Jens Lakemeier Leads $2,500 Big Bet Mix Final Table
Thirty-seven players started Day 2 of Event #59: $2,500 Big Bet Mix and just six reached the official final table by the end of play. Leading the pack is Jens Lakemeier who used a dynamic mix of aggression and level-headedness to bag 702,000 in chips, which will stand him in good stead for the final day tomorrow.
Close behind him is Jerry Wong (680,000) and Jason Stockfish (514,000). The final table is completed by Ashton Griffin (232,500), Andrew Kelsall (185,500), and Kenneth Fitzgerald (143,000).
The day started just seven eliminations away from the money, with John Moore and three-time bracelet winner Brian Rast two of the players unlucky to miss out on a $3,750 min-cash.
John Bunch was the unfortunate bubble boy. Coming into hand-for-hand play, he had a little under 300 in chips and, by the second hand of hand-for-hand, he was all in on a five-card draw hand. He drew four to a queen and, although he made two pairs, he was eliminated by Tuan Le who had trip sixes.
There was still a wealth of talent with 30 players remaining, including multiple bracelet winners in the shape of Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, and Mike Matusow.
Mercier was the first of these to go, clashing with Jerry Wong in a PLO pot. Mercier’s aces were good on the flop, but Wong had an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. The turn completed his flush draw and Mercier was eliminated.
By the time play got down to three tables, the chip lead was taken in dramatic fashion by Jason Stockfish in a pot-limit 2-7 triple draw pot worth over 250,000 in which Stockfish made a number three and was paid off by Ryan Hughes.
Stockfish held onto this lead and had close to 500,000 in chips with two tables remaining. Negreanu was eliminated in 12th place in a pot-limit 2-7 triple draw hand against Ryan Hughes. With Negreanu holding 
, he watched Hughes draw to 
. Hughes drew a 
, completing his wheel, eliminating Negreanu.
Another big name went in 11th. Mike Matusow moved all in on a flop with a flush draw and bottom pair and was called by the top two pairs of Andrew Kelsall. Matusow bricked the turn and the river and was eliminated.
Ten players went on dinner break and, upon their return, it took them just over a level to get down to an unofficial final table.
David “ODB” Baker fell in five-card draw, failing to outdraw the jacks of Wong when Baker held nines. Then, Ismael Bojang clashed with Jens Lakemeier and Kelsall in a three-way Big O pot which resulted in Lakemeier eliminating Bojang.
Finally, Marco Johnson, having worked his short stack masterfully since before the dinner break, was eliminated and the unofficial final table was set.
And there was still time for one more elimination. Ryan Hughes was eliminated in seventh place meaning that the following six players will return on Sunday at 2 p.m. to play it out for the $112,232 and a WSOP gold bracelet.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Wong | United States | 680,000 |
| 2 | Kenneth Fitzgerald | United States | 143,000 |
| 3 | Jens Lakemeier | Austria | 702,000 |
| 4 | Andrew Kelsall | United States | 185,500 |
| 5 | Ashton Griffin | United States | 232,500 |
| 6 | Jason Stockfish | United States | 514,000 |