2012 Sands Bethlehem DeepStack Extravaganza Main Event Day 2: Chris Klodnicki Leads Final 16

3 min read
Chris Klodnicki

Only 16 players remained at the end of Day 2 of the 2012 Sands Bethlehem DeepStack Extravaganza $500,000 Guaranteed Main Event. Chris Klodnicki proved the best on the day and is enjoying the lead by a wide margin with 1,123,000 chips heading into Monday's final day of play.

Day 2 Chip Counts

RankPlayerChip Count
1Chris Klodnicki1,123,000
2William Tonking713,000
3Daniel Wach513,000
4Coury Mascagni463,000
5Joseph Tracy449,000
6Michael Schoultz373,000
7Ian Searing314,000
8Micah Raskin285,000
9Richard Allen269,000
10Michael Ryan216,000
11Edward Pham216,000
12Denis Gnidash212,000
13Timothy Chang194,000
14Drew Heller114,000
15John Chapman106,000
16Vince Baldassano87,000

Play began on Sunday with 70 players left from the tournament's 188 entries, all hoping to land a spot inside the final 18 and the money. Micah Raskin began the day as the overall chip leader and continued to maintain the advantage during the first few hours of play as the field began to shrink. Among the early eliminations were David Paredes, Matt Brady, Ryan D'Angelo and Ryan Riess.

By the time the dinner bell rang, only 35 competitors were left, and shortly after players returned, Klodnicki began to move up the counts in earnest, pushing in front of Raskin, Daniel Wach and William Tonking toward 1 million in chips. It would take another couple of hours to play down to the money bubble, but with 19 players left, the two most exciting hands of the day came about, both involving Klodnicki.

The first saw Vince Baldassano raising before the flop from early position and picking up a few callers including Klodnicki in the big blind. The flop came 878, and Klodnicki immediately led with a bet, which Baldassano raised. The others folded, Klodnicki reraised again, and Baldassano called.

The turn was the 9, and Klodnicki fired 75,000 into the pot of about 190,000. Baldassano called again, then the river brought the 4 and an all-in push from Klodnicki. Down to just 130,000, Baldassano agonized before finally folding his A5 flush face up. Klodnicki then showed J7 — just sevens and eights — and scooped the pot.

Not too long after that hand, a short-stacked Abhinav Asija reraised all in over a Klodnicki open, and the chip leader called. Asija had the 1010 and Klodnicki the AQ. From there, the 510K flop improved Asija to a set, but Klodnicki still had a draw. The 8 turn was fine for Asija, but the J appeared on the river to give Klodnicki a Broadway straight and burst the money bubble.

The last hands of the night then saw Matthew Burnitz eliminated in 18th and Ketan Pandya in 17th, with both earning $8,000.

The final 16 will return on Monday to play down to a winner, with Tonking (713,000), Wach (513,000) and Coury Mascagni (463,000) representing Klodnicki's nearest competitors to start the third and final day of play. A cool $135,000 awaits the winner up top, and it will be an exciting day.

The final day gets underway at 2:00 p.m. ET on Monday. Check back starting then for live updates on PokerNews as coverage of the 2012 Sands Bethlehem DeepStack Extravaganza $500,000 Guaranteed Main Event continues until a winner is found.

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