With the first 42 hands completed and entered into the book, it’s time for the antes and maybe even a bit more action. For now, though, chip stacks are listed and the players are resting up for the next few days.
Talal Shakerchi is at 439,000. He’s up 142,000 with 73 big blinds. He’s been all fired up during this event, but finished heat one in seventh place. This time around, Mr. Shakerchi has decided to play on the conservative side during the two opening levels of heat 2. Despite the caution, the chips have still started to build up and now he’s found that he has a good chance of going deep.
Tobias Reinkemeir is at 400,000. He’s up 65,000 and has 67 big blinds. Sitting at second, things are looking bright for this guy. It looks like the heat wave will continue too, because tomorrow is predicted to be another exciting one, with lots of points in the future for Reinkemeir.
Things didn’t look so pretty for Jennifer Tilly, though. She sits at 140,000 and is down 91,000. She’s got 23 big blinds. During the second level of this round, Tilly watched her stack get smaller and she’s rapidly approaching the danger zone. All could feel her frustration as her discomfort grew. Some say that she should consider a three bet and use her image more, but whether she will remain to be seen.
Igor Kurganov is another player who’s definitely seen better days. He sits at 234,000, is down 93,000 and has only 39 big blinds. While he had a level hand against Talal Shakerchi, he lost nearly 100,000 chips. Down to just a third of the start-up stack, things didn’t get better in this round. Despite a depleted pot, he’s played well, but he’s going to have to rebuild his stack if he’s going to remain in the game for much longer. It may be a challenge that Kurganov just isn’t up to.
Action resumed, and the world of poker fans watched as Daniel Cates found him getting booted from the heat way down in eighth place. It was a rough one that cut him down when he raised to 24,000, but Antonio Esfandiari brought him down with pocket nines. The pot held 78,000, but Cates went all in – up to 101,000.
Cates is realistic, though, and admits that getting in, as two to one favourite doesn’t make him an automatic winner. Cates admits that it was his fault and said that he won’t be complaining any time soon. Tomorrow, he’ll come back for the Final Group A heat, and maybe having some time to rest will help to boost his focus.
In the mean time, the action and excitement continues and who will win is anyone’s guess for now, but those that manage to stick around are in for a nerve-racking ride to the finish – and the prize.