Event #10A/B: $1,675 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT

Mike Azzaro

There were 81 players to start the day but only 9 were left at the end of Day 2. Players quickly played down past the money bubble, breaking it in the third level of the day. All in all it took just a little over ten hands and it was Jamey Kramer who was the unfortunate bubble boy. Kramer managed to survive once on the bubble by quadrupling up, but it wasn’t enough. His pocket sevens fell to Mike Azzaro’s queen-nine off suit and that would do it, brining the remaining 54 players into the money.

That hand would also kick off a massive heater for Azzaro who eventually finished with the chip lead. He abused the bubble in a big way and increased his stack by several hundred thousand during that time, then picked up a second heater right on the verge of the final table, winning several big pots and eliminating players left and right. Jeremy Meacham is right behind Azzaro on the leaderboard. He made the final table of this event last year and finished in 3rd place, and will look to improve upon that finish on the penultimate day.

Some notables who didn’t make it through the money bubble include Baseem Nsier, Pearce Arnold, and David Davenport each of whom was able to bag a big stack coming out of Day 1. But there were plenty more who made it into the money but not much further, such as Andrew Ostapchenko (40^th for $3,061) who had a hot start early but failed to hold on to his chips, Jack Duong (29^th for $4,301) who couldn’t out race Galen Hall and was eliminated, Long Tran (26^th for $4,884) who made the final table of this event last year, and one of the Day 1b big stack Kevin Calenzo whose pocket jack fell to the hot run of Mike Azzaro (13^th for $9,622).

The final table bubble boy was Cory Waaland when Bobby Corcione and he fell in rapid succession. Waaland got it all in preflop with pocket tens, but they did not hold up against Hall’s ace-jack, and that brought the last ten players down to the final table. David Mock was the only player to fall after that. He was also eliminated by Hall when his pocket jacks ran into Hall’s pocket queens on a six high flop.

The final nine players are all guaranteed at least $14,602 but area all gunning for the $156,735 first place prize as well as the WSOP Gold Circuit Ring. Play will resume tomorrow at 12 p.m. EST in level 26 with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and an ante of 5,000.

Final Table Chip Counts and Seat Draw

Seat 1: Fabio Dagata - 280,000 (9 bb)
Seat 2: Ralph Massey - 700,000 (23 bb)
Seat 3: Galen Hall - 1,000,000 (33 bb)
Seat 4: Larry Greenberg - 1,440,000 (48 bb)
Seat 5: Mike Azzaro - 2,690,000 (90 bb)
Seat 6: Phil Stavrakis - 205,000 (7 bb)
Seat 7: Bob Ricciuti - 970,000 (32 bb)
Seat 8: Jeremy Meacham - 1,500,000 (50 bb)
Seat 9: Sean Thomson - 935,000 (31 bb)

Action folds around to the blinds, where Ralph Massey moves all in for 359,000 from the small.

"Huh?" Galen Hall double-checks to make sure he heard correctly in the big blind. He did, and he quickly calls to put Massey at risk.

Massey:   
Hall:   

The     flop is a disaster for Massey, but the problem is only temporary. The   turn brings him right back into the lead, and the   on the river secures his double-up.

Ralph Massey - 754,000 (31 bb)
Galen Hall - 940,000 (39 bb)

Action folds around to the blinds, where Galen Hall completes in the small and Larry Greenberg checks his option in the big.

The flop is    , and Hall bets 40,000. Greenberg raises to 110,000, Hall moves all in for 615,000 effective, and Greenberg instantly calls to put himself at risk for that amount.

Greenberg shows    for the second-nut flush. Hall starts to just muck, but then grabs his cards back. "Wait, I can make a straight flush," he says, turning up   .

The turn is the  , drawing an, "Oh!" from Hall. He suddenly has a draw to a full house, which would also give him the knockout. The river is the  , though, and Greenberg doubles up.

Larry Greenberg - 1,314,000 (55 bb)
Galen Hall - 1,215,000 (51 bb)

David Mock opens from early position with a raise to 52,000. Action folds to Galen Hall who calls from the hijack.

The flop comes     and Mock continues with a bet of 106,000. After a few seconds, Hall moves all in with for 900,000 with a covering stack. Mock doesn't take too long to call for his remaining 350,000 and the cards are turned up.

Mock:   
Hall:   

The board completes with the   and the   and that will do it for Mock. Hall collectss the pot and moves into second place on the leaderboard.

Galen Hall - 1,725,000 (72 bb)
David Mock - Eliminated

Galen Hall opens with a raise to 50,000. Just two seats over Cory Waaland shoves all in over the top of the raise for a little more than 200,000. Action folds back to Hall who calls quickly.

Hall:   
Waaland:    

The board rolls out       giving Hall the winning pair of aces. He takes down the pot and Waaland heads to the payout desk to collect $11,736 for his 11th place finish.

Galen Hall - 1,050,000 (52 bb)
Cory Waaland - Eliminated

The details are unknown, but Bobby Corcione is eliminated by Mike Azzaro in a pot worth about 700,000 chips. Azzaro moves into the chip lead once again with the knockout.

Mike Azzaro - 1,560,000 (78 bb)
Bobby Corcione - Eliminated

Kevin Calenzo open shoves all in from early position. He had lost a several small pots brining his stack down to just around 400,000. Action folded around and Mike Azzaro called the shove from the big blind. 

Azzaro:   
Calenzo:    

The flop puts Calenzo in a deep hole when it comes     giving Azzaro a set, but giving Calenzo a few outs to a straight. The   on the turn and the   on the river don't improve him though and he is eliminated from the tournament as Azzaro adds to his stack. 

Mike Azzaro - 1,350,000
Kevin Calenzo - Eliminated

Jeremy Meacham opens with a raise to 45,000 from the lojack seat. Action folds to Kevin Calenzo in the small blind and he reraises to 145,000. Meacham calls. 

The flop is     and Calenzo leads with a bet of 123,000. Meacham calls.

The turn is the   and both players check to see the   on the river. Calenzo checks again, but Meacham does not. He puts out a big bet of 356,000. Calenzo thinks for a bit. 

"I think you got this one," Calenzo says before he folds. "You have two tens?" 

Meacham shrugs and takes in the big pot. 

Jeremy Meacham - 1,450,000 (73 bb)
Kevin Calenzo - 700,000 (35 bb)

Jeremy Meacham opens from the cutoff with a raise to 45,000. Next to act is Andrew Weinstock on the button and he moves all in for 166,000 total. Meacham asks for a count, takes a look at the current blind level on the clock, then calls. 

Weinstock:   
Meacham:   

"It's a flip," Weinstock says. 

The flop puts Meacham in the lead though when it falls     and he stays in the lead through the   on the turn and the   on the river making his pair of jacks best. Weinstock hits the rail while Meacham retakes the chip lead. 

Jeremy Meacham - 1,250,000 (63 bb)
Andrew Weinstock - Eliminated

The 14 remaining players are now on a 15-minute break and will return shortly.