WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals, Day 2 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Day 2 of the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals began with 142 players, though registration remained open until the second level. The total field size maxed out at 189 players, creating a total prize pool of $1,778,300.

The top 27 players will finish in the money, and the winner will earn $449,910. Day 2 came to an end with 66 players, so it looks like they will reach the money on Day 3.

Here are some of the highlights from Day 2:

Grant Lang and Kathy Liebert smile for the camera as they are in good spirits early on Day 2. Both players survived the day, Lang with 37,500, and Liebert with 92,000.

Several of the Day 1 players arrived late for the start of Day 2. One player showed up 25 minutes late, another 42 minutes late, and Jason Richter (that’s his chip bag pictured above) arrived 57 minutes late. Richter’s stack of 48,100 dropped to 46,100 in his absence.

Matt Stout had been wondering what would cause a player to be so late, and figured an arrest or passing out drunk were the most likely causes. No, said Richter, he merely overslept.

Erik Seidel, who won a WPT title here at Foxwoods back in the spring of 2008, stares down Jason Mercier (foreground left) on Day 2.

In the second level of the day, Christian Harder took the chip lead with 144,500 — more than triple the average stack.

ClubWPT.com qualifier Michael Jamali was eliminated during the second level of the day, and gave his thoughts about the tournament to the WPT cameras.

Steve Ryan (right) was all in preflop with [KdKs], and doubled up thru the [8c8d] of last year’s second-place finisher Dave Inselberg (left).

Award-winning pumpkin carver Scott Cully was at Foxwoods sculpting some giant pumpkins into impressive jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.

Here is a finished jack-o-lantern that Scott Cully carved earlier in the day. Cully holds several Guinness World Records related to pumpkin carving.

Ryan Welch (standing, left) was all in preflop with [6d6s], but couldn’t overcome the [9d9h] of Nikolai Yakovenko (center). The board came [9s8d7dJd5d] — Yakovenko flopped a set and rivered a diamond flush to win the pot and eliminate Welch.

After a flop of [8s6c2c], with Andy Rossi (left) and another player all in ahead of him, Chris Klodnicki (right) tanked for about a minute before he folded. It was the right move, because Rossi turned over [8c8h] for top set, and went on to bust the button who had [AcKh].

Rossi took the chip lead after this hand, and finished the day 8th in chips with 169,100. Klodnicki actually finished stronger, 4th in chips with 216,100.

After a flop of [Jd10h3h], Kyle Loman (far left) checked, Christian Harder (center) moved all in, and Darren Elias (right) called all in. Loman folded, and Elias showed [10c10s] for a set of tens. Harder flipped over [AdAh]. The set held up for Elias, and he doubled up to nearly 200,000 in chips while Harder dropped to 50,000. Harder would make a comeback later in the day, finishing sixth in chips with 194,300.

After a flop of [KhQc4h], Dan Colpoys bet, Jack Kashishian raised, and Colpoys moved all in with [AdAs]. Kashishian called with [KcQh] for two pair, and Colpoys was about to be eliminated — until the [Ac] hit the river to give him a big double up with a set of aces. That ace on the river was a key turning point for Day 2, because Colpoys would go on to finish the day as chipleader.

Jason Somerville (standing) checks in on the progress of his friend Jason Mercier (right), who is seated next to reigning WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger (left). Mercier would survive the day in the middle of the pack with 70,600, while Frankenberger finished second in chips with 239,600.

At one point on Day 2, a player bet into Dwyte Pilgrim after a fairly standard flop. Pilgrim paused, lifted his cards in the air, and did his best impersonation of Teddy KGB from the movie Rounders. "Give that man his money," Pilgrim said with a Russian accent as he dropped his cards into the muck. "He deserves it."

Tony Dunst (standing, left) three-bet all in with [JcJh] after a flop of [8c8d7d], and Eric Ladny (right) called with [QdJd] (flush draw). The turn was the [3s], but the [2d] on the river gave Ladny a diamond flush to win the pot and eliminate Dunst.

Dunst will be sticking around here at Foxwoods, because the is the commentator for the WPT’s new final table live stream, which provides hole cards and all the action on a 30-minute delay for fans to watch online.

David "Doc" Sands ended the day with 83,700, and one of the WPT producers conducts a quick interview to get David’s thoughts on Day 2.

Dan Colpoys, who was one card away from elimination when he caught an ace on the river, finished as the Day 2 chipleader and was named the ClubWPT Player of the Day by Jessica Welman.

With 66 players surviving Day 2, here’s a look at the top six from the leaderboard, along with all of the surviving former WPT winners:

1. Dan Colpoys – 246,000 (205 BBs)
2. Andy Frankenberger – 239,600 (199 BBs)
3. Peter Politano – 237,900 (198 BBs)
4. Chris Klodnicki – 216,100 (180 BBs)
5. Steven Brackesy – 213,700 (178 BBs)
6. Christian Harder – 194,300 (161 BBs)

13. Alan Sternberg – 122,200 (101 BBs)
20. Hoyt Corkins – 99,000 (82 BBs))
23. Jonathan Little – 92,500 (77 BBs)
40. Dwyte Pilgrim – 58,500 (48 BBs)
59. Cornel Cimpan – 35,700 (29 BBs)
64. Erik Seidel – 26,600 (22 BBs)
65. Lee Markholt – 21,100 (17 BBs)
66. Jeff Forrest – 17,600 (14 BBs)

Day 3 begins tomorrow (Saturday) at 12:00 noon ET. Return to WPT.com in the morning for a fresh episode of The Jess & BJ Show, followed by live coverage of the tournament throughout the day.