The field for day two of Event #9: $3,000 No Limit Holdem Shootout is absolutely loaded. Several WSOP bracelet winners will continue play today, including Team Pokerstars Pro Dario Minieri, two-time bracelet winner John “Johnny World” Hennigan, and last year’s Big One for One Drop winner Antonio Esfandiari.
Also in today’s field are two notable non-poker celebrities: Richard Roeper, film critic and former co-host of Ebert and Roeper won his table yesterday. Matt Salsberg, a producer best known for his work on Weeds and Entourage, won his table after an intense heads up battle with recent EPT Grand Final winner Steve O’Dwyer.
There were 447 players in yesterday’s starting field, 60 of whom will return today. The players will be divided into 10 tables of six players each. The winner of each table will return tomorrow for a 10-handed final table. All remaining players are guaranteed at least $7,384 for their efforts, but everyone is eyeing to top prize of almost $300,000.
In a field this stacked, there are no easy tables, but two table draws look especially difficult. Team Pokerstars Pros Victor Ramdin and Dario Minieri share a table with Max Steinberg and Cherish Andrews. Nearby, another table features Cliff Josephy, Randy Dorfman, Dan O’Brien, and Kyle Julius. It will be fascinating to watch and see who comes out on top at these tables and all the others to advance to tomorrow’s final ten. Action is about to get underway and all the players are seated at their tables. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for updates throughout the day.
Victor Ramdin had taken a huge hit to his stack just before break, and was down to about 3,000. He moved all-in from the button on the first hand after break, and Max Steinberg called in the big blind. Ramdin showed , but Steinberg had him dominated with . The board ran out , giving Ramdin no help and Steinberg won the pot. Ramdin has been eliminated.
David "Bakes" Baker has won his shootout table. According to Baker, in the final hand he raised with , and Friedman 3-bet shoved for about 50,000 with . The board provided no help to Friedman, and Baker advances to tomorrow's final table.
For the second day in a row, Ezra Udoff was involved in the final heads up match of the day, but this time he did not come out on top.
On the last hand of the night, Chris Klodnicki raised to 12,000 on the button. Udoff made a reraise to 32,000 from the big blind. Klodnicki then moved all in and Udoff quickly called, turning over his
"It's a flip," Klodnicki said turning over his .
The board ran out giving Klodnicki two pair and the winning hand. Klodnicki will return tomorrow as the last member of the final table.
In Event #9: $3,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout, 60 players returned to action today from yesterday’s starting field of 477. By the time play finished for the night, only 10 players remained. They’ll return tomorrow to play the final table and battle it out for the first prize of $299,486 and the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
There are several notable players who have advanced to tomorrow’s final table. Four of the remaining ten have already won World Series events: Cliff Josephy, David “Bakes” Baker, Ryan Hughes, and Max Steinberg. They are joined by Chris Klodnicki, who has won a World Series Circuit ring but is still looking for his first bracelet. Klodnicki twice finished in second place in World Series events, including last year’s $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
The action continues tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time, when the final table is scheduled to be contested on the ESPN main stage. Pokernews.com will be here to bring you all the action as it occurs, so stay tuned for updates as the players determine the next World Series of Poker bracelet winner.