American Will Jaffe made a late charge to end Day 2 of the $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event #54 at the World Series of Poker as a huge chip leader.
Will Jaffe Charges Into Lead After WSOP Event #54 Day 2
American Will Jaffe made a late charge to end Day 2 of the $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event #54 at the World Series of Poker as a huge chip leader.
New York State’s Jaffe bagged up with 1,947,000 chips to hold more than double second placed Irishman Jason Tompkins (907,000), while San Jose’s Carl Le was an even more distant third on 870,000 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino’s Amazon Room in Las Vegas.
Just 265 players – from the original 3,221 starters – made it into Day 2, but that line-up had been cut down to only 15 for Day 3 as Jaffe makes a serious play for his first WSOP bracelet and the $500,075 top prize.
Chip Leader Leaves It Late
Jaffe took down a huge 1.3 million pot just half-an-hour from the end of play when knocking out Gianluca Rullo, of Kansas, before winning a vital pot against Michigan’s David ‘Bakes’ Baker to confirm his place as chip leader heading into Day 3.
Meanwhile, County Kildare’s Tomkins eliminated Kansas’ Brett Shaffer, Ryan Pringle, of Colorado, and California’s David Singontiko (21st for $14,321) to move into second place as the event came close to its climax.
The early play saw four-time bracelet winner Huck Seed exit in 220th for $2,377, and North Dakota’s Tom ‘The Shamrock Kid’ McCormick – who now has 41 WSOP cashes – leave in 216th, also for $2,377, while Illinois’ Benjamin Volpe became the chip leader.
John Eames Exits in 18th
British pro John Eames eliminated German star Martin Finger in 167th for $2,667 when the former’s pocket queens proved too good for the latter’s pocket fours, although Eames would eventually exit in 18th for $17,915 after Canadian Jonas Mackoff (49th for $7,798) had sent New Jersey’s Matt Stout to the rail in 156th for $2,667.
All the while, Jaffe was increasing his stack, with two-time bracelet winner Dutch Boyd, of Vegas, the first to suffer when his pocket queens lost out to the former’s jacks after the J♦ arrived on the turn. Jaffe took over as chip leader, although he would lose that spot before claiming it once again late in the day.
David ‘Bakes’ Baker Stays In Touch
The action hotted up after the dinner break as Baker moved top when Eames doubled-up through Jaffe, before two more bracelet winners hit the rail in quick succession as Michigan’s Ray Foley (30th for $11,567) and Russian Alex Kravchenko (33rd for $11,567) were eliminated as the final two levels approached.
Baker – who ended the day in fifth on 574,000 – gained even more momentum when winning a huge pot against Indiana’s Jeff Fielder before then knocking out San Francisco’s Wendy Freedman (26th for $14,321) to move past the one million-chip mark.
Several other women made it into Day 2 but all were eliminated, with Sweden’s Sofia Lovgren exiting in 24th and Vegas-based Katherine Dozier picking up 27th – both for $14,321.
WSOP 2012 Event #54 Final 15
- Will Jaffe (USA) – 1,947,000
- Jason Tompkins (Ireland) – 907,000
- Carl Le (USA) – 870,000
- Benjamin Grise (USA) – 698,000
- David ‘Bakes’ Baker (USA) – 574,000
- Perati Muhamet (Italy) – 542,000
- Nghi Van Tran (Canada) – 531,000
- Benjamin Volpe (USA) – 476,000
- Joseph Kuether (USA) – 426,000
- Brett Schwertley (USA) – 343,000
- Luis Campelo (Brazil) – 274,000
- Ian Chan (Canada) – 229,000
- Jeffrey Fielder (USA) – 226,000
- Clayton Fletcher (USA) – 224,000
- Ken Fishman (USA) – 1