Phil Hellmuth had over 130,000 just before dinner break. The 100 minutes that followed the break have been anything but kind to "The Poker Brat", and he just lost the last of chips to complete the slide.
Dario Minieri opened to 2,500 in middle position, and Phil Hellmuth made it 7,500 to go on the button. Francois Pelletant called in the big blind, and Minieri folded, so they went heads-up to a flop. Pelletant came out betting 11,000, and Hellmuth immediately shoved all in for about 18,000. Pelletant called.
Hellmuth:
Pelletant:
"Wow," was all Hellmuth could muster as he stared his Main Event elimination in the face.
The turn was the , leaving Hellmuth dead to a chop. The river was the .
After all the fire he spewed in the hands leading up to his final stand, Hellmuth took his exit with grace, shaking Pelletant's hand and heading for the exits without much to say.
Poker's all-time money leader has busted from the Main Event.
The hand before Negreanu busted, he opened to 3,500 from middle position and got calls from both players in the blinds.
When the flop fanned out , the player in the small blind took the betting lead, sliding out 6,100. Negreanu went into the tank.
"If you check, I was doing everything," Negreanu said as he cut down his stack. "Don't know if that's good or bad for you."
Negreanu eventually folded, showing the . His opponent tabled for just six-high. A stunned Negreanu looked around and said, "That had me as confused as I've ever been in my life."
The very next hand, Negreanu moved all-in from early position and was put at risk by John Allan Hinds out of the big blind.
Negreanu:
Hinds:
Negreanu was in great shape to score a double up as the dealer laid out a flop. The turn was , sparking some chatter around the table. Hinds had picked up a flush draw and it would be completed when the dealer swept out the on the river.
Negreanu gave his best to the table, wishing them luck before saying goodbye to the Main Event.
Mag Botros had a bet of 7,500 in front of him in the hijack on a flop and was facing a check-raise to 29,000 from big blind Joey Weissman. Botros slid in a stack of T5,000 chips that made it 77,500, most of his total chip stack. Weissman wasted little time before moving all in.
"All right," said Botros after about 30 seconds, sliding his remaining 50,000 or so in.
Weissman:
Botros:
Botros was in awful shape with only one live immediate out, but the brought a backdoor flush possibility. The filled the flush, and Botros shouted in celebration. Weissman barely reacted to the beat, counting out 124,400 and sending it over with a "nice hand."
Picking up the action on the turn of an board with roughly 40,000 in the pot, Artan Dedusha bet 22,500 from the small blind. Kristen Bicknell called from the button, the river completed the board, Dedusha checked, and Bicknell bet 39,000. Dedusha tanked for nearly three minutes before he called.
Bicknell showed , while Dedusha turned over for jacks and eights to win the pot.
Play has concluded in Day 2c of the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event. This was the last day where the first three starting flights were separated, meaning all remaining players will converge into one massive field for Day 3 on Thursday.
A field of 3,300 players returned Wednesday to continue on their path to Main Event glory, and at the end of it there are still plenty of big names advancing, as well as more unknown players ready to spring an upset.
Leading at the end of Day 2c — and leading overall going into Day 3 — is British player Artan Dedusha in his very first Main Event. He told us as the day ended that his aim was to double his stack to around 200,000-220,000 on Day 2. He ended up with more than three times that amount with 680,000.
“I guess I ran good," Dedusha said. "I lost a few pots as well, but mainly I ran good. I held up, I won the races, I was on the better end of a cooler. But also I played good. I picked up many small pots here and there.
“I'm happy, I'm very happy. But, I'm not that excited because I've seen so many things. I've gone up and down, up and down. It doesn't mean anything right now. You never know.”
Also bagging big stacks were Marcin Chmielewski (564,000), Michael Krasienko (561,300), Sonny Franco (546,700), and Player of the Year contender and two-time bracelet winner Ryan Hughes (510,100).
It was tough a day for former Main Event champions. Ryan Riess, Joe McKeehen and Phil Hellmuth all fell, with 2000 Main Event Champion and 2017 POY contender Chris Ferguson also eliminated when his ran into on a flop of .
Multiple bracelet-winners Men Nguyen, Paul Volpe, JC Tran, Antonio Esfandiari, and Loren Klein, as well as November Niners Griffin Benger, Federico Butteroni and Max Steinberg also won’t be advancing.
Fan favorites Maria Ho, Bertrand Grospellier, Anthony Zinno and Gus Hansen were also eliminated. Joining them on the rail was William Kassouf, who was eliminated early in the day.
Both Kassouf and opponent Dany Georges held jack-ten on an board when the money got in, but importantly for Georges he held a redraw to a diamond flush to eliminate the loud-mouthed Brit. The all-important diamond fell on the river and the Main Event lost one of its loudest and polarizing voices.
Two-time $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-up Championship runner-up John Smith also came back on Day 2c, but was eliminated after he failed to pull off a monster bluff with just a single pair. His opponent called with a set to eliminate Smith in Level 7.
Former Main Event champions Scotty Nguyen, Johnny Chan, Joe Cada, and Carlos Mortensen are still in contention. Other notables include 888poker Ambassador Dominik Nitsche, Jake Cody, Felipe Ramos, Cate Hall, 2016 November Niner Fernando Pons.
Natasha Mercier bagged 218,000 at the end of Day 1c, and found herself bagging over 470,000 at the culmination of another ten hours of play. Meanwhile, her husband Jason started a lot shorter with only 28,000 and he managed to chip up to 150,000 before bagging 101,000.
When asked if they found it distracting to be playing in the same tournament, Natasha said it was business as usual.
“I think we’re both very competitive,” Natasha said. “So when I see him at the table I really want him to do well, but at the same time I want to beat him. I’m like hoping to get more chips than he does.”
“I don’t really wanna beat Natasha,” Jason said. “Actually, it’s nice to see her still in the event. Especially when she has so many chips, so hopefully if I bust, she can go on and go really deep. It’s awesome that we’re both still in. We’ve never both made day three.”
All those advancing from Day 2c will join together with the 1,023 players that advanced from Day 2ab for Day 3 on Thursday. Cards will be in the air at 11 a.m. local time, and PokerNews will be there to cover the action from start to finish.
A full list of chip counts and the Day 3 seat draw will be posted later tonight.