WPT Legends of Poker, Day 2 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Day 2 of the WPT Legends of Poker began with 302 players, and they played six 90-minute levels to get the field down to 84 — just 21 spots away from the Money Bubble.

Here’s a look back at the tournament room on Day 2:

The Royal Flush Girls had a video shoot out in front of the classic Bicycle Casino sign late on Day 2. From left to right: Brittany Bell, Jeannie Duffy, Tugba Ercan, and Angelique Velez.

During the first level of action, Dwyte Pilgrim studies his chip stack, which he had already built up to about 180,000 in chips. Pilgrim lost some of his early momentum, but still survived the day with 118,000.

Dee Dozier, one of the WPT’s "Ones to Watch" for Season XI, was eliminated in the first level of Day 2. She recapped her brief day for the WPT cameras.

Actor Jordan Warkol, whose best-known role was as a child actor playing Froggy in the "Little Rascals" movie, was in the field on Day 2.

Last season’s WPT L.A. Poker Classic champion, Sean Jazayeri, talks to the TV cameras after his elimination on Day 2.

Reigning WPT Legends of Poker champion Will Failla was eliminated fairly early on Day 2, but still sat down for a long video interview with the WPT’s Jeanine Deeb. The interview will be shown on the WPT Live Stream on Wednesday during one of the breaks at the final table.

David Miscikowski emerged as the massive chipleader after the dinner break, with about 700,000 in chips at one point — about 40% more than anyone else in the field. Miscikowski lost some of those chips before play ended, and finished fifth overall with 550,500.

ClubWPT.com qualifier Efren Abustan (right) studies Dee Luong Friedman after she moves all in on a flop of [7d5h3h]. Abustan would eventually fold to forfeit the pot. Both players would go on to survive the day with short stacks — Friedman with 154,000 and Abustan with 109,000.

Part of the Bicycle Casino’s valet parking lot was roped off so the Royal Flush Girls could record some brief segments for the World Poker Tour TV show.

The Royal Flush Girls recorded some of the bumper segments that lead in and out of the commercial breaks for the TV show. From left to right: Brittany Bell, Angelique Velez, Jeannie Duffy, and Tugba Ercan.

There was a close battle among five players for the chip lead at the end of the night, but the one who came out on top was Ali Eslami.

The chips in Eslami’s hand represents the 33,100 he had at the start of Day 2. He finished the day with more than 18 times as much — 618,500.

This "lucky chip" played an interesting role in Ali Eslami’s chip lead. Another player needed to make change for his ante, but didn’t want to give up his lucky 1K chip. Eslami promised to swap it back to him as soon as he got another 1K chip.

Two hands later, the other player got it all in with A-K against another player’s A-3 — and a three hit the flop to eliminate him. At that point, Eslami thought that maybe the other player was on to something. Eslami set the chip aside, vowing not to play it until he was all in — and he went on a rush to end the day and finish as chipleader.

Eslami wrapped the chip with rubber bands before putting it into his chip bag, so he could identify the lucky chip when he returned to play Day 3.

WPT reporter Diana Cox interviews Jason Koon, who was selected as the ClubWPT.com Player of the Day (sponsored by 3Bet Clothing). Koon was one of the players battling for the chip lead at the end of the day, and finished third 567,000.

Day 2 came to an end with 84 players. Here’s a look at the top five chip counts from the unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Ali Eslami  –  618,500  (154 bb)
2.  Joseph Cheong  –  574,000  (143 bb)
3.  Jason Koon  –  567,000  (141 bb)
4.  Antonios Roundgeris  –  551,000  (137 bb)
5.  David Miscikowski  –  550,500  (137 bb)

Day 3 begins today at 12:00 noon PT. Stay tuned to WPT.com for live coverage and chip counts throughout the day.