Roland Israelashvili - chip leader

End of day 2 chip counts with day 3 table/seat assigments:

Most of the tables have finished and players are bagging and tagging. End of day chip counts will be posted when available. Good night, everybody!!

Brian Strahl, who held the chip lead for most of the day, just took a big hit when he moved in with two pair, only to run into a flush. Noah Schwartz was crippled when he ran his pocket cowboys into pocket rockets. He busted out soon after.

With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, they have stopped the countdown and announced that each table will play 5 more hands and then be done.

With the board showing T 3 3 T, Kido Pham got all his chips in against Abe Mosseri. Kido held KT for the full boat, but Abe rolled over pocket treys for quads. Kido had one out, but the river was a brick and he was busted.

Another table is broken. 135 players remain putting the average over 124k.

Clonie Gowan has busted out along with Ari Engel and John D'Agostino. Odette Claire Tremblay went runner-runner to catch a flush to beat her opponent's flopped set of Jacks. Odette was up to almost 200k with that pot.

Michael Binger has also lost his last chips and departed.

Around 140 players remain with about 45 minutes left to play today.

Laura Fink doubled up with pocket Kings vs. pocket 4s. She's up to about 160k. Chris McCormack got his last chips in with AK and got action from pocket 8s. The board bricked out, though, and Chris was done. Eric Hershler got his chips in on the flop with bottom pair but ran into a player with top pair. No miracle for Eric and he's done. Yoon Kim got his last chips in with KQ and ran into AK -- no suckout for Yoon, he's outta here. Shannon Shorr got an opponent all in with two Queens on the board. Of course Shannon held QJ for trips and busted the player with pocket 9s. Cliff 'JohnnyBax' Josephy has lost his last chips after getting crippled earlier in the level.

Kenna James is up to 235k. MJ Bernstein is sitting on about 150k. Ed Corrado has about 150K and says Hi to Myra and Ernie back home.

Another level has rolled around. The blinds are now 1,200 and 2,400 with 300 antes. This will be the last level of play today.

Cliff 'Johnnybax' Josephy raised to 6k up front and seat 2 re-raised to 25k. Cliff asked for a count, then moved all-in. Seat 2 called, showing pocket Tens. Cliff held AK offsuit and it was race-time. The board came 3 7 9 2 2 and seat 2 doubled up, crippling Cliff to less than 20k.

Steven Cho raised to 11k and seat 5 moved all in, but only had 4,700 more. Steven called and was ahead with pocket Queens; his opponent held AQ offsuit and needed help. Which he got with an Ace on the flop.

Steve Jacobs doubled up with the nut flush, getting paid off by the second nuts. David Daneshgar's pocket Kings fall to a flopped set of 6s. Victor Ramdin just doubled up to around 200k when his pocket Aces held up against pocket Kings.

17 tables remain with 153 players.

MJ Bernstein raised under-the-gun and the button re-raised. MJ pushed in and the button called, showing AJ. MJ had him dominated with AQ. An Ace hit the board but no Jack and MJ takes the pot, bringing his stack to about 135k.

Level 13, Blinds 1k/2k with 200 antes. Play has resumed. 180 players remain. Average stack is 93,333.

On a flop of K T Q rainbow, Bryan Sumner (in the cutoff) bet 30k and after a good bit of thought, his opponent called. The turn was the 3 and seat 6 checked. After a few seconds pause, Bryan quietly said "all in". His opponent asked for a count -- 53,200 -- and went into the tank. He picked his hole cards up off the table so his neighbors (and me, standing behind him) could see his KT offsuit (two pair). After a good while, he surrendered his hand and Bryan scooped the pot.

On another table, seat 3 bet the turn with the board showing T 5 8 T. Kenna James made the call after some consideration. The river was a complete brick, the 3 , and seat 3 moved all in, having Kenna covered. Again Kenna had to think for a while, but finally called all in, showing JT for trips. His opponent showed a dry Ace and Kenna doubled through.

