Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em

Day 2 of the 2017 World Series of Poker Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em saw a total of 239 players out of a 1,086-entry strong field return to the tables in the Brasilia room. All of them eyed their share of the $2,443,500 prize pool, but more than 70 hopefuls would walk away empty-handed without anything to show for.

Only the top 163 spots were paid and it was Spain's Josep Maria Galindo Lopez who ended up as the bubble boy early into level 14. The Spaniard four-bet shoved pocket nines for almost 50 big blinds and Linglin Zeng reluctantly called with ace-king suited to spike an ace on the flop.

Until the dinner break after the sixth level of the day, only 71 players remained in contention with the Brits Scott Margereson and Chi Zhang at the top of the counts. Throughout the next four and a half levels, the field was thinned out further and just 30 hopefuls bagged up chips with Eddy Sabat in the lead with 1,866,000 chips. Sabat's best score at the WSOP comes from a 16th place in the 2014 Main Event for $347,521 and is in prime position for the bracelet and $456,822 payday that comes along with it.

Sabat is the only player above a million in chips and has more than double of Asi Moshe in second place with 921,000 while Tom Thomas follows in third place overnight with 861,000. Among the other big stacks and notables still in contention are UK's Scott Margereson (712,000) and Chi Zhang (674,000), Giuseppe Pantaleo (568,000), Curt Kohlberg (376,000), John Dolan (305,000), Jonathan Abdellatif (252,000) and 2015 November Niner Federico Butteroni (236,000). Start-of-the-day chip leader Pablo Fernandez lost two all ins at the end of the night and bagged up 132,000.

Among those to bust before the money were notables Kevin Eyster, Steven Wolansky, Mike Watson, Sam Trickett, Adrien Allain and Uri Reichenstein. After everyone had secured a minimum cash of $3,758, more than two dozen players joined the rail within half an hour. Three-time WSOP champion Dutch Boyd was the first to head to the payout desk and such familiar names as Blake Bohn, Adrian Mateos, Jesse Yaginuma, Michael Martin, Kristen Bicknell and Jason Wheeler followed in quick succession.

John Monnette, who recently won his third bracelet, lost most of his stack with ace-king versus jacks versus pocket aces in a three-way all in and had to settle for 79th place and $5,209 this time. Max Waxman was all in and at risk with king-queen and faced the pocket fours of Vitor Rangel, despite flopping a gutshot on top of his two live cards the WSOP bracelet winner failed to get there.

While Zhang and Moshe dominated the action until then, it was Sabat who crossed the million chip mark first and remained in the lead for the remainder of the day after sending Matthew McEwan to the rail. Sabat had pocket queens and McEwan only pocket nines, the board came ace-high without any nine in sight. Sabat also claimed the stack of Joel Ettedgi after the Brit five-bet shoved with pocket sixes right into the pocket rockets of Sabat.

The remaining 30 players have $10,868 guaranteed so far and will return at noon local time on Saturday for half an hour at blinds of 6,000/12,000 and a running ante of 2,000. The event is scheduled to play down to a winner and the PokerNews live reporting team will be there to provide all the action from the floor.

Day 3 Seat Draw

There was no further elimination and the remaining players have bagged up their chips. They will return at noon local time on Saturday June 17th. There is a redraw overnight and the next redraw will take place once they are down to the final 27.

Full chip counts and a recap of today's action will follow soon.

Eddy Sabat raised to 25,000 and Raul Martinez Requena called in the big blind. The Spaniard checked the     flop and bet the   turn for 26,000, which Sabat called. The   river saw Requena move all in for 116,000 and Sabat folded with the words "I have a beautiful pair, but I can't beat the nine."

Eddy Sabat	1,850,000	-50,000
Raul Martinez Requena	230,000	155,000

Michael Krasienko raised to 26,000 and Scott Margereson called in the small blind. The Brit checked the     flop and so did Krasienko. On the   turn, Margereson bet 50,000 and Krasienko called before doing so again on the   river when Margereson made it 110,000 to go.

Margereson showed    for a king-high bluff and Krasienko had that beat with   .

Scott Margereson	755,000	-210,000
Michael Krasienko	470,000	215,000

The remaining 30 players have been sent into a 15-minute break and will play half a level before bagging and tagging.

Sadan Turker raised to 21,000 and Raul Martinez Requena called from the button, as did Charalampos Lappas in the big blind. The flop came     and the action checked to the Spaniard, who now calls London his home. Requena bet 30,000 and that shut down the action right there.

Requena has been flying under the radar but chipped up nicely as of lately.

Raul Martinez Requena	580,000	150,000
Sadan Turker	540,000	-120,000
Charalampos Lappas	300,000	-43,000

Mazin Khoury got his stack in with    and failed to get there against the    of Pablo Fernandez to bow out in 32nd place.

The next player at risk was Joseph Kent, who called the shove of Asi Moshe on the       river for his last 86,000. Moshe briefly showed his cards but could not beat the    of Kent.

Asi Moshe	800,000	-160,000
Pablo Fernandez	520,000	120,000
Joseph Kent	250,000	140,000
Mazin Khoury	0	-400,000

Seth Berger shoved his last seven big blinds from the button with an ace-five and Asi Moshe called with pocket sevens to claim the stack of Berger on a jack-high board.

Troy Sprungl was more fortunate. He shoved for 64,000 and Jonathan Abdellatif called with   . Sprungl showed    and the board came      .

"You are so lucky," Abdellatif added.

Asi Moshe	960,000	40,000
Jonathan Abdellatif	210,000	70,000
Troy Sprungl	135,000	-60,000
Seth Berger	0	-125,000

A short-stacked Peter Vitantonio moved all in for 118,000 and Jamie Armstrong called from two seats over.

Peter Vitantonio:   
Jamie Armstrong:   

On top of his two live cards, Vitantonio flopped a gutshot straight draw on    . However, both the   turn and the   river were blanks and that was it for Vitantonio in 35th place. He takes home $10,868 for his efforts.

Jamie Armstrong	545,000	205,000
Peter Vitantonio	0	-128,000

After losing a hand with    against the    of Pablo Fernandez, Chad J Brown dropped down to 13 big blinds. Soon after, Mazin Khoury raised and called the shove of Brown for the following showdown.

Chad J Brown:   
Mazin Khoury:   

The board ran out       and the nine on the river was a bad one for Brown, as his two pair were no against Khoury's straight.

Mazin Khoury	400,000	120,000
Pablo Fernandez	400,000	-90,000
Chad J Brown	0	-200,000