Only 17 remain in the Horseshoe Hammond Main Event and Derek Hanauer leads the way; Josh Reichard Looking for his record tying 12th ring.
March 4, 2019 (Hammond, IN) - Another 11 levels are in the books for the Horseshoe Hammond Main Event and at the end of Day 2 only 17 remain of the 204 who started the day. The leader at the end of Day 2 is Derek Hanauer who picked up a surge in the last few levels of play, eliminating multiple player to grab the chip lead and finish the day on top.
Along side Hanauer are plenty of other notable players still left alive including one of the World Series of Poker Circuit's most sucessful player, Josh Reichard. Reichard has 11 WSOPC rings and over $700,000 in cashes at the World Series of Poker but has yet to capture a victory in a WSOPC Main Event yet. His best finish in a WSOPC Main Event to this point is 8th and he has a good chance to improve upon that here in Hammond with a strong finish on Monday.
Other notables making the final two tables include Hamid Izadi, Robbie Beck, and Mark Owens, each who has had success at the World Series of Poker before while the rest of the field could lock up their first major score with a victory in this Main Event. Izadi came into the day as the shortest stack of the remaining players but chipped up significantly over the course of the day. Peter Kelly also makes it to the final two tables after bagging the chip lead on Day 1. Kelly made it to the final four of the heads-up event earlier in the week and will likely take the lead in the race for Casino Champion with his cash in this event.
Many fell on the way to the final two tables and action kicked off quickly, with players falling left and right. Among those to bow out before the money bubble included Heinz Schluter, Mo Nuwwarah, Fikret Kovac, Mike Shin, Lakisha Slaughter, and Andy Philachack. Slaughter was one of the last to fall before the bubble and in her final hand, Slaughter moved all in with a pair of fives on an eight-high board. Darryl Roberts was holding jacks and would send Slaughter to the rail when she failed to improve.
The eventual bubble boy was Mike Sabbia. Sabbia was eliminated by Jose Montes after he flopped the nut flush draw and Montes flopped a lower flush draw as well a pair. A spade never came and that would bring the remaining players into the money where they would each secure at least $2,927.
Some who fell after the bubble burst included Charles Johnson, Warren Sheaves, Kevin Eyster, Matt Ernst, Eric Stockz, Yoon Kim, Daniel Sepiol, Tony Calabrese, Michael Foley, Carter Myers, and Maurice Hawkins. Hawkins made it pretty deep in the event, but eventually fell in 21st place when he shoved deuces into Peter Kelly's pocket sevens. Hawkins would make a full house by the river, but Kelly made quads and that would be the end of the 11 time WSOPC ring winner.
Action will kick back off with the final 17 on Monday, March 4th at 12 p.m. local time where the plan is to play down to a winner. Each of the final 17 players is guaranteed at least $15,701 while the eventual winner will take home $294,290.
To take a look at the current chip counts for the event, you can see them by clicking here. Live updates for the event can be found by clicking here.