Thursday, June 9, 2011 4:56 PM Local Time
After Bill Chen raised to 51,000 and Corey Hastings called, David Diaz three bet from the big blind to 160,000. Within a few seconds, Chen announced that he was all in and Hastings folded. Diaz, who had a comparable stack to Chen, thought for about a minute before letting his hand go.
Diaz falls back to 800,000 while Chen takes sole possession of second place with 1,100,000.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 4:48 PM Local Time
David Diaz raised from middle position to 40,000 and Chen called from the big blind.
The flop came and Chen check-called the 50,000 bet from Diaz. The turn came the and both players checked. The river was the and this time Chen led out for 120,000. Diaz let go of his hand and Chen raked in the pot.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 4:40 PM Local Time
First to act, Matthew Henson moved all in for his last 85,000 chips. It folded around to Nicholas Rampone on the button who made the call. However, David Diaz had other plans and three bet to 210,000. Justin Sternbern, who was in the big blind, got out of the way before Rampone tank-folded.
Diaz:
Henson:
Right on the flop Henson got what he was looking for. The spread gave him a set and put him in great position to triple up. The turn and river were bricks for Diaz and Henson is back up to 300,000.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 4:19 PM Local Time
Just a couple hands after Sternberg's Ace-King split against Henson's Aces, the two went at it again. Henson raised to 50,000 from under the gun and Sternberg flatted from the big blind.
The flop came and both players checked. The turn was the and once again Sternberg checked. This time, however, Henson bet 60,000 only to be check-raised by Sternberg to 165,000. Henson made the call and the river was the . Sternberg slowed down and let Henson bet again, this time 150,000. Sternberg made the call and Henson simply mucked. Sternberg showed a set of deuces for good measure and raked in the 750,000 chip pot.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 4:10 PM Local Time
From late position, Justin Sternberg raised to 51,000 only to have Matthew Henson three bet him. Action quickly folded to Sternberg who moved all in. Henson snap called with and was dominating the of Sternberg. Their stacks were nearly identical.
The flop gave Sternberg hope though. It came the and gave him four outs to win the pot. The turn was the which now gave him only two outs to win the pot but could split the pot with four other cards. One of those chop pot outs was the and that's exactly what fell on the river.
Sternberg got up and celebrated with his rail while Hensen is left shaking his head.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 4:01 PM Local Time
Level: 23
Blinds: 10000/20000
Ante: 3000
Thursday, June 9, 2011 3:50 PM Local Time
From middle position, Nicholas Rampone raised and David Diaz three bet. Action folded back to Rampone who moved Diaz all in. Without much hesitation Diaz made the call to put his tournament life at risk in a coin flip situation.
Diaz:
Rampone:
Rampone was ahead but not by much. The two were effectively flipping for the tournament chip lead and Rampone stayed ahead on the flop. However, the turn brought Diaz his help when it fell the . The river was a scare card in the but ultimately bricked Rampone who doubles Diaz to 1.25 Million. Rampone is now down to 795,000.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 3:42 PM Local Time
David Diaz raised from the cutoff to 32,000 and found a caller in Andrea Dato who was in the big blind.
The two saw the flop heads up and Dato check-called the 36,000 bet from Diaz. The turn was the and this time Diaz bet 87,000 when it was checked to him. Dato began his tank but a couple of minutes into it, Bill Chen decided to call the clock on him. Dato folded shortly after and Diaz chips up to about 600,000.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 3:36 PM Local Time
From the hijack, Richard Trigg opened the action with a raise to 32,000. Nicholas Rampone called in the cutoff, as did Justin Sternberg in the small blind and Matthew Henson in the big blind.
The four players saw an flop and Sternberg, first to act, checked. Henson bet 42,000 which Trigg flatted. Rampone took this opportunity to raise to 112,000 and forced both players off the hand.
Despite having lost a few hundred thousand chips already today, Rampone continues to find ways to pick up chips and is now back up to 1,350,000
Thursday, June 9, 2011 3:27 PM Local Time
From middle position, Andrea Dato raised to 32,000 before action folded around to our chip leader Nicholas Rampone in the big blind. After some thinking, Rampone decided to move Dato all in and found an instant call from the short stack.
Dato:
Rampone:
Dato was looking good to double up and the flop kept his pair of Queen's in the lead. The did give Rampone some extra outs though and the crowd gathered on the main floor of the Amazon Room began chanting for a "7 ball".
