Day 2 of the Season XVII WPT Gardens Poker Festival Main Event came to a close on Monday. When the dust had settled, 122 players remained with Paul Hoefer (pictured below) on top. He bagged 597,000 in chips with Alexander Assouline sitting in second place on 581,000.
Registration closed on Day 2 and the field tallied 584 entries when it was all said and done. With the $5,000 buy-in and the $200,000 in cash added to the prize pool by the Gardens Casino, a prize pool of $2.94 million was generated. The top 73 places were set to reach the money, and the winner will take home $565,055 plus a Mercedes-Benz SLC Roadster. The winner will also earn the first automatic bid to the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.
Hoefer began Day 2 with 47,000 in chips, but he surged up the leaderboard throughout the day. He doubled through Jesse Martin in the third level of the day to get the ball rolling in the right direction and then steadily built from there. During the final level of the day, Hoefer fired a bet on a board of 
into Allen Lu. The bet was for 46,000 into a pot of about 70,000. Lu called, but couldn’t beat the 
that Hoefer turned over. That pot put Hoefer over 500,000 in chips.
Assouline, who finished Day 2 in second place, completed the day right where he started on the leaderboard. Assouline started in second place with 206,200 and also had a steady build throughout Day 2 like Hoefer did. The final level of the day saw Assouline pick up a nice chunk of chips when he four-bet all in on a flop of 
. His opponent bet 16,500 into a pot of about 55,000. Assouline raised to 60,000, his opponent reraised to 116,500, then Assouline jammed all in. The other player folded and Assouline was pushed the pot to hit 570,000.
Elsewhere among the big stacks were Ryan Tosoc (426,000), Jake Schwartz (388,500), and Jake Schindler (384,500). Benny Glaser, who had himself another nice summer at the WSOP, finished Day 2 with 350,000, and both the Massey brothers, Aaron and Ralph, bagged up chips for Day 3.
Hollywood producer Randall Emmett had a successful day and bagged up a sizeable chip stack, all while keeping his table entertained with plenty of lighthearted chatter.
Yumi Bui, who entered the day as the chip leader, fell back to the middle of the pack after not being able to generate much momentum on Day 2. That said, she’s still alive in the event with a shot at turning her $100 satellite win into the biggest cash of her career.
One player who won’t be returning for Day 3 is WPT Raw Deal host Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth busted once right before registration closed, reentered, then busted right before the end of the day. He went out when his 
fell to the 
of Schwartz. Hellmuth picked up a decent flop when the 
came out, but the 
turn and sealed his fate and his first World Poker Tour would have to wait.
Pat Lyons was another player to bust on Day 2. After traveling to Southern California today to get into the event at the last minute, Lyons’ run was short-lived after his 
ran into an opponent’s pocket kings.
A few of the others to bust on Day 2 were Byron Kaverman, Lauren Roberts, Ben Yu, Chris Moorman, and Dennis Blieden.
Day 3 kicks off at 12 p.m. local time on Tuesday at the Gardens Casino. The plan is for the field to play another five 90-minute levels with play ending around 8:30 p.m. once again. With 122 players left and 73 places set to be paid, the money bubble should burst on Day 3, making it a very important day and one you won’t want to miss. Plus, it will be the day the Action Clock, provided by Protection Poker, is implemented when the field reaches one table off the money.
As always, stay tuned to WPT.com for continued coverage of the World Poker Tour.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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