Event #68: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT - World Championship

From Left: Josh Beckley, Joe McKeehen, and Neil Blumenfield

Day 2 of the 2015 Main Event final table is now in the books. And only three members of the November Nine still have their Main Event hopes alive.

The six players who made it past Day 1 returned to the felt at 4:30 p.m. today. Play began much like it did on Sunday—with an elimination on the second hand. Thomas Cannuli, who started the day in sixth place out of the six remaining players, was in good shape to double up when he got all in with    against Max Steinberg’s   . But Steinberg flopped a set, and Cannuli was eliminated. He earns $1,426,283 for his sixth-place finish.

After Cannuli’s elimination, it was almost another two and half hours before the next player hit the rail. During that time, we saw the first cracks in Joe McKeehen’s armor. The chip leader never lost his leader, but he experienced his first sustained downswing of the final table, falling from over 90 million in chips to under 75 million. However, the pro from Pennsylvania recovered well, moving back up above the 90 million mark.

During that time, Josh Beckley jumped into second place on the leaderboard. Beckley started the day in fifth place, just slightly ahead of Cannuli. However, he became only the second player (other than McKeehen) to break the 40 million chip mark, and was soon close to 50 million.

Much of Beckley and McKeehen’s gains came at the expense of Ofer Zvi Stern, who soon found himself short-stacked. He was eliminated when his Ace-Jack ran into Neil Blumenfield’s Ace-King. He earns $1,911,423 for finishing fifth place.

Just about an hour later, Max Steinberg fell in fourth place ($2,615,361). The dapper, suit-clad, poker and fantasy-sports professional had become short-stacked, and got into an all-in preflop confrontation with Joe McKeehen. McKeehen held Ace-Queen, Steinberg held Ace-Jack, and McKeehen’s hand held up.

With Steinberg’s elimination, there are now only three players remaining, and they’ll return tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. to play down to a winner and crown the next WSOP Main Event champion.

Here are the chip counts of the final three players:

Joe McKeehen – 128,825,000
Neil Blumenfield – 40,125,000
Josh Beckley – 23,700,000

Joe McKeehen raises to 2,000,000 on the button and Josh Beckley defends his big blind.

The flop comes    . Beckley checks, McKeehen bets 1,700,000, Beckley folds, and McKeehen takes the pot. The final table has now played the same number of hands as they did yesterday.

Joe McKeehen - 111,375,000 (111 bb)
Josh Beckley - 24,350,000 (24 bb)

Neil Blumenfield raises on the button, winning the blinds and antes.

Neil Blumenfield - 40,575,000 (51 bb)

Joe McKeehen completes the small blind and Neil Blumenfield checks his option in the big blind, taking the two to another monochromatic flop:    . McKeehen bets 800,000, Blumenfield folds, and McKeehen takes it down.

Joe McKeehen - 108,775,000 (136 bb)
Neil Blumenfield - 39,575,000 (49 bb)

Joe McKeehen raises to 1,600,000 from under the gun, Josh Beckley calls from the small blind, and Max Steinberg folds from the big blind.

The flop is a monochromatic     and both players check. The   on the turn produces a load, collective groan from the audience as it puts four hearts on the board. Beckley bets 2,300,000 and McKeehen calls.

The river is the  . Beckley bets 3,900,000. After some debate, McKeehen calls. Beckley shows    for a bluff and McKeehen's    is more than enough to take the pot.

Joe McKeehen - 108,375,000 (135 bb)
Josh Beckley - 30,450,000 (38 bb)

Joe McKeehen completes the small blind and Neil Blumenfield checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes    , McKeehen bets 800,000, and Blumenfield calls.

Both players check the   on the turn as well as the   on the river. McKeehen shows   , while Bluemnfield holds     and the players chop the pot with kings and deuces.

Josh Beckley raises to 1,900,000 out of the small blind, Max Steinberg gives up his big blind, and Beckley takes the pot.

Josh Beckley - 36,750,000 (46 bb)

Max Steinberg raises to 1,800,000 on the button and Joe McKeehen reraises to 4,200,000 out of the small blind. Neil Blumenfield folds his big blind, Steinberg mucks his cards too, and McKeehen takes the pot, prompting a fan to loudly scream, "Joey Ice Cube, you are the man!"

Joe McKeehen - 103,675,000 (130 bb)
Max Steinberg - 15,850,000 (20 bb)

Neil Blumenfield

Neil Blumenfield raises to 1,900,000 from under the gun and Max Steinberg makes it 5,000,000 to play out of the big blind. Blumenfield calls and the two go heads up to a flop of    . Steinberg checks, then Blumenfield bets 4,000,000. Steinberg thinks for a couple of minutes, then eventually folds.

Neil Blumenfield - 36,775,000 (46 bb)
Max Steinberg - 18,250,000 (23 bb)