Champ Jimmy Schultz (ImageMasters)

With only 75,000 chips left in front of him Zac Fellows was pretty much committed to the pocket 3  he was dealt no matter the board. No dount he felt confident when he saw his opponents 10 3 , but most likely lost that warm feeling upon seeing a flop of Q 6 7 . Needing to avoid a heart the turn card of 6  gave him more hope, but it wasn't to be. The J  fell on the river and Zac Fellows was eliminated in second place taking home $165,165.

The grinders continue to grind.

Some would say that watching Limit Hold'em is akin to watching paint dry. Perhaps this evening an argument could be made that watching paint dry offers more entertainment. With both players rarely uttering a sound, the chips continue to move back and forth between them. As reported earlier, Fellows seemed to take the lead once they hit heads-up play, but in the last hour or so it has been Schultz pushing the action a litte more. Here are a few hands witnessed:

With the board reading 6 7 9  Schultz bets and Fellows calls. The turn brings the A  and this time Schultz check-calls. The river brings the 3  and Shultz again check-calls. Fellows tables the JJ and Schultz pounds the table in excitement and tables his cowboys.

In another hand with Schultz on the button, Schultz raises and Fellows calls. The flop shows the 5 A 6  and Schultz again fires at the pot. Fellows calls and the turn is the 5 . Schultz again bets out and again Fellow calls tabling Big Slick. Schultz shows his pocket 10s before throwing them in the muck.

The Vinny Vihn show is no more.

All of the blither, blather, and general jibber jabber that came from Vinny Vihn's mouth was not enough in the end to take him past third place. Right before players took a twenty minute break Vihn was involved in a hand that left him very short-stacked. Once back from break, it wasn't long before Vihn had to put his tournament life on the line with a queen high against the second pair of Jimmy Schultz. Likely Schultz enjoyed being the one to bust Vihn, as it was Schultz who seemed least entertained by Vinh's constant table talk. Vinny Vihn has been eliminated in third place winning $99,099.

Jimmy Schultz vs. Zac Fellows heads-up.

Play has entered the heads-up phase with Fellows as the agressor thus far. It has been a back and forth with Fellows pushing the action. Both players look as though they are willing to take their time and choose their spots as they battle for the bracelet and the first place prize money.

Brendan Taylor, busted in fourth place worth $82,883.

Brendan Taylor has been sent packing after Vinny Vinh showed down his pocket 8s on the river with the board showing 2 3 3 3 Q . Taylor auto-mucked upon seeing Vinh's hole cards.

Vinny Vinh issued a warning.

Seems Jimmy Schultz has grown weary of Vinh's constant jibber jabber. On my last stroll through the floor I timed the pauses in between Vinh's long winded jibber jabber session and was only able to clock 2 seconds of quiet. Vinh continually 'chats' up the other two players, telling them how to play, what they did wrong, and a ton more that no one can understand. After Schultz complained to the tournament staff they walked over, issued a warning, and Vinh seemed to quiet down for a second. That second didn't last long, and soon Vinh was back to his non-stop blithering.

Monroe has left the building. 

Jimmy Shultz starts the hand by posting a big blind when he was actually under the gun. Now forced to make a min raise, Shultz's mistake has helped build the pot. Monroe calls all in from the small blind and Brendan Taylor calls from the big blind. Checking their way through a 2 10 9 8  river and turn, all players (and the crowd) eagerly awaited the river card. With the J  falling on the river, Shultz looks to bet and Taylor mucks. Shultz flips the soooted connectors 7 8  for the rivered straight. Teddy 'The Iceman' Monroe mucks and is eliminated in 5th place good for $67,868.

Golser's goose is cooked.

Marcus Golser has been ousted in sixth place.

With the flop reading 10 Q 9  a short-stacked Golser has no choice but to push his last chips in with hopes Jimmy Shultz would fold. It wasn't to be for Golser and his A J  which wasn't able to find any love on the turn nor river, and Shultz and his 9 7  take the pot and send Golser to the rail. Golser will be $53,453 richer for his sixth place finish.

Players are on break until 10p.

Just before 9p local time the players were sent on a dinner break. Play will resume at about 10p.

Here are the chip counts as they stand at break:
Zac Fellows 580,000
Jimmy Shultz 750,00
Brendan Taylor 500,000
Ali Eslami 210,000
Markus Golser 200,000
Teddy 'Iceman' Monroe 50,000
Vinny Vinh 345,000

Jimmy Shultz mucks best hand.

