David Dao - chip leader

Here are the chip counts and day 2 seat assignments for the 27 remaining players (to see this list sorted by table/seat, go to the day 2 blog):

And it is over. Down to 27 players and play is over for today. The final 27 players are baggin' & taggin' now. Chip counts will be posted shortly.

Level 12: Blinds 1,500/3,000 with 400 antes. Play continues until 2am or until down to 27 players, whichever comes first. 31 players remain.

	Ray Lynn

Ray Lynn got all in for 52,500 from the small blind against Pat Walsh (cutoff). Ray's pocket Tens were ahead of Pat's pocket 7s and the board did not change that. Ray doubled up to ~110k.

A short-stack moved in for ~10k and Matt Stout made the call, showing KT off. His opponent held A 6. The board came Q J 8 T 9 putting a straight on the board, but giving Matt the King-high version to take the pot. His opponent hit the rail and Matt chipped up to over 250k. "I run unreal" said Matt.

	Matt 'Allinat420' Stout

Jason Potter opened for 6,500 and Matt Stout kicked it on up to 21k. Jason shoved for 44k total and Matt looked him up with pocket 6s. Jason held AK and it was post time at the races. The flop came A J 6 and Matt extended his lead. When the last two blanks fell, Jason was busted and Matt took the pot.

Then it was Sabyl Cohen-Landrum's turn. She open-shoved for ~35k from late position and Matt Stout again made the call from the big blind. Sabyl held pocket 3s and was in bad shape against Matt's pocket 8s. She got no help from the board and was busted.

After those two pots, Matt was up to ~230k.

Level 11: Blinds 1k/2k with 300 antes. Play has resumed.

Here are some chip counts as of the break:

	Ronnie Sewell

Ronnie Sewell open-shoved from the hijack and Va Shon Watkins (sb) looked him up with pocket Kings. Ronnie's pocket 7s were way behind. The board came A A 6 6 K and Va Shon took the pot with Kings-full and Ronnie, who won preliminary event #1 here, was busted.

End of level and players are taking a break.

	Jordan Morgan and Sara Stohler

Not a good level for the ladies:

In a battle of the blinds, Jordan Morgan opened from the small, then Sara Stohler moved all-in from the big. Jordan looked her up with AK. Sara held pocket 3s and it was a race. The board came A T 7 A 9 and Jordan took the race and the pot with trip Aces. Sara took the walk. Jordan was up to ~108k after that hand.

Sabyl Cohen-Landrum doubled up the player in seat 3 when her pocket Jacks failed to improve over his pocket Kings.

On a flop of K 6 4 David Dao (bb) asked for a count of Dina Rylander's chips (he had her covered). After about a minute, he said he was all-in. Dina (button) called all-in, showing pocket Aces. David held K Q for top pair and was behind. The the turn brought the K giving David trip Kings. To add salt to Dina's wound, the river was the Q giving David the full house and all of Dina's chips. David chipped up to ~240k and is the new chip leader.

	Sabyl Cohen-Landrum

Level 10: Blinds 800/1,600 with 200 antes. Play continues.

Girl on Girl action: Just before the end of level 9, Sabyl Cohen-Landrum (hijack) opened for 3,500. Action folded to Kathy Liebert in the big blind, who kicked it on up to 11,200 straight. Sabyl then moved all-in for 41,500. Kathy tanked for a few minutes. "I think it's a race" Kathy said, but apparently she didn't like her chances. She eventually let it go and Sabyl picked up the pot.

After releasing a couple of hands to Va Shon Watkins after he got three-bet, Bill Edler was down to ~10k. He decided to ship his last chips with K7. Unfortunately he ran into a player holding pocket Tens and the Tens held up. The Stunning One has left the tournament.

	'Captain' Tom Franklin

On a flop of 9 7 4 -- all spades -- 'Captain' Tom Franklin (sb) checked to Mike Leah (bb) who fired a bet. Tom called and the turn was the A. Tom checked, Mike bet 7k, and Tom check-raised to 22k. Mike called and the river brought the 7. Tom led out with 25k. Mike called and Tom showed K T for the second nut flush. Mike mucked his had and the Captain sailed up to ~110k. Mike has dropped down to ~140k.

After the player in seat 3 raised to 3,500 on the button, Paula Halata made the call, defending her big blind. On the flop of 9 5 2 Paula fired 6k. Her opponent let it go and Paula claimed the pot.

Allen 'chainsaw' Kessler got his last chips in good with pocket Aces (uh oh) against pocket Jacks. You guessed it... a Jack hit the board giving his opponent the set and Allen was busted.

Level 9: Blinds 600/1,200 with 100 antes. Play has resumed. Here are the chip leaders plus some random otherness:

End of level 8 and players are taking a break while the staff color up the green 25 chips.

