The first of two Day Twos is in the books at the 2015 World Series of Poker Championship Event with the relatively unknown Amar Anand sitting atop the standings at the end of Wednesday’s play.
1154 players came back from Days 1A and 1B to comprise the field for the Day 2A festivities with Hamid Feiz sitting at the top of the mountain with his 182,675 in chips. That lead was short lived, however, as WSOP bracelet winner Charles Sylvestre surged to the front of the pack, racking up 275,000 in chips by the time the players had reached the second break. The news wasn’t as good for some of the professionals in the field as former World Champion Chris Moneymaker, Jeff Gross, Hasan Habib and Anthony Spinella were among those who had to depart the tournament arenas at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino.
Spinella’s departure was particularly painful. Steve Zolotow opened up the betting and Spinella, seated next to the New York veteran, simply called the bet. Alyssa Stachowski felt that this was her time as she deposited the remainder of her stack in the center and Zolotow, after everyone folded to him, went over the top with over 60K in chips. Spinella, sitting on only around 30K, immediately called Zolotow and, once the cards were, up, Spinella had to be confident in his position:
Zolotow: A-K
Stachowski: A-10
Spinella: pocket Queens
Spinella, the winner of the inaugural hybrid online/live tournament in WSOP history, went from the penthouse to the outhouse on the A-10-4 flop as Stachowski hammered it with Aces up. The case Ace on the turn left Spinella drawing dead and Zolotow looking for another ten to hit to split the pot with Stachowski. That stunner came as another ten slapped the river, splitting the pot between Zolotow and Stachowski and send Spinella (still pretty happy with his WSOP bracelet) to the rail on Day 2A.
Another hand from the early action was an exercise in table etiquette. After seeing a raise in front of him, Stephen Bierman made the call but Chris Moorman pumped the action with a three-bet out of the big blind. A K♠ 3♠ 8♥ flop was checked by both players but, after the Q♠ came on the turn, Moorman fired off a bet. Bierman made the call and, after both players checked the 10♠ on the river, the drama began.
Bierman, although not expected to show first (Moorman was in the blind, normally the first to show on a checked down river), stated “I have a set of tens,” and displayed them for the rivered set. Moorman calmly tossed his cards to the muck but Bierman snapped, “I want to see his cards.” The dealer called the floor over and, after some discussion, it was determined that Bierman did have the right to see them but it was a privilege that wasn’t to be abused. Moorman’s K-10 off-suit (turned two pair) was then shown before the next hand proceeded.
Bierman’s move was a blatant attempt to garner information on Moorman’s playing style, not what the rule was meant to do. The rule is one mostly used in cash games to attempt to prevent collusion at the table whereas Bierman used it for strategic purposes. According to the latest TDA Summit conducted earlier this month, the official TDA rules have addressed this issue and it may not be used in such a manner in the future.
The poker was entertaining as they entered the evening hours inside the Rio. Anand would seize control of the day’s activities following the dinner break, storming out from the pack and becoming the first player to crack both the 500K and 600K marks. By the time the fifth level of the day had concluded, Anand – whose only previous cash appears to have been at the WPT500 earlier this month (finished 393rd for a minimal cash) – will hold a sizeable lead over the field as he punched his ticket to Day Three:
1. Amar Anand, 603,500
2. Calvin Lee, 500,700
3. Luther Tran, 479,700
4. Charles Chattha, 423,300
5. Alan Mastic, 400,000
6. Sotirios Koutoupas, 393,000
7. Joe Lu, 387,400
8. William Molson, 370,300
9. Daniel Fuhs, 368,800
10. Brian Hastings, 367,300
Other notables joining the roughly 650 players that will move on to Friday’s action are Pierre Neuville (12th, 357,600), Jake Cody (14th, 340,100), Anton Morgenstern (17th, 305,000) and Fedor Holz (18th, 303,900).
Day 2B will feature a massive field that will combine with the Day 2A field tomorrow. 2765 players will pack the Rio’s tournament arenas and play five two-hour levels before they pack it up for the night. With some aggressive play from those in attendance on Thursday, it is possible that Day Three’s combined field will be somewhere around the 2000 player mark, if not lower. That still leaves those in contention a good distance from the money as 1000 players will receive the notation on their poker resumes of a WSOP cash.
