By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV
201 players entered the Amazon Ballroom for the $40,000 buy-in NL special event. Only 89 players remain. Among them? The legendary Chris Moneymaker. Yesterday, he grinded his way towards the top of the leader board. Can he maintain his position or will the pack (mixed with seasoned pros and some of the top internet players in the world) swallow him whole?
The top 27 players win prize money. They should reach the money around Midnight tonight.
Event #2 40K NL - Top 10 Chip Counts:
Bruno Fitoussi - 812,500
Chris Moneymaker - 805,000
Justin Bonomo - 738,000
Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis - 646,500
Kyle 'krisqueen' Wilson - 611,500
Brian Townsend - 609,000
Michael DeMichele - 519,500
Emil 'whitelime' Patel - 494,500
Alan Sass - 491,000
Andy Black - 449,500
Familair Faces Still Playing: David Baker, Ali Eslami, OMGClayAiken, Sorel Mizzi, Mark Seif, Ted Forrest, Isaac Haxton, Ansky, adz124, CrazyMarco, Nam Le, Alex Jacob, MrSmokey1, Frank Kassela, Josh Arieh, Jason Mercier, Tony G, Neil Channing, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, Humberto Brenes, good2cu, David Chiu, Doyle Brunson, Matthew Glantz, Markus Lehmann, Kenny Tran, Greg Raymer, mig.com, The Dragon, Dale Pinchot, John Duthie, Lee Markholt, Matt Giannetti, Steve Zolotow, Vanessa Rousso, JC Tran, Kirill Gerasimov, Adam Junglen, Johannes Strassmann, Bill Chen, Chad Batista, tsarrast, Robert Suer, LarsLuzak, Jeff Lisandro, Scott Seiver, Terrence Chan, William Molson, Hoyt Corkins, SirWatts, amak316, Chau Giang, Mike Matusow, Raptor, Chris Moorman, and Devilfish.
Payouts:
1: $1,891,012
2: $1,168,566
3: $774,927
4: $548,315
5: $413,166
6: $329,730
7: $277,940
8: $246,834
9: $230,317
10-12: $172,120
13-15: $128,666
16-18: $96,171
19-27: $71,858
1:01pm... Eat Me
Um.... yeah. It's true. When I was walking into the Rio this morning, the strippers from the Sapphire Pool were setting up a car wash promotion in the employees parking lot. When I spotted the Poker Shrink, I asked him if he was going to get his car washed by the vixens, he responded, "How about the girls wash me?"
Photo credit: MeanGene
Anyway, the Milwaukee's Beast girls are back and they are cute as ever. I gotta say, I'm digging the Alice in Wonderland look. I's love to eat them. I'd follow them down a rabbit hole any day of the week.
Photo credit: MeanGene
* * * * *
2:15pm... 40K Day 2 Begins; Down to 84
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 84
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Bruno Fitoussi, Chris Moneymaker
Shorties: Chris Mooran, Raptor
Busto: John Duthie, Bill Chen, Barry Schwartz, and Hoyt Corkins
About 10 minutes in, a couple of players already busted on Day 2 including EPT founder John Duthie. Most of the railbirds are in the corner of the orange section checking out the 40K while virtually ignoring the Event #3 $1,500 Omaha 8.
Prop Betting Tales: I already took a small bet from AlCantHang. He wanted to take under 800 for the number of runners in the Omaha 8 event. I picked 801 because I figured there would be more players in the field in 2009 because this is the only $1,500 o8 event this year. Last year, there were two chances to play the lowest buy-in Omaha 8 event. I figured 801 was a lock and even figured the nu,bers would surpass 900. At last check, it's at 918 runners.
3:15pm... Dolly Down; No Drugs
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 76
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Bruno Fitoussi, Chris Moneymaker
Shorties: Devilfish, Chris Moorman
Busto: Texas Dolly, amak316, Kenny Tran, SirWatts, Russell Rosenbloom
The legendary Texas Dolly hobbled out of the Amazon Room in front of the press box ans he headed to the VIP lounge. Dolly tweeted his displeasure... "got knocked out....never drug one chip...i beat 128 players, spent a 16 hour day playing. lost 40K..that's why i hate tournaments!!"
According to Matt Glantz, on the breaks of the 40K, he's been playing Chinese Poker with Brunson, Eli Elezra, Mike Matusow, and Phil Hellmuth.
"Mike is firing on all drug cylinders today," explained the Poker Shrink. "The new meds are working wonderful." Matusow switched up his meds and they seem to be working. He doubled up and he's sitting on 225K.