	Mike Leah - chipping up

On a K T 6 flop, action checked to Mike 'GoLeafsGoEh' Leah, who fired 2,200. He got two callers and the turn brought the 2. This time Mike fired 7k. His first opponent moved all-in for ~22k, the other player called, then Mike moved all-in. The player who still had chips called, completing the side pot. The short-stack held KT for top two pair; the middle stack held A J for the flush draw with gutshot; and Mike held pocket 6s for the set. River was the 7 missing both short-stacks and shipping both the main and side pots to Mike and shipping two players to the rail. With that pot, Mike has claimed the chip lead with ~140k.

	Allen 'chainsaw' Kessler

Level 8: Blinds 400/800 with 75 antes. Play continues.

Allen 'chainsaw' Kessler got his last ~6k in and Gavin Smith made the call.  Allen's pocket Kings were way ahead of Gavin's pocket Tens.  And then a King hit the flop and Allen was even further ahead.  No crushing suck-out this time and the Chainsaw survived, doubling up to over 16k.

77 players remain. Average stack is 40,000.

	Leon 'Sailor Moe' Morford - set sail

On a flop of 7 3 3, PSO member Sailor Moe (Leon Morford) fired a bet, Gavin Smith raised, then Leon moved all in. Gavin made the call, showing K3 for trips. Leon held 75 for two pair. The last two cards bricked out and Leon was busted. Gavin chipped up to over 100k.

Not sure when these folks hit the bricks, but they're goners now: Franklin Caldwell, Philip Sparta, Wilbur Futhey, Cory Albertson, and Stacy Kopacz.

Level 7: Blinds 300/600 with 50 antes. Play has resumed.

Here are some rough chip counts for the leaders and a few others:

End of level 6 and players have been released for dinner break until 8pm.

	Bill 'the Stunning One' Edler

It appears that Jeremy Byrum is the new chip leader with ~113k. Mark Eddleman was at this table, but is now gone, so I suspect Jeremy dispatched him.

Shaun Deeb got short-stacked and decided to risk it with pocket 4s. Apparently he ran into pocket Kings and Shaun has deeb-parted.

On a flop of Q T 5 rainbow, Kenny 'BadHat' Piel fired enough to put seat 1 all-in. His opponent made the call all-in, showing AT off for top/top. Kenny held pocket 8s and was trailing. It appeared seat 1 was headed for the double-up, but the last two cards came 7 8 and Kenny caught his set on the river to take the pot and send another player packing.

On the river with the board showing K K J 2 Q seat 7 fired 1,700. Bill Edler (middle) tanked for a minute, then raised to 3,500. Seat 7 mucked and Bill pulled the pot, making the courtesy show of his A T (Broadway).

	Dina Rylander

Level 6: Blinds 200/400 with 50 antes. Play continues.

Dina Rylander has clawed her way back into this game. She got her chips in with AJ with action from a player holding KQ. The flop came K Q x and looked bad for Dina, but she caught a Ten on the turn to make Broadway and double up. Then she got all-in again with AK, getting the call from Matt Stout, who held AQ. The board changed nothing and Dina doubled up again. She now back over the 20k mark.

On the river, the board read K Q 8 7 9 and Paula Halata (sb) bet 2k. Shaun Deeb (button) thought about it for a bit, then mucked his A J face-up. Paula pushed her hand to the dealer as she collected her chips.

A handful of players took the flop of 4 3 2. It was checked to seat 8, who bet 2,500. Bill Edler (button) called, as did the small blind. Turn was the J and the small blind checked to seat 8, who fired 3,300. Bill called and the small blind folded. River was the J and seat 8 fired 6k. Bill asked what he had left -- 16,175. Bill only had 11,600 remaining, so the call would be for more than half his remaining chips. After a good minute, he made the call. Seat 8 showed pocket 8s. Bill rolled over pocket 9s to take the pot. With those chips, Bill is now up to ~36k.

Michael 'carwash' Schneider and David Kopacz have disappeared and are presumed busted.

	Frank Wyville

At the turn, the board showed A J 7 A and Frank Wyville (bb) checked to Gavin Smith, (hijack) who bet 2,200. After a little tank-time, Frank check-raised to 12k smooth. Gavin called and the river brought the A. Frank checked, Gavin bet 15k, and Frank said "call". Gavin rolled over A J for quad-rockets. "Good hand" Frank said as he mucked his cards. After taking that bite out of the chip leader, Gavin is now up to 73k (and Frank is no longer the chip leader).

Level 5: Blinds 150/300 with 25 antes. Play has resumed.

Here are some chip counts for the leaders and a random assortment of others:

End of level 4 and players are taking a break.

