Justin Bateson Leads Final Nine; Moneymaker��s Deep Run Comes to an End

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Level 29 : 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante

William Kassouf and Chris Moneymaker in happier times

It was an exciting day from start to finish, that ended with Justin Bateson (4,030,000) nabbing the chip lead in the last level of the night. In fact, the battle for the chip lead was a hotly contested one but after a couple of big hands, including a rivered two pair, Bateson will return slightly ahead of the pack when play resumes tomorrow for the final.

Bateson has been here before, finishing runner up in the Hippodrome London leg of the Moneymaker��s Tour to the PSPC 2020 just a few weeks ago. This time, he will undoubtedly have his sights set firmly on first place, where an ��11,200 prize awaits the winner as well as an illustrious Platinum Pass, which Bateson bubbled last month.

He will face stiff competition from Gary Miller (3,960,000), who is one of the most experienced players at the final table. Miller has $381,000 in live cashes and will start just a whisker behind Bateson. Duncan Mackie (3,555,000) comes through in third and Valdir Santos (3,155,000) in fourth (the only other players with over 300,000-chip stacks to play with). [Removed:148] (2,960,000), Rungarun Thongnonsung (2,680,000), Sinead Priestly (2,060,000), Dan Spataru (2,040,000) and Robert Buky (940,000) complete the final nine.

It wasn��t good news for everyone though with the most notable exit of the day, the man who the tournament is named after, Chris Moneymaker busting in 15th place for ��940. The deep run was the second time the PokerStars Pro has made it as far as the final two tables, after a 14th place finish at the Hippodrome London leg.

At the start, there were 126 hopefuls still in with a shot and with only seven eliminations needed before the bubble burst. The bust outs continued to fly, with a host of big names among them, including Ben Winsor, Christopher Yong, William Kassouf, Marc Inizan, Min Ji, Artan Dedusha and previous Platinum Pass winner Salvatore Donato all hitting the rail in the money stages of the tournament.

The third and final day will kick off at 12pm here at Aspers Casino Stratford. Levels will increase to 40 minutes long and play will rewind to the start of Level 29 (50,000-100,000 100,000 big blind ante). PokerNews will be back here from 12:30pm (in line with the 30-minute delay on the live stream). See you then.

Final Table Overview

Seat	Name	Chips	Big Blinds
1	Gary Miller	3,960,000	39
2	Valdir Santos	3,155,000	31
3	Sinead Priestly	2,060,000	20
4	[Removed:148]	2,960,000	29
5	Dan Spataru	2,040,000	20
6	Duncan Mackie	3,555,000	35
7	Robert Buky	940,000	9
8	Justin Bateson	4,030,000	40
9	Rungarun Thongnonsung,	2,680,000	26