2012-13 WSOP Circuit River Rock Day 2: Sonny Sekhon Takes Lead with 30 Remaining
Day 2 of the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit River Rock Main Event began with 246 hopefuls hitting the felt on their quest to be immortalized by winning the third largest WSOPC Main Event and the largest poker tournament ever hosted in Canada. By the end of the day only 30 runners remained, and the man with the most chips was Sonny Sekhon after building his stack up to an impressive 1.762 million.
While Sekhon managed to hold onto the lead at the end of Day 2, several players were right on his heels. Bagging up second place chips was Ryan Biermann with 1.576 million. Rounding out the top three was David Pecaski who held 1.455 million.
When play began on Monday, many notables sat down with the first intention of being among the 108 players who reached the money. Several fell short of that goal, including Noah Vaillancort, Alex Sutherland, Braden Hall, Mark Bonsack, and Matt Jarvis.
Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Greg Mueller also saw his tournament come to an end early in the day. Mueller's demise came when he three-bet from the small blind after an opening raise from Sean Giesbrecht and a call from Hall. Both players called the three-bet and the dealer fanned out a flop that read 9♥2♦2♠. Mueller continued out for 45,000 and Giesbrecht quickly raised to 110,000. Hall got out of the way and Mueller shipped all in. Mueller was snapped off by Giesbrecht and the hands were revealed.
Showdown:
Mueller: Q♦Q♠
Giesbrecht: 4♣2♣
Mueller could not believe that Giesbrecht stuck around to see the flop with a deuce in his hand. The turn and river were of no help to Mueller and he was sent to the rail.
Shortly thereafter the money bubble burst when Jean Leblond exited in 109th place. Leblond's all-in was only for 5,000 chips, but he managed to find a glimmer of hope when he picked up pocket queens. Isaac Baron held KxQx and was able to spike a king on the flop, eliminating Leblond and thrusting the field into the money. Leblond was given a free night at River Rock Casino and Resort as well as vouchers for the buffet to cool his sorrows.
Once the money bubble burst, the players began dropping like flies. Among those to be eliminated in the money were Darren Kennedy (107th), Daniel Idema (103rd), Day 1b chip leader Jingjing Liu (79th), Scott Stanko (69th), Scott Stiglitz (67th), Kelly Kellner (54th), Joel Micka (42nd), and Isaac Baron (37th).
The Day 1c chip leader and last woman standing Lillian Chan was eliminated from play toward the end of the night. Chan was all-in and at risk before the flop with Q♠5♠ against Day 1a chip leader Norman Overdijk's A♣A♥. The flop came K♠J♦10♦ and gave Chan some hope with outs to make a straight. The A♠ rolled off on fourth street and sent the room into a frenzy, as Overdijk made a set of aces but Chan was able to make Broadway, seemingly keeping her alive in the tournament. Overdijk cried for the board to pair on the river and the deck obliged as the J♣ fell down on fifth street. Overdijk's aces full of jacks bested Chan's straight and she collected her $6,827 payday.
Here's a look at the top 10 chip stacks heading into Day 3:
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonny Sekhon | 1,762,000 |
| 2 | Ryan Biermann | 1,576,000 |
| 3 | David Pecaski | 1,455,000 |
| 4 | Nick Halvorsun | 1,271,000 |
| 5 | Mark Potovsky | 1,091,000 |
| 6 | Norman Overdijk | 1,083,000 |
| 7 | Tyler St. Clair | 901,000 |
| 8 | Andrew Tai | 801,000 |
| 9 | Michael Collins | 773,000 |
| 10 | Justin Ciolfitto | 766,000 |
The final 30 players will return to the River Rock Theatre for Day 3 at 12:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday. These players will play down to the final table which will take place on Wednesday. Be sure to stay tuned to the PokerNews Live Reporting page as we bring you the latest on the quest to the final table!
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