Hamid Feiz Leads the Final 26 Into Day 3 of Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack
The top spots on the $800-entry Deepstack leaderboard changed throughout the day, but at the end of play on Day 2, it would be Hamid Feiz sitting at the top with an impressive 12,000,000 in chips.
Unlike Day 1 of the first-ever Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack which started slowly, Day 2 was action-packed from the moment cards were in the air. From the total of 2,808 entries, 671 players took their seats on Day 2, but only 422 would make the money, with a min-cash being worth $1,185. By the fourth level of play, the bubble had already burst, courtesy of a double knockout, so it didn’t take too long for the payout line to start forming.
An impressive list of notables returned on Day 2 to take their shot at the gold bracelet and a six-figure payday. While some of them fell short of making the money, others such as Chris Moorman, Kelly Minkin, DJ MacKinnon,Kristen Bicknell, Joe Kuether and Phil Hellmuth did cash. Minkin, who had one of the more memorable hands of the day when she flopped top set over middle set, only to have the all-in player hit a one-outer on the river, recovered nicely from that setback, finishing in 81st place for a payday of $3,134.
Arguably the most memorable hand of the day took place when Phil Ivey lost a race with his pocket tens against the ace-queen of Christopher Csik. Ivey three-bet shoved after Csik’s initial raise, which sent Csik deep into the tank. In fact, he tanked so long that he told the table to call the clock on him, which one of his tablemates finally did. Once the floor person came over and started the thirty-second clock, Csik made the call. Unfortunately for Ivey, and the rail that had formed to watch one of poker’s more well-known players, he lost his race when an ace came right on the flop and he was eliminated in 64th place, which was worth a $3,700 payday.
Also, cashing on Day 2 were Dusti Smith, who made a very deep run until she bowed out just before the last break of the day in 44th place, and two players playing in their first-ever WSOP tournament, Thomas Taylor in 389th place and Robert Farabee in 42nd place, respectively.
Originally play was scheduled to end once the field was down to the final six players, but an announcement was made during level 29 with 49 players still remaining that the players would take one last 15-minute break, come back and play two more levels and then bag up for the night.
Joseph Liberta was eliminated on the last hand of the night, so now 26 players will be returning on Day 3 to play down to a winner. All remaining players are guaranteed a minimum payday of $9,789, but of course, they will all be playing for the highly-coveted gold bracelet and the $297,537 in cash that comes along with it. Play will resume at 12 p.m. local time at level 32 with blinds of 100,000/200,000 and an ante of 200,000. The PokerNews team will be there from when the first card is dealt until the last card hits the felt and crowns a new champion in the process.