It has been a quick tournament at Sacramento’s Thunder Valley Casino Resort, as the inaugural World Poker Tour (WPT) Rolling Thunder Main Event saw its field trimmed from 191 all the way down to just 24 on Monday. Bryan Campanello leads the charge to the six-handed final table with 1,436,000 chips, one of just three men – the other two are Chad Eveslage (1,390,000) and Benjamin Zamani (1,350,000) with over a million.
One other player, Preston Harwell, is close to the million chip mark with 945,000, but after that, it is a fairly steep dropoff. Ryan D’Angelo is in fifth place with 751,000; nobody else has more than 700,000. The money bubble burst during Day 2 with the 55th place elimination, so everybody who is still alive today has earned at least $12,780. Only the final four players will break six-figures.
One of Campanello’s more sizable pots came late in the day. Calvin Anderson raised to 25,000 pre-flop and Campanello called, bringing on the flop of J♦-T♠-4♦. Once again, Anderson bet 25,000 and Campanello called. Anderson checked the turn of the 8♣ and check-raised all-in for 180,000 after Campanello bet 48,000. Campanello called, showing 9♠-7♣ for the straight, while Anderson flipped over two red 8’s for a set. The river was the 9♥, which failed to improve Anderson’s hand to a full house or quads, giving Campanello the pot and sending Anderson home in 31st place.
Day 3’s action is just getting underway at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort. Since this is the resort’s first time featured on the World Poker Tour, it is also the first time that many players have spent time there. It has gotten stellar reviews so far, which bodes well for the chances of return trip by the WPT. Today, the field will be narrowed down to just six players who will gather tomorrow for the final table.
2014 World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder Main Event – Day 2 Chip Counts
1. Bryan Campanello – 1,436,000
2. Chad Eveslage – 1,390,000
3. Benjamin Zamani – 1,350,000
4. Preston Harwell – 945,000
5. Ryan D’Angelo – 751,000
6. Dylan Hortin – 691,000
7. Michael Crabtree – 691,000
8. James Calderaro – 686,000
9. Quoc Pham – 674,000
10. Ken Jorgensen – 595,000
11. David Forster – 537,000
12. Keven Stammen – 453,000
13. Tony Recchia – 443,000
14. Brandon Shane – 433,000
15. Mimi Luu – 400,000
16. Brian Park – 354,000
17. Ardavan Yazdi – 296,000
18. Mike Heshmati – 295,000
19. JC Tran – 278,000
20. Lori Bare – 272,000
21. Randy Gil – 245,000
22. Michael Rocco – 241,000
23. Ed Miller – 232,000
24. Thomas Lutz – 227,000
* Tournament information and updates courtesy wpt.com.
