After another long day of play, just 12 players remained in Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Hiren Patel held the chip lead at the end of the night with a massive 1,873,000 to take into the final day, Day 3, on Monday.
The day began with 233 players and they fell fast. It was only 30 minutes before the money bubble had burst and 216 players made it into the prize money. The tournament room was a constant chorus of “payout” yelled by the dealers as players were eliminated.
Among those who made the money but did not survive the day are notable players like Eric Mizrachi (207th - $2,872), Allen Kessler (161st - $3,154), Jonas Mackoff (152nd - $3,154), Darryll Fish (138th - $3,154), Scott Montgomery (111th - $3,506), Jason Somerville (84th - $4,505), Matt Affleck (36th - $12,390), Loni Harwood (29th - $12,390), Phil Collins (16th - $18,755), and in a huge double knockout at the end of the night, Max Silver (13th - $23,486).
With only a few minutes left on the clock, Silver pushed all in over the raise from Matt Ditonto. They both knew they were in trouble when Patel got his chips in as well, and the three of them were all in three-handed. Patel showed the , Ditonto had the , and Silver held the . Silver and Ditonto needed to spike something if they wanted to avoid the death grip of Patel who had them both covered. The board ran out and Patel scored the double knockout. Silver, the seasoned UK pro, was the last player eliminated before play wrapped up for the evening.
Everyone has their eye on the top prize of $514,027 to go along with the highly-coveted WSOP gold bracelet that will be awarded to the winner on Monday. Players will reconvene at 1 p.m. Follow along on the PokerNews live update blog to stay up to date on all the action.
In a massive three-way all-in hand, two players have been eliminated. The under-the-gun player limped and the player to his left called. Then Matt Ditonto raised to 63,000 and Max Silver shoved all in from middle position. Hiren Patel called from the button and the first two limpers folded. Ditonto pushed his chips in the middle too, and all three players flipped up their cards.
Ditonto:
Silver:
Patel:
When the dust settled, the board read and the rockets held, giving Patel a massive pot to add to his already-large stack. Silver and Ditonto were eliminated in 13th and 14th respectively, and each received $23,486 from the cage.
Phil Collins was sitting in the cutoff position when he raised to 25,000 preflop and faced a three-bet from Ted Gillis in the small blind to 70,000. Collins four-bet all in and Gillis snap-called.
Collins:
Gillis:
The board ran out clean and the cowboys held: . Collins earned $18,755 as he exited the tournament, and Gillis is sitting on a nice-sized stack of chips to continue his run.
Garshofsky's elimination was simultaneous to Filipovic's so we didn't witness the hand, but were told by the table that he got the last of his chips in preflop with against the of Edison Shields, who would make the flush to send Garshofsky on his way.
Mustapha Kanit raised it up to 20,000 preflop from early position and Gregg Merkow made the call in the big blind. The flop was dealt and Merkow check-called Kanit's bet of 20,000. The turn was the and Merkow check-raised to 180,000 after Kanit made it 55,000 to go. Kanit called and the river card was the . Merkow led out for 125,000 and Kanit pushed all in for 541,000.
"I need a count," Merkow said, his arms in the air anticipating a tough decision. "This is going to take me a long time guys," he warned the table. "I don't know if I'm good enough to lay this down."
With most of the players out of their seats stretching their legs, Merkow finally made a decision about three minutes later. He showed for a set as he folded.
"I'll show you one," Kanit said. He slid out the and showed the table.
On a flop of , a player in middle position bet 15,000 and Samantha Bazan got out of the way. Hiren Patel raised to 42,500 and the player who initially bet made the call.
Patel:
Opponent:
The turn and river came down and Patel scooped a massive pot.
In the very next hand, Patel raised it preflop and faced a three-bet from the player on the button. He four-bet all in and got a fold to win the chips without seeing a flop. Patel now has a massive chip lead in this event.
Andrew Clarke raised to 2,500 from under the gun and the hijack called before Eric Mizrachi pushed all in from the button. Clarke called and the other player folded.
Mizrachi:
Clarke:
Board:
Clarke's pocket nines held and Mizrachi headed for the cashier for his min-cash.
, Ditonto had the 
, and Silver held the 
. Silver and Ditonto needed to spike something if they wanted to avoid the death grip of Patel who had them both covered. The board ran out 
and Patel scored the double knockout. Silver, the seasoned UK pro, was the last player eliminated before play wrapped up for the evening.
and Lendvai is gone.
. Collins earned $18,755 as he exited the tournament, and Gillis is sitting on a nice-sized stack of chips to continue his run.
against the 
and Filipovic headed to the rail. "Good luck everyone, I'm going to go hang myself now," Filipovic joked.
and Merkow check-raised to 180,000 after Kanit made it 55,000 to go. Kanit called and the river card was the 
and showed the table.