Facing a bet from Vinny Vinh on the river, Jimmy Shultz mucks his hand thinking that Vinh must have him beat. Vinh turns over the an 8 high hand, and Shultz relaizes he not only folded the best hand, but he missed the opportunity to bust Markus Gosler who was all in, and because of Shultz's muck, ends up pulling in the pot. Without a doubt Gosler is grateful to Vinh for his river bluff.

Chris Niesert busted in eight place.

With three way action preflop, Niesert gets himself all in, and Shultz and Zach Fellows come along for the ride. After the dealer puts out the board cards, Fellows shows a pair of Kings and Niesert and Shultz both muck. Chris Niesert has been busted in eight place and has won $32,432.

The Vinny Vinh show.

Arriving at the table there was quite a commotion. Sounds as if there might be an international fight about to break out as Vinny Vihn yelled 'You can't raise' over and over. Markus Gosler begins to shout across to the rail in Dutch and it seems like pandamonium at the table. Seems one of the players in the hand had forgotten that they were playing Limit and tried to push his stack in. This set Vihn into a tirade at one point yelling at the staff "Get your hands off of me!". A few seconds later though, Mr. Vinh apologizes to the staff as they consoled him. Play quickly returned to normal although a few players at the table look to be tired of Mr. Vinh's antics.mostime:6/08/2008 20:00}

First final table elimination.

Chung Law has been elimintated in ninth place and will take home $23,423. After Chung re-raised preflop, Jimmy Shultz sees that Chung is shortstacked and reraises him forcing him all in if he calls. Calls he does while tabling 10 10 . Shultz tables J J  and Chung must be disappointed. The dealer puts out a board of 8 Q 8 9 7  and Chung is done.

Erick Lindgren busted in tenth place.

Erick Lindgren will not be taking home his second WSOP just yet anyway. Lindgren is the latest casualty of the event falling to Markus Gosler. With little chips and few options, Lindgren was forced to play his J 8  against the cowboys of Gosler. No love from the dealer for Lindgren and he has been sent home. Lindgren will take home $14,775 for his tenth place finish.

Eleventh place goes to Zachary Henderson.

With not too many chips, Zachary Henderson gets it in and faces a coin flip situation when his KQ faces the JJ of Brendan Taylor. Henderson wasn't able to find any help, and is eliminated in eleventh place worth $14,775.

Short stack doubles.

Players returned from break at about 5:20 and the cards are now back in the air.

Going into the hand with the short stack proved to be no issue for Brendan Taylor. His 10s were able to stay ahead of John O'Brien's 7s and he has doubled up to over 130,000.

Vinny Vihn caught red-handed.

Vinny Vinh is down to about 45,000 in chips after the folowing hand dealt him another blow. On a board reading 5 Q 4 8 Q  and the pot over 150,000 Vinny takes another stab at the pot. Jimmy Shultz looks him up with the A 4  and Vinny shows 9 7  for a stone cold bluff.

Down to twelve.

John O'Brien has been eliminated in 12th place after his Big Slick was busted by the Rockets of Brendan Taylor. Getting it all in post flop with the board reading 9 4 4 , O'Brien knew he would need a miracle to keep his hopes of a bracelt alive. The turn and the river bricked out for him, and O'Brien is headed home.

Twenty minute break.

Perhaps shwoing up late isn't the best recipe for keeping the lead. After showing up about forty-five minutes late, Vinny Vinh has seen his lead disappear. After finishing the first two levels of play, players have gone on a short break at which time Vinny Vihn looks to be about fourth in chips.

Vinny Vinh is counterfeited.

Under the gun, Jimmy Shultz raises and is called by Vinny Vinh from the big blind. The flop shows the 8d5c6h and Vinny bets out and after re-raise, re-raise Vinny makes the call at 36,000. The turn shows the As and Vinh check raises Shultz's turn bet. Shultz call and the river brings the Ac to which Vinny bets and Jimmy calls. Vinny flips the 8c5d and Shultz the pocket 10s. Vinny takes a hit when his two pair are counterfeited on the river.

Vinny Vinh where are you?

With cards getting in the air for the final 18 players of Event 12, one player is most notably absent. Those who followed last year's action know that Mr. Vinny Vinh was MIA on more than one occasion once the cards were in the air. Rumors aplenty flew around the Rio tournament floor as to the cause of his absence.

Those same rumors are sure to begin again this year as the sometimes absent Vinny Vinh followed the same storyline this year as he just plain wasn't here when play began. Forty-five minutes later, Mr. Vihn found his seat and is back in action.

Players busted in the first hour of play include:
14th place -Joseph Sanders
15th place - Duc Nguyen
16th place - Eric Pratt
17th place - Steve Foutty
18th place - Arash Beral

End of Day 2 of play: