Bob Shao opened to 5,500 from under the gun before Jeffrey Farnes three-bet to 14,500 from the big blind. Shao reraised to 33,500 after some thinking time and Farnes called.
Farnes check-called for 14,500 on the 7?7?4? flop which brought in the Q? turn. Farnes checked and, after a minute, Shao sized up to 28,000. Farnes went into the tank before announcing his all-in for around 115,000. Shao snap-called and the cards were tabled.
Jeffrey Farnes: K?K?
Bob Shao: A?A?
It was a sick cooler for Farnes and the 8? river confirmed his exit.
Day 2 of the 2023 BetMGM Poker Championship kicks off at noon local time at the ARIA Resort & Casino, where 307 of the 1,026 entries currently remain.
Jing Wang currently sits in pole position after he bagged a chip-leading stack of 667,000 on the opening day. Wang is 79 big blinds better off than his closest rival, Ben Farrell (465,000), who topped the counts from Day 1b. Rounding out the top three is WSOP bracelet winner Anuj Agarwal, who returns today with 453,500.
Top Ten Chip Counts Ahead of Day 2
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jing Wang
Unknown
667,000
267
2
Ben Farrell
United Kingdom
465,000
186
3
Anuj Agarwal
United States
453,500
181
4
Adrian Bertini
United States
406,500
163
5
Erfan Geula
United States
391,000
156
6
Michael Arellano
United States
386,500
155
7
Paul Gunness
United States
362,000
145
8
Bin Weng
United States
355,500
142
9
Ryan Remington
United States
353,500
141
10
Leo Taffe
United States
350,500
140
The Day 2 hopefuls are competing for a bumper $3,283,200 prize pool, which is almost triple the value from 2022. However, more than half of the field will leave empty-handed as only the top 128 players will make the money.
The min-cash has been set at $4,793, while a six-figure payday of $560,442 awaits the winner along with the title and trophy.
Jason Kipnis
Despite finding a double up on the last hand of Day 1b, defending champion Joey Weissman (28,000) will need to spin up a stack to have any hopes of retaining his crown. Also returning today is former Major League Baseball player Jason Kipnis
Kipnis is just one of the hundred-strong qualifiers who booked their seat at the table for a fraction of the buy-in by playing on BetMGM Poker. Twenty-one qualifiers made it through Day 1a, and six more did the same in Day 1b.
They will be looking to replicate the actions of Benji Felson, who was the last qualifier standing last year before hitting the rail in fifth place for $51,587. Felson will have to watch from the sidelines this time around as he busted in the middle stages of yesterday's session.
Notable names returning for Day 2 include players such as Bin Weng (355,500), who is on a huge heater, having won three major events in 2023 alone. Popular vlogger Ethan "Rampage" Yau (227,000) as well as BetMGM Poker ambassador and tournament end boss Darren Elias (131,500).
BetMGM Poker Championship Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$560,442
10-12
$44,323
55-63
$10,244
2
$392,704
13-15
$34,474
64-72
$9,488
3
$254,645
16-18
$28,334
73-81
$8,733
4
$188,193
19-21
$23,475
82-90
$7,978
5
$142,655
22-24
$19,469
91-99
$7,256
6
$114,157
25-27
$16,547
100-108
$6,534
7
$94,523
28-36
$14,512
109-117
$5,811
8
$75,054
37-45
$12,542
118-126
$5,155
9
$56,044
46-54
$11,229
127-128
$4,793
Play resumes on Level 11 where the blinds will be 1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante. The plan for the day is to stop after Level 19 but this is subject to change. As always, keep it locked in with PokerNews to follow all of the action.