Level 12 has ended and the surviving field is taking a well deserved dinner break. Play will resume about 7:40pm.

Erik Cajelais moved his last chips in with pocket 8s and got action from Steve Buckner, who held pocket Queens. No miracle for Erik and he's done.

Victor Ramdin was down to about 7,500 chips at one point and now he's sitting on about 190k. 

Down to 21 tables now -- fewer than 189 players remain.

Nick Schulman made the nut flush to bust his opponent and increase his stack to about 60k. Danny Wong called a shorter stack's all-in, showing AK. He was racing against pocket 4s and smoked him off the line when an Ace hit the board. Another player bites the dust and Danny's got about 75k.

On an A T 2 A board, Mike Matusow check-raised to 15k and his opponent moved in. Mike insta-called, showing AT for the full boat. His opponent held AQ and had outs (exactly three -- the Queens) but the river was a 9 and Mike took the pot, growing his stack to about 225k.

Freddy Deeb has been on a downward spiral, but he just doubled-up his short stack to about 30k.

Another break has come and gone. Play resumes in level 12 with blinds of 800/1,600 and 200 antes. 23 tables remain, so about 207 players. Average stack is about 81k.

Captain Tom doubled up, then busted out, courtesy of Brian Strahl's nut flush. That pot put Brian back into the chip lead, approaching the 400k mark.

Allen Kessler got his last chips in with pocket 6s and ran into Victor Ramdin's pocket Kings. Asta la vista, Allen.

Bill Gazes decided to flip a coin for his tournament life, moving in with pocket 3s and getting called by AK. The crabs held up and Bill doubled through.

On an A Q J flop with two clubs, seat 2 moved all in and after a bit of thought, Freddy made the call, showing AK for top pair, top kicker. His opponent was behind with A 9 but had the flush draw. Of course the river was a and Freddy doubled up the short-stack.

Bryan Devonshire made it 4K preflop and got called by the big blind. Devo's bet on the 7 J 6 rainbow flop was called also. The turn was another Jack, pairing the board, and again the blind checked to Devo, who bet 22K. The big blind moved all-in, putting Devo to the test. Devo picked his pocket Kings up off the table and exclaimed about how sick a card the turn was. He finally decided to muck his hand and the big blind showed him pocket 8s. Whoa, nice bluff, dude.

Here's a sampling of some chip counts for players we haven't heard much from today:

Level 11 brings blinds of 600/1,200 with 100 antes. With ~234 players remaining, the average stack is approaching 72k. Ralph Villela has eclipsed the 300k mark to take the chip lead.

On the river with the board showing K 9 7 Q 5, John Hoang moved all in and was called by a player who tabled pocket Aces. John rolled over KQ for two pair and pulled the nice pot, putting him over 130k.

Cyndy Violette got her last ~10k in with AT only to run into pocket Queens, which held up. James van Alstyne's pocket Kings were good to take a pot from Haralabos Voulgaris, putting James in the neighborhood of 100k. Paul Lieu was looking to drag a big pot when he got his opponent all-in on a T 6 3 rainbow flop.  Paul's pocket Aces were a big favorite over the other player's pocket Queens, but in a crushing blow, a third Queen fell on the river sending the pot the other way.

As I cross level 10 off my sheet, the remaining ~240 players head for the exits to stretch their legs.

	Ralph Villela

David 'Dragonfly' Singer doubled up through the player in seat 4. At the river, the board showed 3 4 T 6 9 and David tabled 6 3 for two pair to take the pot and double-up to about 100k.

Brian Strahl is still out in front with ~258k. Ralph Villela is nipping at his heels, however. Ralph had 235k when I counted him down and he was dragging another pot as I was leaving the floor. Paul Spitzberg ia also moving on up. He sitting on about 192k. Alan Goehring, who has been relatively quiet during this event, is up to 184,500.

