2,044 returned to the Amazon Room for their second outing, the remaining fields from Day 1a and 1b pooling together to make the Rio even busier than the respective opening days.
Among the masses was Black Belt Neil Channing, who was vying for his first bracelet after coming so close in event #43. He took 43,700 into the start of the day, but was unable to survive the five levels of play.
"I really struggled to win a pot in the early stages and dropped down to 28,000," he explained, "but I managed to double up when I shoved 19 big blinds with A-K and was called by A-T. I then squeezed A-Q, but was snapped off by T-T and failed to improve. It was a very frustrating day; I made five standard raises and was three-bet on all of them!"
Joining him on the sidelines was fellow Black Belt Sam Razavi, who after suffering from the same cold cards, eventually met his maker on the final level of the day:
"I lost a key pot when my set of nines were outdrawn by A-7," he reported. "He made a backdoor flush to leave me with 20K. I managed to get it up to 52K, but then went out with K-Q when my opponent decided to get it in with Q-9 for a 60K pot. It's been a fun Vegas, but once again the paradox continues - I cashed for about $50K, yet there's nowt but cobwebs in the safe."
Other members of the Vegas Prize Fund endured the same fate with Chris Nicol and Greg Moore both biting dust, and even Hasmukh Khodiyara couldn't emulate recent successes when his Ah-Qh missed on a T-x-8 two-heart flop against K-T midway through the day.
However, it wasn't all doom and gloom, as there were three Black Belt Poker gladiators who managed to evade the melee; Kevin Williams, Tristan McDonald and James Mitchell all increasing their stacks for Day 3, the latter to the dizzy heights of 213,100.
Tristan, in particular, experienced a roller coaster day as his stack fluctuated from as low as 12,000, right up to 160,000. After a brutal set-under-set encounter that would have made the Saw franchise look family-friendly, Tristan doubled up twice with K-K versus 9-9 and A-Q versus 9-9, before winning "a big pot with aces" to exceed the magic 100,000 mark.
"In one hand," he recalls, "Mike McDonald raised from early position, the guy on my right called, and I three-bet with A-A on the button. McDonald folded and the other player flat-called. The flop was 7-8-9 with two clubs and I continuation bet. He check-raised all in and I called, which may have been a mistake. Either way, he had 9-9 to put me back down to 90,000. I didn't play another pot and ended the day with 78,000. Mixed feelings, but still there."
Also "still there" is Blue Belt Kevin Williams, who flies the flag the highest with 92,600. He enjoyed a solid start after lapping up three streets of value with K-8o on a 9-8-8-K-3 board, but then ran aces into queens for a 100K pot.
"This left me with just 18,000," he divulges. "I doubled up with T-T versus A-J, but then dropped back down to the starting stack…. from 10 years ago! I turned 10K into 32K, and then 60K with K-K versus 6-6, before climbing to a peak of 103K. Am happy to be returning for Day 3."
And so our hopes and prayers for the Vegas Prize Fund rest on three men, all of whom will be returning to the Rio later today where all remaining players join together for the first time. The biggest stack will belong to Gaelle Baumann who has 505,800, and whilst the Brits certainly aren't making the biggest of impacts, their presence is nevertheless felt with the likes of Jake Cody (322,000), James Keys (203,000) and former finalist Sam Holden (352,600) boasting chunky stacks.
Greg Moore - eliminated on Day 2ab
James Mitchell - 213,100
Jamie Burland - eliminated on Day 1b
Jerome Bradpiece - eliminated on Day 1b
Kevin Williams - 92,600
Neil Channing - eliminated on Day 2ab
Sam Razavi - eliminated on Day 2ab
Tristan McDonald - 78,000
Chris Nicol - eliminated on Day 2ab
Hasmukh Khodiyara - eliminated on Day 2ab
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