Today was a groundhog day, and a stark reminder of the mountain that was to be climbed for any potential November Niner. For the Black Belt Poker army, the journey would be long, and mostly uphill, as no one had the chips to challenge the chip leaders.
Alan Vinson in particular would, at some point, have to win an all-in, as with just 5,450 he was right at the bottom looking up. When he did find a spot to push, he ran into a hand, 5-4 of hearts unable to crack the pocket knaves of his foe to send him to the rail within the opening level. Still, Alan qualified 'on the cheap' online at Black Belt Poker, and still had son Ben to rail, who he immediately sought after despite his own demise.
Black Belt Poker's other online qualifier, Mandy Card, started the day in slightly better shape, her 31,450 by no means formidable, but at least manageable with the blinds still low. Despite the structure, Day 3 would ultimately evade Mandy at the death, her pocket eights unable to fend off Q-J off-suit when she pushed all in for 12 big blinds on the final level of the day. "Absolutely gutted," she reported with honesty. "He hit a river on the flush. I got it in good all day and was outdrawn every time." Nevertheless, a fine performance from Mandy who, on her first ever appearance at WSOP, proved that she could hold her own and play without fear against those more experienced.
Two Black Belt Poker players who did squeeze through to Day 3 are Blue Belts Owen Robinson and Jamie Burland. Owen, especially, endured a turbulent day, a poor start seeing him morph his already vulnerable 14,250 starting stack into 5,000, before doubling up with Q-T versus A-7 on a Q-7-T-x board. Then he escalated again, eliminating 2008 finalist Scott Montgomery with A-7 versus K-8.
With 30,000, the Irishman four-bet Bernard Lee off a hand preflop with A-K before hitting the 65,000 mark courtesy of the ladies. Raising it up under the gun, Owen saw a 7-8-3 flop with the small blind where he led for 2,200 and received a call. Both players checked the K turn, only for Owen to fire a second shot on the 8 river, this time 7,000. His opponent made the call before showing jacks and mucking.
"The last level went badly," confessed Owen. "I lost a pot with T-8 suited when I bet two streets of an A-7-2-A board before folding to his raise on the turn, and then I lost a hand with A-K versus K-J. After that, I lost a 30,000 'flip with A-K versus J-J. This meant i finished the day with 28,000, which is OK because I still have room to play, but obviously not as much as I was hoping for."
Whilst Owen was tucked up in the Amazon Room, Jamie was busy soldiering away in the Pavillion Room, just a few tables down from Jack Ury who incredibly managed to scrap his way into Day 3. Jamie experienced a slow day, just trying to pick his spots against an aggressive table and keeping his nose out of trouble until he found a hand. Eventually, he picked up J-J, but the Poker Gods weren't kind to him, Jamie flat calling a raise preflop and a c-bet on a T-6-2 flop, checking the K turn, and calling a 6,000 bet on the 2 river before being shown Q-Q. As a result, he found himself right back down to his starting stack and in full grind mode once again.
Just before dinner, Jamie moved tables, and managed to duck and dive, pick up the odd hand, and hover around the 35,000 mark. "It's one of those tables where if I go out, it'll be because I bust myself out," he commented at the penultimate break, but there was ultimately no self-busting as Jamie ground his way to the final whistle with a respectable 42,000.
The only Black Belt Poker sponsored pro that we're unsure of is Chaz Chattha, the Blue Belt beginning the day with 63,475 and, we hope, carrying that figure, and more, over into Day 3. I can confirm the demise, however, of Kevin O'Connell, the Late Night Poker star hitting the deck early doors after receiving the terrible trio: a bad beat, a cooler, and coin flip. "What can you do?" he shrugged. "I'll try again next year."
But for five Black Belt Poker gladiators, this could still be their year, as Warren Wooldridge and Tristan McDonald join Jamie Burland, Owen Robinson and, fingers crossed, Chaz Chattha for a third outing in the Main Event, and yet another step towards achieving that dream goal. Coinciding with the World Cup final, Sunday will provide players with a well-deserved day off, only for groundhog days to cease at 12pm on Monday with players finally experiencing the whittling process first-hand. No separate days, no being pooled together, this is it: one field narrowed down to nine players, and poker's next set of millionaires.
Official (known) UK & Ireland Day 2A counts:
Praz Bansi -- 196,800
Steve Jelinek -- 194,200
Barny Boatman -- 181,100
Sean Prendiville -- 164,900
Padraig Parkinson -- 153,100
Jamie Brown -- 150,200
John Magill -- 137,700
Warren Wooldridge -- 109,500
Javed Abrahams -- 108,100
Tristan McDonald -- 106,200
JP Kelly -- 101,100
Jeff Duvall -- 98,200
Karl Fenton -- 94,300
John O'Shea -- 90,500
Nicky Evans -- 89,900
Rory Rees Brennan -- 83,200
Christopher Brice -- 76,500
Dan Carter -- 70,200
David Ulliott -- 70,000
Nicky Power -- 66,000
Dara O'Kearney -- 62,000
John Shipley -- 58,000
Richard Grace -- 54,500
David Barraclough -- 46,700
Peter Gould -- 45,000
Priyan Demel -- 43,900
Jack Powell -- 41,700
John Conroy -- 40,800
Dave Colclough -- 36,000
Mike Ellis -- 25,600
Mel Judah -- 21,000
Tony Salmon -- 17,100
Previous WSOP Reports: Vegas Blog:
Employee of the Month
Fairytale Endings
Must Be Nice
Make Mine a Double
Blonde on Blonde
Summer of Sam
Chuft to Bits
Under the Radar
Taking Notice
BBP Braced for WSOP Main Event
WSOP Main Event - Day 1A
WSOP Main Event - Day 1B
WSOP Main Event - Day 1C
WSOP Main Event - Day 1D
WSOP Main Event - Day 2A
May 23: My Old School Teacher
May 31: Welcome to America; Let the Institutionalising Begin
June 1: Pleasure & Pain
June 5: 100% British Beef
June 9: Alphabetti Spaghetti & Giant Meatballs
June 13: Colour Me Up
June 14: The Crying Game
June 20: Last Gasps
June 25: Dancing With the Devil
June 30: The End of a Streak
July 6: Tournament of Famous People
July 12: Running on Empty
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