They were disappointed, however, because the rier was the and Dato found his double. He now sits with 650,000 while Rampone falls to 1.16 Million. Our new short stack is David Diaz, who still has a healthy 420,000.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 3:10 PM Local Time
Corey Hastings has been the big chip mover so far here on Day 2. Andrea Dato has been falling all day but still has almost 25 big blinds and is not in desperation mode just yet.
Nicholas Rampone has slipped from his starting stack a little bit but still holds the chip lead and hasn't been involved in any large pots so far.
| Nicholas Rampone | 1,340,000 | -160,000  |
| Corey Hastings | 1,070,000 | 370,000  |
| Bill Chen | 755,000 | 105,000 |
| Justin Sternberg | 616,000 | -84,000 |
| Matthew Henson | 570,000 | -30,000 |
| Anders Meli | 459,000 | -141,000 |
| David Diaz | 423,000 | 23,000 |
| Richard Trigg | 420,000 | 45,000 |
| Andrea Dato | 290,000 | -110,000 |
Thursday, June 9, 2011 3:04 PM Local Time
Corey Hastings took no extra time moving into second place after busting Watts.
Under the gun, he raised to 38,000 and was called by Nicholas Rampone in position. The flop came and Hastings check-called Rampone's 48,000 bet. The turn was the and once again Hastings checked and Rampone bet, this time 84,000. However, Hastings turned the action around with a raise to 175,000. Rampone mucked his hand and Hastings scooped another pot.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:58 PM Local Time
From under the gun, Steve Watts moved all in for his final 200,000. It folded to Corey Hastings who isolated Watts by moving all in for about 450,000. The rest of the players folded and the hands were revealed.
Watts:
Hastings:
Watts was in big trouble and found no help on the flop. The turn turn left him drawing to just the two red Fours and neither came. The river was the and Watts, who was among the top five in chips for most of Day 1 and 2, was eliminated.
With Watts gone, we are now down to our official final table with Hastings about 3rd in chips with 700,000
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:50 PM Local Time
Anders Meli opened the action from middle position with a raise to 35,000. Bill Chen made a quick call right behind him and it folded to Nicholas Rampone in the cutoff who made it 112,000. David Diaz thought for a minute on the button before scratching his head and finally mucking his cards. When it got back to Meli and Chen, they folded and Rampone continues to build on his already large stack.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:44 PM Local Time
Despite Matthew Henson's early double up, he was still our short stack. But no more.
Henson opened the action with a raise to 27,000 before Andrea Dato three bet to 65,000. The rest of the players folded and Henson made the call.
The flop came and Henson checked to the aggressor Dato who bet 72,000. Henson moved all in for his last 170,000 and Dato decided to call. Henson held the for top pair and had to dodge the flush draw and over card of Dato's .
The turn was the which took away four of Dato's outs. He now needed any non-nine diamond. The river bricked off with the and Henson has now found himself with a 600,000 stack.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:36 PM Local Time
Nicholas Rampone raised to 28,000 from middle position. Justin Sternberg called in position, as did Bill Chen from the big blind.
The flop came . Chen checked to Rampone who bet 42,000. Sternberg and Chen both folded and Rampone is back on the upwards trail.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:26 PM Local Time
Andrea Dato raised to 24,000 from early position and Nicholas Rampone three bet to 36,000 from the button. It folded back around to Dato who decided to call.
The flop was and both players decided to check. The turn was the which prompted Dato to check-call the 47,000 bet from Rampone. The river was the and for a third time Dato checked. This time Rampone checked as well and had to muck when Dato showed for a full house.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:22 PM Local Time
Last night, Nicholas Rampone stepped up as table captain when he literally did not find an unraisable situation in 30 minutes. However, once we found ourselves down to the unofficial final table, play has slowed down considerably. This is at least in part due to the fact that players busted so quickly from four tables down to one and now everyone has a relatively deep stack.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:11 PM Local Time
On an flop, Bill Chen checked to Justin Sternberg who fired out 65,000. Andrea Dato got out of the way allowing Chen to check-raise to 165,000.
After a couple of minutes of thought, Sternberg decided to lay it down and Chen scooped the pot.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 2:03 PM Local Time
Richard Trigg opened for 25,000, Nicholas Rampone called from the cuttoff and then David Diaz thought for a moment about his options. From the button Diaz made it 65,000 to see the flop. Trigg and Rampone folded their hands and Diaz tossed his cards away face up.
His hand -