PokerStars.net LAPT San Jose, Day 2: Ryan Fee Leads, Final Eight Set
Thirty-eight players returned for action on Day 2 of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour San Jose main event on Tuesday, with Rob Woodcock holding a commanding chip lead over his nearest opponent to start the day. Joining Woodcock at the felt were live and online stars including three-time WSOP bracelet winner Max Stern, his wife Maria, a WSOP bracelet winner in her own right, Carter Gill and Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet. When the last hand of the day was done, only eight survivors were left with a seat at the final table and a shot at the $285,773 top prize.
With a bubble at the final 24 players, play was fast-paced to begin the day. Max Stern was an early casualty, getting all his chips in preflop and finding action from both Carter Gill and Maurice Molina. Molina and Gill checked down the board of Q?6?A?9?3?, and Stern showed A?K? for top pair, top kicker. Gill's 5?5? had turned a flush, and Stern was eliminated. Guillaume Noel was the tournament bubble boy when he moved all in with K?Q? and big stack Ryan Fee called with A?2?. The flop put Noel behind with 2?8?7?, and he never caught up as the turn and river came down 5?A? to give Fee two pair and send Noel home on the bubble.
With Noel's elimination the remaining players re-drew for seats on three tables and the pace of play picked up as the short stacks tried to make something happen. Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet was an early post-bubble elimination when he moved all in preflop with 6?6?. Jeffrey Petronack woke up with K?K? behind him and snap-called, putting Van Fleet at risk and looking for help. The 4?K?7? flop was not the help Van Fleet was looking for, as he needed to catch perfect to stay alive. The 6? on the turn was one of the cards he needed, but the 3? on the river was no use and Van Fleet collected $9,970 for his 17th-place finish.
Tark Abboud busted in 15th place ($12,213) when he made a move and ran into a monster held by Joel Micka. Abboud raised preflop and found action from Micka and Michael Collins. Micka and Collins checked the A?6?3? flop to Abboud, who led out with a bet. Micka check-raised, and Collins got out of the way. Abboud went into the tank for a moment before moving all in, and Micka quickly called with 3?3? for bottom set. Abboud's J?10? needed runner-runner to stay alive, and the 9? on the turn was not one of them. That hand moved Micka into the chip lead, and he finished the day with one of the biggest stacks at the final table.
It didn't take long for the unofficial final table to be set with Earl Burklund's tenth-place elimination ($14,655), but the final-table bubble was a lengthy one. With the final nine players consolidated to one table, it took nearly two hours to bust the final player of the night.
When it happened, it was Day 1 chip leader Robert Woodcock who went home one spot shy of the final table. Woodcock moved all in over the top of Andrew Chen's preflop raise, and the two men went heads-up to the flop in a classic coin flip, as Woodcock showed A?K? to Chen's J?J?. The board ran out Q?7?4?Q?10?, and Woodcock got no help. He picked up $17,098 for his ninth-place finish.
Ryan Fee finished Day 2 with the chip lead, as Joel Micka and Andrew Chen hovered close behind. The final eight chip stacks looked like this as the final table players headed off for some well-deserved rest:
Ryan Fee - 481,000
Joel Micka - 336,500
Andrew Chen - 313,000
Jesus Bertoli - 265,000
Claus Rasmussen - 254,000
Brent Sheirbon - 186,500
Maria Stern - 151,000
Jeffrey Petronack - 122,000
Join PokerNews at noon local time today for all the live updates from the final table of the LAPT San Jose main event.
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