WPT World Championship, Day 2 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

There was a partial solar eclipse visible in Las Vegas on Sunday, and the peak of it coincided with the last level of Day 2 of the WPT World Championship. People in Northern Nevada were able to see an annular solar eclipse, in which the moon is in front of the sun, but smaller, so there is a ring of sunlight visible around it.

Steve O’Dwyer was the chipleader at the start of Day 2 with 231,750 in chips. O’Dwyer held strong and finished the day seventh in chips with 301,900.

In an unusual hand, Daniel Buzgon (left) faced off against Vanessa Rousso (right) over a board of [Qc10c9cAd10s]. Rousso check-raised the turn, and then bet out on the river enough to put Buzgon all in. Buzgon tanked for about five minutes before calling with [Ac10h] — a full house, tens full of aces.

Rousso was stunned, and mucked her cards as another player said it was the longest tank he had ever seen with such a strong hand. Buzgon apologized to the table, and said, "It’s either a slowroll, or I’m out."

Twenty Season X WPT winners earned entry into this event along with their titles, and 18 of them entered on Day 1. The two holdouts were Matthew Waxman (pictured) and Dave Shallow, who both joined the field early on Day 2.

Seated next to Tyler Smith (right), Noah Schwartz was sporting a new look — he wasn’t wearing his signature glasses. He had them on Day 1, but had laser eye surgery before Day 2 began. Get used to the new look of Noah Schwartz.

Scott Seiver (standing) and David Williams (seated) were the last two players to win the WPT World Championship, with Seiver taking the title last season, and Williams winning it back in Season VIII. The two other former WPT World Champions in the field are David Chiu (season VI) and Martin de Knijff (Season II).

Vanessa Selbst had a great run at the last WPT event here at Bellagio, the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Selbst finished third in that event to win $338,351. Unfortunately, that will be the highlight of Selbst’s season on the WPT, as she was eliminated here on Day 2.

David "Bakes" Baker (center) moves all in over a river bet against reigning WPT World Champion Scott Seiver (left) on a board of [Kd10h5c4h9h]. Seiver tanked for about two minutes before forfeiting the pot to Baker.

Poker reporter Tim Fiorvanti watches the partial solar eclipse from the Bellagio, as the sun slowly sets behind the Palms and Rio casinos over Red Rock Canyon. The eclipse wasn’t visible with the naked eye, so Fiorvanti is wearing special glasses designed for observing the sun.

Daniel Negreanu (standing) four-bet all in preflop with [AsKh] against Lance Steinberg (seated, center) and Guillaume Darcourt (not pictured). The flop came [QhJc2s], and Steinberg and Darcourt quickly got it all in. Before they showed their cards, Negreanu said, "Both of these guys got sets, but I’m still alive!"

Sure enough, Darcourt had [JdJs] for middle set, and Steinberg turned over [QcQd] for top set. Negreanu’s A-K flopped a gutshot straight draw, and he needed a ten to stay alive.

The ten never came, and Steinberg won the pot to double up thru Darcourt and eliminate Negreanu from the tournament.

Rinat Bogdanov earned his entry into the WPT World Championship by winning the WPT Venice Grand Prix back in February. Bogdanov had an excellent Day 2, finishing second in chips with 381,000. Bogdanov will attempt to become the first player in seven years to win a WPT World Championship after winning a WPT title earlier that season — Tuan Le did it back in Season III.

Allen Kessler (left) looks on as Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (right) takes the chip lead late in the day. Mizrachi, who already has two WPT titles to his credit, finished at the top of the leaderboard with 428,200.

The field size has grown to 135 players, and there are 95 still in action. Registration remains open until the middle of Day 3, but here are the current chipleaders:

1.  Michael Mizrachi  –  428,200
2.  Rinat Bogdanov  –  381,000
3.  Guillaume Darcourt  –  356,600
4.  David Steicke  –  345,500
5.  Isaac Haxton  –  313,500
6.  Tony Ruberto  –  309,100
7.  Steve O’Dwyer  –  301,900
8.  Ubaid Habib  –  288,100
9.  John Esposito  –  284,200
10.  Matt Juttelstad  –  274,000

Day 3 begins at 12:00 noon PT, and registration remains open until the beginning of Level 12 — about 5:00 pm PT. The field will revert to a more standard schedule of five 90-minute levels, and you can continue to get live coverage right here at WPT.com