WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic Day 2: Nitsche Leads Final 27 Players
The World Poker Tour continued on Saturday with Day 2 of the Emperors Palace Poker Classic. Leading the final 27 players is German Dominik Nitsche, who bagged 485,000, and joining him on Day 3 will be Matt Lawrence (449,000), Tom Koral (285,500), and Jason Strauss (253,000).
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominik Nitsche | 485,000 |
| 2 | Matt Lawrence | 449,000 |
| 3 | Eugene du Plessis | 398,000 |
| 4 | Astoon Soon Shiong | 392,000 |
| 5 | Rob Fenner | 334,500 |
| 6 | Benjamin Cole | 330,000 |
| 7 | Kevin Andriamaheta | 324,000 |
| 8 | Tom Koral | 285,500 |
| 9 | Jason Strauss | 253,000 |
| 10 | Warren Zackey | 238,000 |
According to the WPT Live Updates team, in Level 15, Nitsche took the chip lead in a big pot against Benjamin Cole. With the blinds at 1,500/3,000/500, Cole limped in from early position. Nitsche, who is the defending champion, raised out of the big blind, Cole re-raised to 17,000, Nitsche bumped it to 47,000, and Cole called. The flop fell K♠Q♠4♠, Nitsche led out for 45,000, and Cole called. Nitsche slowed down when the 3♠ was dealt on the turn, check-calling a bet of 50,000, and the 9♦ completed the board. Nitsche checked, Cole knuckled behind, and the German ripped over A♠10♥ for the nuts.
Last year, Nitsche earned $206,153 for winning this event.
The day ended when the bubble burst, and the bubble boy was Greg Ronaldson in Level 17. Ronaldson, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, was all in with trip queens on a board of Q♦J♣8♠Q♣, but his opponent, Aston Soon Shiong, held 10♠9♣ for a straight. The river didn't pair the board, and Ronaldson exited empty-handed.
Exiting before the bubble were Leo Margets, Jordan Cristos, Rupert Elder, Barny Boatman, Ryan D'Angelo, Melanie Weisner, Mike Sexton, and Bryn Kenney.
Margets was also busted by Shiong when she moved all in with a jack-high flush draw. Shiong had flopped a set of sixes, and the turn and river both produced bricks. Weisner ran pocket fives into Cole's pocket sixes, and 2013 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Boatman found himself all in with 10x3x against Lawrence's AxQx. The dominant hand held up, and Boatman hit the rail.
Play will resume on Sunday at 13:00 local time, where the 27 survivors will play down to an official final table of six. PokerNews will provide you with a recap of the day's events.
*Data courtesy of the WPT Blog.
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