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World Poker Tour - North American Poker Championship - Day 2 |
| by 2007 World Poker Tour Coverage | |
| Monday, 29 October 2007 |
Recap From Day 2 of the World Poker Tour's North American Poker Championship
A total of 504 players entered the tournament, each contributing their $10,000 buy-in to generate a prize pool of almost $5 Million. First place in this event will take down an impressive $1,361,724! Only 232 players remained in the tournament as Day 2 got under way, the first day of play in which all remaining players in the tournament were seated at the same time. Our chip leader to start the day was Jean-Robert Bellande, the only player with more than 200,000. By the end of the day that chip lead would disappear, his stack having falling below the 200,000 mark. Gavin Smith, who looked down to see A-K just a few hands into play, moved all-in with that hand. Ted Lawson, holding A-Q, made the call. Smith was well ahead going into the flop, but the fateful board brought out two queens, besting Gavin's hand and sending Gavin Smith home early. Alan Sass was another notable player to make his exit. Adam Levy had flopped a straight and Sass hit a very unfortunate river, one that would give him a set and ensure his stack would be shipped on over to Adam Levy. Alan Sass was eliminated. Allen Cunningham, a well-known professional who added another World Series of Poker bracelet to his credits this past summer, found himself all-in with the blinds at 500-1,000. Holding J-J in the hole, Cunningham raised pre-flop to 2,500, and his opponent came over the top to make it a total of 13,000. Cunningham moved all-in, and his opponent made the call. The board improved neither player's hand, and Allen doubled up.
In a hand that saw JC Tran raise from middle position, Ted Lawson re-raised in late position. Tran called, and the heads-up players saw a flop of J-6-3. Tran checked, and Lawson put in a bet of 12,000. Tran raised it, and Lawson pushed all-in. Tran, who turned over J-J for a made set, was more than happy to make the call. Lawson held A-A, but with no ace on the turn or river, instead two sevens filling both the board and Tran's hand, Ted Lawson was eliminated from the tournament. Some bust-outs can be truly impressive and no less heart-breaking. Alex Bolotin and Fred Goldberg can attest to that, as they were both eliminated on the same hand. Both of them got their entire stacks into the middle against a third player who had them both covered, with the board showing 10-3-7-6. With Bolotin tabling K-J, and Goldberg showing K-Q, the third player was in the lead with A-10. The river was a mere 8, and both Bolotin and Goldberg hit the rail. Players to make their exodus on day two also included: Nam Le, Isaac Baron, David Chiu and Evelyn Ng. Gus Hansen, who had started the day seeking to improve, would end up doing precisely the opposite. After shoving his last 30,000 into the pot on a flop of K-10-2, Hansen was called by an opponent who showed A-A. Hansen had only K-Q, but still had outs. neither came, however, with a 10 on the turn and a 7 on the river, and Gus Hansen won't be seeing another World Poker Tour title at the completion of this event.
Shortly before play drew to a close on Day 2, Roy Winston saw his own day of play end much sooner than he'd have liked. Roy pushed his entire stack into the middle with 9-9, and looked to double-up against the pocket 5-5 of Lee Markholt. A third five fell on the flop, however, giving Lee a set. Roy wouldn't improve his hand, and Roy Winston was eliminated from further player. Official numbers for Day 2 have yet to be released, but we'll fill you in with all the details once we're able to. Day 3 starts tomorrow! Check back after the tournament for a full recap. |
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