Stephen Graner will bring 12,005,000, about a third of the chips in play, to tomorrow's final table of Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em. That puts him more than 7 million clear of his nearest competitor, James Duke.
The Henderson, Nev., native has already gotten 2014 off to a nice start, scoring his biggest ever cash of $65,840 in February, but with such a massive chip lead, he has his sights set squarely on the $1,319,587 first-place prize. Everyone returning tomorrow is already assured of scoring $128,150.
The most accomplished tournament players coming back tomorrow are in third and seventh, respectively. Englishman Andrew Teng ($700,000 in live cashes) brings 4,375,000, while Florida's Maurice Hawkins ($1.1 million) bagged just under 2 million.
Plenty of well-known players brought stacks into Day 2, but most fell by the wayside relatively early on. Among those falling today: Chris Klodnicki, Matt Salsberg, Amir Lehavot, Athanasios Polychronopolous, James Mackey, Andrew "BalugaWhale" Seidman, John Racener, Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, Chris DeMaci, and Greg "FBT" Mueller.
Tomorrow's final table will convene at 1 p.m. and play down to a winner. Be sure to tune back in to PokerNews for the crowning of the next poker millionaire, who will have conquered a massive field to claim the bracelet.
Jonathan Dimmig opened from early position to 120,000 and Bradley Anderson called from the button. Michael Stembera moved all in from the big blind for 685,000 total. Dimmig got out of the way and with the pressure on and the chance to get to the official final table, Anderson ultimately made the call. It looked like a bad call when the hands were turned over:
Anderson
Stembera
That all changed when the dealer fanned a flop of giving Anderson middle pair. The turn was the giving Stembera a ton of outs to survive. Any ace, ten, or club would give him the winning hand and double up.
It was not to be though as the river was the . The players are now bagging and tagging for the night. We'll have the official chip counts shortly.
It was folded to Carter Kessler in the small blind who moved all in for 1.2 million. Stephen Graner, the big stack, was in the big blind. He looked at his cards and leaned back.
"Did you really just do that?" he asked. "Ripped 1.2 million when I have this hand?"
"Gotta," replied Kessler.
Graner casually tossed a stack of T25,000 chips into the middle as if he wasn't expecting to see them come back to his stack. He was ahead, however, with his as Kessler only held . "That's a buzz saw," said Kessler, adding "you're supposed to have junk."
The board would run out to give Graner the pot and send Kessler off to collect is six figure payday.
Patrick Chan pushed all in for roughly 700,000 and was called by Bradley Anderson.
Anderson:
Chan:
Chan was dominated, but he found help in the form of a gutshot on the flop. The turn made his straight draw open-ended, but the painted the end for Chan, who will have to console himself with the first six-figure payout of the tournament.
John Moore raised from under the gun and action folded around to Bradley Anderson in the big blind. Anderson pushed all in with his huge stack and Moore spent a minute before he called with , a dog to Anderson's . The board was an uneventful and Moore was sent to the cashier in 13th place to pick up $79,582.
Andrew Teng opened to 100,000 and Matthew Livingston made it 250,000 to go. Teng three-bet to 510,000 and Livingston did not wait long to announce that he was all in. Teng was even faster to call as he had . Livingston shook his head, knowing he was in bad shape, as he had been coolered with . An ace on the flop would add insult to injury and just to rub it in a little more a queen would come on the river. Livingston finished in 14th place while Teng creeps closer to the chip lead.
Here are updated chip counts from the rest of the table:
James Duke pushed all in after a flop of , and Andrew Oh called off his last 400,000 or so.
Duke:
Oh:
"Deuce of spades," Oh said. "I'll take that..."
The dealer peeled off a spade from the deck, but it was the , and Oh needed a straight flush on the river. The hit on fifth street, and a disappointed Oh was sent packing.
Stephen Graner raised to 100,000 preflop under the gun and Stewart Newman three-bet all in from the small blind with his remaining 550,000 chips. Graner spent some time deciding if he wanted to risk doubling up the short stack, but eventually called with the inferior to Newman's . The board ran out , giving Graner the pair on the turn, and Newman exited the tournament in 16th place for $63,321. The remaining players have all jumped a pay level now; they're guaranteed $79,582.
Orez Mokedi raised it up preflop from the hijack to 130,000 and Bradley Anderson three-bet to 260,000 on his left in the cutoff. Mokedi proceeded to four-bet shove and Anderson took little time calling him.
Mokedi:
Anderson:
The board ran out and Mokedi wasn't able to connect, giving Anderson the pot. Mokedi finished in 17th place and earned $63,321 for his effort.
Micheal Stembera moved all in for his last 680,000 and it was folded to Christopher Keller in the big blind who made the call. Stembera had and Keller . The flop and turn were good for Keller as it came and only a jack or king would save Stembera from being eliminated. The river was the and Stembera scored the double up and Keller was left with 140,000.
Those chips would go all in the next hand and Keller's would fall to Jason Johnson's when a king would flop.
![[user272102]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
giving Anderson middle pair. The turn was the 
giving Stembera a ton of outs to survive. Any ace, ten, or club would give him the winning hand and double up.
. The players are now bagging and tagging for the night. We'll have the official chip counts shortly.
. "That's a buzz saw," said Kessler, adding "you're supposed to have junk."
to give Graner the pot and send Kessler off to collect is six figure payday.
, a dog to Anderson's 
. The board was an uneventful 
and Moore was sent to the cashier in 13th place to pick up $79,582.
, and Andrew Oh called off his last 400,000 or so.
and Mokedi wasn't able to connect, giving Anderson the pot. Mokedi finished in 17th place and earned $63,321 for his effort.
when a king would flop.