdin and Smith show for optional entertainment. We'll be bringing you the action live with updates, photos, short video clips, and the nightly Circuit radio show.

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