These guys have all pulled vanishing acts: Chris Reslock, Peter 'nordberg' Feldman, Paul 'X22' Magriel, John Friedberg, and Justin 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo. Matt 'Allinat420' Stout is all out at about 2:40.

Cards are flying again as players rush back to their seats in order to avoid missing a hand. It is getting pricey now with the new blinds of 500 and 1,000 with 100 antes.

Theo Tran busted a player when his AK rivered a pair to beat his opponent's pocket Queens. Erik Cajelais was all-in against Matt 'Allinat420' Stout's pocket Aces, but a King on the flop doubled up Erik to almost 100k and left Matt with less than 30k. Freddy Deeb flopped a flush and scooped a big pot to bring his stack up to ~ 120k. Barry Greenstein nursed his short stack as long as he could, but finally got the last chips in with AQ only to run into Josh Spiegelmans's pocket Aces. This time an Ace on the River would not save Barry and he has departed.

Level 9 has ended and the staff is coloring up the green 25 chips during this 15 minute break.

In a battle of the blinds, MJ Bernstein raised to 2,700 from the small and the big blind kicked it on up to 10k (leaving himself with about 27k). After a bit of thought, MJ moved in and his opponent insta-called, showing pocket Tens. MJ tabled his pocket Aces and they held up to bust his opponent. MJ is now up to about 160k.

Brian Strahl is still in the lead with ~ 195k.  30 tables remain with about 270 players.

Borgata kicked off another tournament at noon today with a $1,000 buy-in.  A common theme among those players:  "I busted out of the $10k yesterday, but my buddy is still in, so I decided to stick around and play the $1k."

	Mark Weitzman

Robert Cheung got his last chips in against big stack Mark Weitzman and came up short as Mark's AT caught an Ace on the turn to bust Robert.

On a T 8 6 3 A board, Loi Phan bet 7k and after some consideration, Peter 'nordberg' Feldman (big blind) made the call. Loi showed A6 offsuit for two pair and Peter mucked. Nordberg was left with less than 25k.

Matt Brady and Mike Gracz have departed. Down to 32 tables now. 288 players remain. Average stack is a bit over 58K

Level 9 has launched with 400/800 blinds and 75 antes. 33 tables remain, but it is hard to judge the number of players remaining, as they are going to 9-handed play as players are eliminated. Not all tables are down to 9 yet. All that chatter means somewhere between 297 and 330 players remain.

That's the end of level 8 and players are taking 15 minutes worth of R&R. Here's a recap of the action during the previous level:

Tim West doubled up when his pocket Tens outflopped pocket Queens. Nam Le's AJ flopped top-pair, top-kicker and he called a short-stack's all-in, only to double up the guy who held pocket Queens. Tim Frazin got his Aces cracked and has departed. Robert Mizrachi's stack was crippled down to about 10k when his turned set of 8s fell to a rivered flush. Eric 'Rizen' Lynch's pocket Kings were out-flopped by an AT and Lynch was left with less than 11k. Gavin Smith has busted out. David Williams' stack was crippled when he ran into a set of Kings and he was gone soon after. John D'Agostino doubled up when his turned straight was able to dodge a flush draw.

	Brian Strahl - chip leader at start of day 2

Here are the day 1 survivors with their chip counts, sorted by day 2 table/seat assignments (to see the list sorted by chip count, click here to see the day 1 blog):

Cards are in the air. Day 2 dawns in level 8 with blinds of 300/600 and 75 antes. 350 players remain out of the starting field of 560.

Because of WPT's 'exclusive media' deal with CardPlayer, they are not as forthcoming with information, so the end of day 1 chip counts were not emailed to other media.  I'm working on getting a copy now and will post shortly.

Kaelaine Minton Reporting

Kaelaine is one of the hardest working reporters on the tournament cicruit, and she can play poker, too!  She won the 2007 World Poker Open Media Tournament at the Goldstrike in Tunica, besting a field of 50 to win the event and the WPO gold bracelet!   Her motto is "will do anything poker-related for money".