4:20pm... Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 65
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Brian Townsend, tsarrast, Chris Moneymaker, RaSZi, The Dragon
Shorties: Devilfish, Raptor, Kirill Gerasimov
Busto: Devilfish, Michael DeMichele, Adam Junglen, Devilfish, Chris Moorman, Shawn Buchanan, Jess Yawitz, Lee Markholt, Matt Giannetti, Andrew Lichtenberger, David Singer, Josh Arieh, Ville Wahlbeck
Did I forget to mention the free beef jerky in the media room?
Yes, it's true. I take everything back that I said about the beef jerky sponsorship. Shit, those schwill merchants at Milwaukee's Beast never ever gave us free beer! The kind folks at Jack's links hooked us up with Jack Link's Premium Cuts. Benjo scored me a bag of spicy Peppered Beef Jerky. Gotta love it.
Despite taking a couple of hits, Chris Moneymaker still remains in the Top 5 in chips. Frenchman Bruno Fitoussi slipped out of the top spot which is now occupied by Brian Townsend.
Omaha Chicks Update: I found Shirley Rosario. She's sitting on a 5.5 stack (starting chips were 4.5K ... triple chips) and fresh off of her win at Commerce last week when she took down the California State HORSE championship. She's in the hunt for her first bracelet. Meanwhile, Kristy Gazes is also in the Omaha 8 event. I bumped into her in the hallways and she said she was going to focus on the juicy cash games and play in only a handful of tournaments. She also has 5.5K.
Yes, it's 4:20, which means it's time for a good old fashioned smoke break. Today's smoke break is not brought to you by beef jerky, but rather by PokerStars!
* * * * *
5:20pm... Channing Alive
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 58
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Brian Townsend, Justin Bonomo, OMG Clay Aiken, RaSZi, Matt Glantz
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov, Robert Suer
Busto: Andrew Barta, Mark Seif, krisqueen, Steve Billirakis, Antonio Esfandiari, Raptor, Scott Seiver
I forgot to mention that they will be playing eight levels tonight or if they reach 18 players... whichever comes first. The top 27 pay and I'm thinking we'll reach the bubble, but not get below 20. This is the second day of a four day event.
The Bad Beat Watch: A shout out to the Brits following along with today's coverage. Neil "Bad Beat" Channing is still alive and in the middle of the back with almost 365K. He has Jeff Lisandro to his left along with Alex Jacob at his table.
6:20pm... Ivey & Matusow Out; Moneymaker Surges
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 45
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, Chrsi Monemaker, OMG Clay Aiken, RaSZi
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov, Jeff Lisandro
Busto: Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Bruno Fitoussi, Terrance Chan, Chau Giang, Jason Mercier, Markus Lehmann, Huck Seed, whitelime, Steve Weinstein, William Molson, Robert Suer
Down to the final five tables.
Phil Ivey got taken out my Sorel Mizzi, while Terrance Chan was taken down by whitelime. Chris Moneymaker has been chipping up. He got up to 700K and then surged towards 1M after he busted German pro Johannes Strassmann. Moneymaker has a couple of big guns at his table including Ted Forrest, Justin Bonomo, OMGClayAiken, and JC Tran. Meanwhile, ZeeJustin became one of the first players past the 1M chip mark.
Omaha Chicks Update: Shirley Rosario has Roy Winston to her left.She slipped to 3K. Have heard from Kristy in a while. Been too busy watching Moneymaker's table and haven't had a chance to head over to the Brasilia Room.
AC Boys: Matt Glantz dragged a monsterpotten and jumped up to 1.1M, while Dale Pinchot is holding as one of the shortest stacks.
Players will be going on a one hour dinner break. Play will resume around 7:30pm local time.
7:30pm... Dinner at the Bar
During dinner break of the 40K NL event, I headed to the All American Bar & Grille for a meal with Benjo, Change100, and Mean Gene. I kept a keen eye on the Lakers/Nugs game. During halftime, Lakers owner Jerry Buss wandered by. Kinda surreal. He looked more like a retired local slumming around at the Midnight tournament at Binion's and didn't look like the guy who owned the Lakers.
During our meal, I bumped into DonkeyBomber. He told me that I was looking pretty sharp.
"DonkeyBomber is the most famous person that Dan Michalski knows," said Benjo about the two-time bracelet winner and former Player of the Year winner who was a previous contributor to Pokerati.
On my way back to the Amazon Ballroom, a lengthy line began to form at the registration desk for the $1,000 NL Donkulous. That's exactly what poker needs... more dead money. Rumor suggest that the event will get around 5,000 runners. There will be two opening flights and you have a chance at playing on Saturday or Sunday.
There will be blood shed tomorrow.