	Glyn Banks

At the river, the board read Q 7 4 7 A. William Landry checked to Glyn 'ratchet' Banks, who fired 3k at the pot. William made the call and Glyn showed pocket Aces for Aces full. William turned up his K Q (nut flush) as the pot was pushed to Glyn. Glyn is now up to ~26k.

With over 50k in the pot and a board of A T 3 Q 9 Mark Garner moved all-in. Mike 'GoLeafsGoEh' Leah tanked for a bit, then let it go.

Ratchet says "Hey MJ!" because he knows you're watching.

Adam Junglen shipped his last 3,800 with KQ, only to run into AQ. No help from the board and Full Tilt's newest Red Pro was busted.

Justin Allen has disappered and is presumed busted.

Level 4: Blinds 100/200 with 25 antes. 135 players remain. Average stack is over 22,800.

The official player count is 154 with a resulting prize pool of $735,900. The final 18 players will get paid, as follows:

*The winner will also receive a $10k seat in the 2009 WSOP (with $1,000 in travel money) and the gold circuit championship ring.

	Gavin Smith and James Hoots

On a K 7 7 flop, Leonard Eidson and Charles Ford got all their chips in the middle. Charles held AK for Kings-up, but Leonard held pocket 7s for quads. Charles needed both remaining Kings to survive, but the board bricked out and he was felted. Leonard has now taken the chip lead with ~85k.

Gavin Smith opened for 550 on the button and James Hoots (sb) raised to 1,100. Gavin kicked it on up to 2,650 smooth and James called. The flop came J 3 3 and both checked. Turn was the 9. James bet 3k and Gavin called. River was the 4 and James checked. Gavin bet 6,700. James tanked for about a minute, then let it go. With this pot, Gavin has clawed his way back to ~21k, just above where he started.

	Chris Moneymaker - Kings kracked

Chris Moneymaker got his last chips in good with pocket Kings, getting action from Justin Truesdell, who held pocket Jacks. It looked like the champ was headed for a double-up, but the turn brought Justin a set when a Jack fell and Chris was left looking for a two-outer on the river. No such luck, however, and Chris will not be makin' any money in this event.

Level 3: Blinds 100/200. Play has resumed.

PokerSchoolOnline member 'SailorMoe', Leon Morford, is playing in today's event.  The PSO and PokerPages crew wish him the best of luck.

End of level 2 and players are taking 15.

More notables who have turned up: Va Shon Watkins, Giovanni Marcacci, William 'wilpay' Payne, Glyn 'ratchet' Banks, Jeremiah Vinsant, David and Stacy Kopacz, Cory Albertson, Tyler Smith and Doug Ganger.

Gavin Smith paid off a 2k bet on the river, only to have James Hoots show him the nut flush. Gavin is running on fumes while James is up to ~45k and apparently the chip leader.

Level 2: Blinds 50/100. Play continues. 154 players are registered so far and registration should now be closed. We should get final numbers and payouts soon.

On the turn with the board showing K 7 4 A Kathy Liebert (bb) fired 1k. Jason Potter (middle) called. River was the 8. Kathy launched a 2k salvo. Jason tanked for a couple of minutes, separated the chips to call, then mucked his hand. Kathy pulled the pot.

Seat 7 (sb) checked the turn with the board reading 5 4 3 A. Gavin Smith (cutoff) bet 1,500. James Hoots (button) called and seat 7 folded. River was the 5. Gavin checked, James bet 3,500, and after a little thought, Gavin called. Jamesd showed A 5 for the full house and Gavin mucked.

Most notable in the field today is 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker. Other notables I spotted on my first pass: Sabyl Cohen-Landrum, Kathy Liebert, Franklin Caldwell, (6th in Borgata's $3k event last week) Justin 'LockDownTex' Allen, (won WSOP Satellite event in New Orleans last December) Jordan 'IMsoLucky0' Morgan, (won circuit championship here in Sept. 2007) Philip Sparta, (2 circuit preliminary event wins in 2007) Gavin Smith, Wilbur Futhey, (won circuit championship at Caesar's Indiana April 2008) Mike 'GoLeafsGoEh' Leah, (3rd in 2008 USPC) Matt 'Allinat420' Stout, David Dao, Captain Tom Franklin, Sameer Al-Dbhany (6th in circuit championship at Horseshoe Hammond last October) Adam Junglen, (newest FullTilt RedPro, finished 6th in WSOPE Main Event) Shaun Deeb, and Allen 'chainsaw' Kessler.

Level 1: Blinds 25/50. Cards are in the air. The first WSOP Circuit Event of 2009 is underway!

Players are staring with 20,000 chips and levels will last one hour.

The main event gets underway at noon central time Monday.

	Kaelaine in the 2006 WSOP Main Event

Kaelaine Minton Reporting

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