September 03 2012, Josh Cahlik

Another grueling day of tournament poker ended on Sunday at the WinStar World Casino’s River Poker Series Main Event. Players from three starting flights combined on Day 2 to wage war on the felt for their share of the $2,500,000 guaranteed prize pool. It took a mere 10 levels for the 141 players who began the day to become the final 15. Matt Newcombe, who finished Day 1a as the chip leader and was the overall chip leader coming into Day 2 has once again finished at the top of the field with a stack of 3,245,000.

Aaron Massey held onto the second largest stack at the end of the day with 2,890,000 in chips. Massey was able to gain a majority of his stack during a three-way all in that occurred fairly early on during Day 2 play. Mark Eddleman opened the action preflop with a raise to 9,000 and was called by Jerry Lorett. Massey moved out a three-bet to 24,000 from the button and both of his opponents called.

The flop fell and Eddleman checked. Lorett open-shipped all in for an unknown amount and Massey called. Eddleman then moved all in over the top and Massey snap called for his tournament life.

Showdown

Massey:
Eddleman:
Lorett:

Massey was in the lead with his flopped set, but needed to dodge Lorett’s straight and flush outs. The fell on the turn and the on the river. An excited Massey jumped into the air and gave powerful fist pump at the sight of two small black cards. This hand propelled him to 655,000 early on in the day and his stack continued to grow exponentially as the day progressed.

Day 2 saw a slew of notable names return to the felt from their various starting flights. Having already cashed, these players were searching for glory and the ever elusive final table appearance. Among those to finally see their tournament come to an end on Day 2 were Brett Schwertley, Chris Moneymaker, Maria Ho, Heath Herring, AP Phahurat, Kurt Jewell and 2012 World Series of Poker Octo-Niner Robert Salaburu.

David “Doc” Sands was expected to make a strong showing on Day 2 and did not disappoint. Sands seemed to be a magnet for action throughout the day as we saw him come from behind twice to double up for his tournament life during play. Sands remained one of the top stacks for a majority of the day, but finally met his untimely end before the field combined for the final two tables.

Sands moved all in on a board of only to have Peter Zhmutski quickly move all in over the top. The third player in the hand folded and Sands showed for a straight. Unfortunately for Sands, Zhmutski held for the nut straight and was able to send Sands home in 20th place.

While Sands was ultimately disappointed with his finish, he had nothing but positive words to say about the event and tournament staff after the fact.

Final 15 Chip Counts

At 1200 CST (1800 BST) on Monday the final 15 players will return to the Global Events Center in the heart of the WinStar World Casino to play down to a champion. Make sure to stay tuned to our live reporting page to follow as this exciting event reaches its dramatic conclusion!

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August 27 2012, Brett Collson

Phil Galfond and Viktor Blom have clashed many times at high-stakes cash games. What does Galfond think of his friendly adversary? Find out that and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Ali Eslami led the way after Day 2 of the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker Main Event. Which notables were close on his heels? Find out in our WPT Legends recap.

How did the Sunday Majors play out on PokerStars? Who took down the biggest score? Find out in the Sunday Briefing.

Did you miss Sunday’s World Poker Tour coverage on FSN? Read our WPT recap to get caught up.

How did Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren discover poker? Find out that and more in the latest Seat Open.

Isildur1: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Why is Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom such a formidable opponent at high-stakes cash games? According to fellow nosebleed player Phil Galfond, it’s because Blom plays for the love of the game and genuinely doesn’t care about money.

In his latest blog, the always-insightful Galfond examines The Man, The Myth, The Legend known as “Isildur1.” Galfond says he’s played more hands against Blom than any other player of the length of his career, and he got to know the cagey Swede pretty well during the World Series of Poker this past summer.

Over the past three years, Galfond has examined Blom’s strengths and weaknesses as a player. But it wasn’t until he actually meant Blom that he really understood what makes him one of the game’s greats.

“Viktor’s passion for the game is his biggest strength as a player,” Galfond writes. “He told me that he likes to play most with whoever he thinks is the best in the world. I guess if you’re going to challenge yourself, you might as well REALLY challenge yourself.

“When you start thinking about the money involved, it inhibits your ability to play your best. People who approach poker purely as a job, for the financial reasons, will have a very hard time becoming the best of the best (though they may make plenty of money). To actually be great, you need to love the game. You need to have fun playing. Viktor has these covered and then some.”

We highly recommend you check out Galfond’s full blog at PhilGalfond.com.

Kyllönen’s Hefty Downpayment

One of online poker’s biggest winners of 2012 is spending some of his hard-earned profits on a trip into space.

Following in the footsteps of billionaire entrepreneur and poker enthusiast Guy Laliberté, Finnish poker pro Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen recently told CardPlayer Europe that he has paid “160,000 to reserve a seat aboard Virgin Galactic’s space flight. Kyllönen says he’ll probably make the trip in 2014 after the testing stage is complete.

Kyllönen will spend three or four days training for the flight at SpacePort America before the two-hour flight aboard Sir Richard Brandon’s space vessel.

“I’ve always been fascinated with space and now that I have the opportunity to be within the first people going I just felt like I had to do it,” Kyllönen said.

As of last week, Kyllönen was up $1,628,538 playing high-stakes cash games at PokerStars this year. He was also one of 48 players to post the $1 million buy-in for the Big One for One Drop at the World Series of Poker this past summer. Kyllönen was the third player eliminated after losing a key hand to French businessman Frederic Banjout.

Hopefully, his pricey trip to space provides a more rewarding experience.

CardPlayer Europe has more.

Delaware’s Iron Man

The Delaware Park poker room broke a Guinness World Record on Monday when a tournament was played continuously for 36 hours, 34 minutes and 41 seconds. The event, called the Iron Man Poker Challenge, establishment a new world record for the Longest “Documented” Continuous Poker Tournament.

The tournament began Saturday afternoon and was played to the end without any breaks. The event attracted 192 players, all of whom posted the $600 buy-in to participate. Peter Konas went on to win the tournament and $27,160 after besting Josh Palmer heads-up for the title.

Delaware Park attempted a similar record last year, but it fell short of the Guinness benchmark of 36 hours. This year’s event was reconstructed with a bigger starting stack and longer levels to allow for a better chance at making the Guinness record books.

For more, check out the live blog at DelPark.com.

Adiós, Barcelona!

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour stop in Barcelona came to an end over the weekend. Krisztina Polgar and Kristy Arnett took a look back at some of the highlights from their trip to Spain.

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