8:20pm... The Fossilman Emerges
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 40
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Ted Forrest, Matt Glantz, Chris Moneymaker
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov
Busto: mig.com, Alex Jacob, Dale Pinchot, Chad Batista, Jeff Lisandro, Chance Walker
Wow, how about Greg Raymer coming from out of nowhere? All eyes were on his fellow Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker, but Raymer flew under the radar and snagged the chiplead in the first half hour after the dinner break.
The money bubble bursts at 27 and they will be playing three more levels tonight.
Omaha Chick Watch: Shirley Rosario is back to 4.5K or her starting stack. Kristy Gazes slipped to 2.7K.
8:50pm... Moneymaker Bankrupt
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 38
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Matt Glantz, Keith Lehr, adz124
Shorties: Kirill Gerasimov, Chris Moneymaker
Busto: Chris Moneymaker, Humberto Brenes, Chris Moore, Mark Dickstein
Moneymaker went from the penthouse to the basement. He mentioned on the Twittertubes that he was card dead and slipped to under 700K, before he lost a race with Queens versus Big Slick. He bottomed out at 250K as one of the short stacks. Moneymaker busted out shortly after when he ran into ted Forrest's pocket Kings.
Humberto Brenes just hit the rail when he was taken out by Greg Raymer, who still retains the chiplead.
Ted Forrest was AWOL for most of the level after the dinner break, but is back now. He went up to his room and took a nap. He turned off his phone and never heard his friends calling to wake him up. Forrest was being blinded out while he overslept.
9:00pm... Raymer = 2 Million Dollar Man
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 36
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Justin Bonomo, Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Townsend, Tony G
Shorties: David Chui, Ali Eslami, Frank Kassela
Busto: Steve Z
Greg Raymer is en fuego. He's the first player in the 40K to pass the 2 million chip mark, which he did after he sent Steve Z to the rail.
Tony G built his stack up courtesy of Chris Moneymaker. The G is closing in on one million chips.
Bad Beat Channing Update: It's early Saturday morning right now and good news for all of you Bad Beat Channing fans. Well, he's still alive and among the final 36 players. He managed to survive this long with his modest stack.
10:40pm... Zee Justin Chasing Down Fossilman
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 33
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Justin Bonomo, Ted Forrest, Vitaly Lunkin,
Shorties: David Chui, Frank Kassela, Kirill Gerasimov
Busto: Ali Eslami, Crazy Marco, Alan Sass, LarsLuzak
Justin Bonomo passed the 2M mark when he outflopped Crazy Marco. The result? Crazy Marco headed to the rail while Bonomo adde dmore chips in pursuit of Greg Raymer's 2.6M stack.
Bad Beat Channing Update: Channing is almost considered a short stack. He's still alive as action approaches the bubble, but needs a double up before the night is over.
Oh and for your Tao of Pokerati fans who can't get enough of your favorite poker podcast (the shortest in the business...), check out the Tao of Pokerati archives.
11:40pm...
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 28
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Ted Forrest, Vitaly Lunkin
Shorties: David Chui, Frank Kassela
Busto: OMGClayAiken, Nam Le, Evan McNiff, and Kirill Gerasimov
Vinny Vinh was spotted inside the 40K area. He was sweating David The Dragon Pham. Benjo mentioned, "He's looking a lot better than last year."
Benjo and I followed Vinh outsode the ropes and we trailed him all the way to the cash game section. Sow hat is Vinny Vinh playing? 2/5 PLO. Vinh craves the action.
OMGCLayAiken busted in 29th place and action went hand-for-hand as we reach the bubble.
The Bubble Boy? Stay tuned...
12:04am...
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 27
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer, RaSZi, Ted Forrest, David Baker
Shorties: Tony G, Good2cu
Busto: Chris Neill
Neil Chriss = Bubble Boy
We're in the money. Everyone is guaranteed to win at least $71,858.
12:23am... Day 2 Complete
Event #2 40K NL - Day 2
Remaining Players: 23
Total Players: 201
Prize Pool: $7,718,400
Chipleaders: David Baker, Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer
Shorties: Frank Kassela, Good2cu
Busto: Vanessa Rousso (27th), JC Tran (26th), Sorel Mizzi (25th) The Dragon (24th)
The following players advanced to Day 3... David Baker, Justin Bonomo, Greg Raymer, Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis, Ted Forrest, Keith Lehr, Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Townsend, Matthew 'adz124' Marafioti, Noah Schwartz, Alec Torelli, Dani 'Ansky' Stern, Doshi Suresh, Brian 'tsarrast' Rast, Clark Hamagami, Isaac Haxton, Matthew Glantz, Andy Black, David Chiu,Tony G, Neil Channing, Frank Kassela, and Andrew 'good2cu' Robl.
The final 23 players will return at 2pm local time on Saturday. They will play down to the final table of nine. I'll be here providing live updates. See you then.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
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