Christopher Johnson spent much of the later part of Day 2 near the top of the leaderboard. He waited until the very end to leap clear of the rest of the 21 remaining players and in an unusual circumstance.
Johnson and Teodor Evstratiev had built a massive pot of around 700,000 heading to the river. Both players slowed down and checked and Johnson turned over just king-high. Evstratiev, disgusted, slammed his cards down and stormed off as Johnson took the decisive pot that made him the chip leader heading to the final day of the £888 888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event.
Johnson had earlier busted Bhavin Khatri with pocket eights on his way to bagging up 3,160,000. His closest challengers tomorrow are Brandon Harris (1,490,000), Evstratiev (1,445,000), Hong Pham (1,400,000), and Fabian Donovan (1,335,000). Harris began his ascent up the leaderboard when he doubled up with queens against Yiannis Liperis, then made a Broadway straight on the river to bust Joe Newby.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Johnson | United Kingdom | 3,160,000 | 105 |
| 2 | Brandon Harris | United Kingdom | 1,490,000 | 50 |
| 3 | Teodor Evstratiev | Bulgaria | 1,445,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Hong Pham | Vietnam | 1,400,000 | 47 |
| 5 | Fabian Donovan | United Kingdom | 1,335,000 | 45 |
| 6 | Min Ji | United Kingdom | 1,300,000 | 43 |
| 7 | Charles Chattha | United Kingdom | 1,200,000 | 40 |
| 8 | Yiannis Liperis | Cyprus | 1,095,000 | 37 |
| 9 | Carl Shaw | United Kingdom | 1,085,000 | 36 |
| 10 | Ka Wai Man | United Kingdom | 930,000 | 31 |
Pham eliminated 888poker Ambassador Lucia Navarro just inside the money, then took a massive 800,000-chip pot when she flopped a set of kings to bust Paul Vas Nunes. Pham was also responsible for the last bustout of the night, taking out Beihao Wang in 22nd place after hitting a pair of jacks on the river.
Liperis, the Day 1 chip leader, is also still in the hunt with 1,095,000. Carl Shaw already has a WSOP bracelet and a final-table run at EPT Barcelona less than two months ago on his poker resume and will look to add the 888poker LIVE title when he comes back tomorrow with 1,085,000. Jose Aguilera (425,000) and Wendy Watson (390,000), who admitted she was just hoping to make the money, are near the bottom of the leaderboard.
Charles Chattha was on one half of the fortunate end of the wildest hand of the day. Three players, including Chattha, Chuc Khuu, and Cosmin Penescu, were all in before the flop. Chattha and Penescu both had ace-king, while Khuu had jack-ten of diamonds. Khuu flopped a pair of jacks, then picked up a flush draw on the turn. The river, though, brought the last non-diamond ace in the deck as Chattha and Penescu chopped up Khuu’s stack. Chattha ended up with 1,200,000, while Penescu, who also cracked a set of kings by making a straight on the river to double up later, bagged up 805,000.
Day 2 began with 165 players as late registrants boosted the total field to 672, smashing past the £500,000 guarantee. Niall Farrell, Ludovic Geilich, as well as 888poker Ambassadors Ian Simpson and Vivian Saliba, all fell short of the money as only the top 70 would collect a payday.
Francis Obadun ran into aces twice on the bubble to finish in 71st place. Once the bubble burst, Navarro (67th), “Mad Turk” Yucel Eminoglu (58th), Nathan Jones (51st), Gary Miller (47th), and Vas Nunes (46th) all hit the rail, leaving just 21 players still in the hunt for the trophy and £125,000 first prize when Day 3 begins tomorrow at noon local time.
The action picks up on Level 25 with blinds of 15,000-30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante. The average stack at the start of the day will be just over 30 big blinds, so action should be just as fast as it was to close out Day 2.
PokerNews will be back as the race to the final table is on tomorrow, ending with the crowning of a new 888poker LIVE champion.
