Kempton Leads Final 25 into Day 3 of Tampa Main Event with $290,974 Up Top
The second day of the WSOP Circuit Tampa $1,700 Main Event has come to an end here at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa after ten levels of play and now just 25 remain headed into the final day of this event. All players will return tomorrow at noon to battle it out for the $290,974 first-place prize along with a shiny new WSOP Circuit ring.
Leading the way is Day 1a chipleader Isaac Kempton who started the Day 2 on top with the overall lead and ended in the exact same position, bagging a monstrous 5,205,000.
Kempton is relatively new to live tournaments, mentioning that this is only his second live event of his career. The newcomer to the live scene is in an incredible position to start his career off with a bang and has showed no signs of being an amateur with an outstanding amount of composure and confidence at the table thus far.
Patrick Serda will be starting the final day in second on the totem pole with 2,600,000 and has a resume of great results to suggest that he is one of the biggest threats in this event. The Manitoba, Canada native boast almost two million in career earnings and has will looking to add another six-figure score tomorrow.
The most deserving of any attention in this field is James Calderaro who has been a pinnacle of the poker community for years. The well-known pro has had many deep runs in his career and has just over $4.5 million in career earnings. Calderaro will be starting the final day in fourth on the leaderboard and is sure to put up a tough battle for whoever wants to take down this event.
Top Five Stacks
| Position | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isaac Kempton | United States | 5,205,000 | 130 |
| 2 | Patrick Serda | Canada | 2,600,000 | 64 |
| 3 | Robert Manjura | United States | 2,020,000 | 50 |
| 4 | James Calderaro | United States | 1,900,000 | 48 |
| 5 | Paul Balzano | United States | 1,800,000 | 45 |
Day 2 Action
The second day of this event say 242 return of the 1,162 entries that were accumulated over the first two starting flights and it didn't take long for players to start falling by the wayside. Just before the end of level 17 it was Robert Pollmeier who popped the bubble when took down the pocket kings of Jeffrey Morzella and pocket queens of Matthew Higgins for a double elimination to pop the bubble, guaranteeing all remaining players at least $2,547 for a min-cash.
Tony Miles was one of the first to cash when he jammed his ace-five into the ace-six of Constantinos Psallidas who flopped two pair and Miles was sent out the door, cashing in 174th place. Many other notable players took an exit soon after including Dejuante Alexander, Peter Vitantonio, AJ Kelsall and Robert Mizrachi.
The original plan for Day 2 was to play until just 18 players remained but an overly large sized field changed that and the day was then set to play ten levels. Halfway through the last level of the night, it was Psallidas who took an exit when he shoved ace-six into the ace-king of Cameron Marshall. The Canadian failed to catch up and the final three tables were then set with Kempton leading considerably.
Russel Waggoner moved all in with a pair of nines and Serge Dergham called with ace-king, setting up a race. Dergham caught the king on the flop and Waggoner took an exit in 27th place for $9,405. Shortly after it was David Tuthill dropping out of the mix when he ran his pocket sevens into the nines of John O'Neal, taking the same $9,405 for his 26th place finish.
Day 3 Seat Assignments
| Table | Seat | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | Empty | N/A | |
| 25 | 2 | Ioannis Patsourakis | 1,450,000 | 36 |
| 25 | 3 | David Jackson | 1,585,000 | 40 |
| 25 | 4 | Cameron Marshall | 810,000 | 20 |
| 25 | 5 | Christopher Hyden | 595,000 | 15 |
| 25 | 6 | Robert Manjura | 2,020,000 | 51 |
| 25 | 7 | John Ott | 1,365,000 | 34 |
| 25 | 8 | John O'Neal | 1,510,000 | 38 |
| 25 | 9 | Mike Shin | 730,000 | 18 |
| 26 | 1 | Brad Sailor | 1,125,000 | 28 |
| 26 | 2 | Nathan Russler | 1,315,000 | 33 |
| 26 | 3 | Jason Klapman | 365,000 | 9 |
| 26 | 4 | Isaac Kempton | 5,205,000 | 130 |
| 26 | 5 | Francisco Gomez | 1,280,000 | 32 |
| 26 | 6 | Michael Cohen | 370,000 | 9 |
| 26 | 7 | Brian Ray | 1,465,000 | 37 |
| 26 | 8 | John Dwyer | 1,390,000 | 35 |
| 26 | 9 | James Calderaro | 1,900,000 | 48 |
| 0 | ||||
| 30 | 1 | David Berman | 1,550,000 | 39 |
| 30 | 2 | Kevin Gavier | 590,000 | 15 |
| 30 | 3 | Thomas Boyden | 925,000 | 23 |
| 30 | 4 | Fares Santana | 425,000 | 11 |
| 30 | 5 | Empty | N/A | |
| 30 | 6 | Serge Dergham | 1,700,000 | 43 |
| 30 | 7 | Ronald Rosenberg | 910,000 | 23 |
| 30 | 8 | Paul Balzano | 1,800,000 | 45 |
| 30 | 9 | Patrick Serda | 2,600,000 | 65 |
The remaining 25 players will return tomorrow at noon to play down until a new WSOP Circuit winner his crowned, taking home the cash and a new ring. Play will resume at level 26 which features a 20,000 small blind and 40,000 big blind with a 40,000 big blind ante.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you all of the updates so stay tuned as all of the action unfolds.