Welcome back to Crown Melbourne and the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific for Day 2 of Event 6: AU$1,650 8-Game Dealer's Choice.
Yesterday saw 89 players take a seat in this mixed game format to create a prizepool of AU$133,500 that will see the final nine in-the-money with whoever can stand alone on top guaranteed a AU$42,720 first prize and coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Australian Hall of Famer and mixed game specialist Gary Benson is the overall chip leader with 38,025 while two-time WSOP bracelet winner Frank Kassela is snapping on his heels with 36,225. Fellow bracelet winners George Danzer and Jeff Madsen round out the top few counts while Sam Khouiss, Stuart Rutter, Brian Rast, Michael Guzzardi, Jeff Gross and Jason Gray all remain with a chance to capture this bracelet.
Play commences at 12:30 p.m. local time with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team providing continuous live updates until the Event 6: AU$1,650 8-Game Dealer's Choice final table is reached.
Catching the action with Michael Guzzardi check-calling and drawing one, his opponent Rory Young also drew one before putting Guzzardi all in for his last 950. Guzzardi obliged and drew two with Young drawing one.
Young tabled his and Guzzardi mucked his hand and headed to the rail.
Frank Kassela opened to 1,100 only to have Srdjan Brkic three-bet the cutoff to 3,200. With the action on Gary Benson, he moved all in for 10,600 with Kassela folding and Brkic calling.
Benson:
Brkic:
With Benson racing for his tournament life, the flop gave him the lead before the landed on the turn to give Brkic a lock on the hand. The river landed the meaningless and Benson headed to the rail as Brkic climbed to 32,500 in chips.
Rich Ryan and Donnie Peters break down all of the latest stories in the poker world, including the start of the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific and the WSOP Player of the Year race, and Phil Hellmuth joins the program to talk about chasing bracelets, ambassadorship, and more.
Don't forget the NJOY November Nine Preview, where the crew discusses the only member of the final table who's Down Under: Bruno Politano.
Brian Rast opened to 1,400 from the hijack and Jeff Gross three-bet to 5,000 from the button. Rast called as the flop landed and Gross proceeded to find himself all in with Rast calling.
Gross:
Rast:
With both players holding flush and straight draws, it would be Rast striking the turn when the landed, and when Gross failed to improve with the on the river, he hit the rail as Rast soared to 118,000 in chips.
On a flop, Brian Rast checked from the small blind before Frank Kassela bet pot of 6,000. Jason Gray raised all in for 14,600 and Rast folded before Kassela called all in for his last 11,700.
Kassela:
Gray:
With Kassela trailing, the on the turn rendered him drawing dead as the completed the board on the river to end the two-time WSOP bracelet winners run in 11th place.
George Danzer had the bring-in and Michael Wang completed with Danzer calling. Wang bet fourth, fifth and sixth until he was all in with Danzer calling each time.
Danzer: /
Wang: /
With Wang trailing, he would need to find an ace, nine or three to stay alive, and once Danzer peeled the , all of Wang's outs were live.
Unfortunately for Wang, he could only peel the on the river, and was eliminated in 8th place leaving the final seven players to redraw to the unofficial final table.
![[user80015]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Guzzardi mucked his hand and headed to the rail.
flop gave him the lead before the 
landed on the turn to give Brkic a lock on the hand. The river landed the meaningless 
and Benson headed to the rail as Brkic climbed to 32,500 in chips.
and Gross proceeded to find himself all in with Rast calling.
on the river, he hit the rail as Rast soared to 118,000 in chips.
flop, Brian Rast checked from the small blind before Frank Kassela bet pot of 6,000. Jason Gray raised all in for 14,600 and Rast folded before Kassela called all in for his last 11,700.
completed the board on the river to end the two-time WSOP bracelet winners run in 11th place.
/ 
/ 
/ 
