Laak Leads the Final 13 Heading Into Day 3; Mizzi, Ashby & Baker Lurking
Day 2 of Event #42: $5,000 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha from the 2014 World Series of Poker saw the surviving 96 players of a 452-player field return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino for 10 more one-hour levels of play. During that time the money bubble burst — ensuring the top 48 a piece of the $2,124,400 prize pool — and the field was whittled down to the final 13.
Sitting atop the counts with 1.087 million was Phil Laak, who found himself best equipped to make a run at the $541,747 first-place prize. However, in order to capture it he’ll have to get through some other big stacks including Joseph Leung (818,000), Sorel Mizzi (735,000), and Ryan Schmidt (720,000).
Day 2 action began in Level 11 (600/1,200) and one of the first to go was none other than Phil Hellmuth, who was the victim of a rather brutal beat. It happened when Phil Laak opened the action with a raise to 2,400 from the cutoff seat. Hellmuth then called from the small blind, and David "Bakes" Baker three-bet it to 9,600 from the big. Laak got out of the way and Hellmuth made the call to see a flop of 
.
Hellmuth checked, Baker continued for 20,000, and Hellmuth shoved all in for roughly 60,000. Baker made the call and Hellmuth was in a dominating spot.
Hellmuth: 
Baker: 
Hellmuth had flopped top set, which was well out in front of Baker's aces. The 
turn gave Hellmuth a full house, and that meant all he needed to do was dodge an ace on the river to stay alive. That proved easier said than done, though, as the 
spiked to eliminate Hellmuth and throw him into one of his trademark fits.
Others who exited the tournament empty handed included Eli Elezra, Tony Cousineau, Jim Collopy, Robert Williamson III, Galen Hall, Jason Somerville, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Andy Frankenberger, Calvin Anderson, Jason Mercier, and Ashton Griffin, who was actually the bubble boy after running into Kyle Julius’ set of sevens.
From there, the in-the-money finishes came fast. Among those to make their way to the payout desk were Eoghan O’Dea (47th - $9,559), Yevgeniy Timoshenko (42nd - $10,409), Brian Rast (40th - $10,409), Davidi Kitai (39th - $10,409), Julius (35th - $11,896), Mohsin Charania (34th - $11,896), Mike Gorodinsky (28th - $14,021), Jonathan Little (26th - $14,021), Scotty Nguyen (24th - $16,888), JC Tran (20th - $16,888), and Phil Galfond (19th - $16,888).
While dozens fell, a few notables managed to make it through the night including Brant Hale (583,000), Richard Ashby (426,000), Kory Kilpatrick (333,000), Baker (308,000), and Brandon Crawford (214,000).
The third and final day of action is set to kick off at 1 p.m. local time on Sunday. Who will walk away with the $541,747 first-place prize and WSOP gold bracelet? Join us then as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the action and eliminations on the way to crowning a champion.
In the meantime, check out this video on why David “Bakes” Baker, who eliminated Hellmuth, has no pride at all: