WSOP 2011 Day 2a Brings Mixed Fortunes for UK Poker Players

The first of the Day 2s in the World Series of Poker Main Event was played overnight at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas, and UK poker players enjoyed mixed fortunes in their quest to bring the $8,711,956 first prize back across the pond.

Sadly we lost Vicky Coren, Ram Vashwani and Chris Moorman (who by his own admission plays terribly in the Main Event), but a strong British presence still remain in the world´s most valuable tournament, with Tom Carpenter, Sam Holden and WSOP bracelet winner Darren Woods up among the leaders.

Neil Channing and the Boatman brothers are well positioned for the start of Day 3 on Thursday, and they will be joined by notable UK poker players Andrew Teng, Praz Bansi, JP Kelly and Steve Watts – who recovered from being down to his last ten big blinds before staging an excellent comeback in the later stages of the day.

Sleepy Head Phil Hellmuth

One of the great stories to come out of Day 2a concerned Phil “Sleepy-Head” Hellmuth, who has a reputation for turning up late for tournaments – but not this late! Believing that he was not playing his second day until tonight (Day 2b), Hellmuth treated himself to a lay-in while his overnight chip stack of 11,800 was blinded down to just 7,675 chips.

Had it not been for Mike Matusow´s skill in convincing the hotel security to break into his room, Hellmuth would have been eliminated from the tournament under the most unusual circumstances. As it was, Hellmuth ground his way back up to 64,900 before the close of play and will probably be buying Matusow a very large drink right about now!

Other Stars in the News

There are plenty of big names taking bigger stacks than Hellmuths into Day 3. Daniel Negreanu played a risky game throughout the day to win more coinflips than he was entitled to. If his luck holds in the event, he will look back on last night as the turning point in his Championship. 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada will also be taking his seat on Thursday along with Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman and WSOPE bracelet winner Annette Obrestad.

WSOP Main Event Day 2b Tonight

Looking ahead to tonight´s action, 2,490 players will attempt to make it through to Day 3 in a field which includes Ben Lamb, Patrik Antonius, Phil Laak, Jamie Gold, Vanessa Rousso, and Joe Hachem. Well positioned UK poker players Dan Morgan, Craig Mccorkell, Andy Ferguson, Simon Higgins, Rupom Pal, and Jonathan Spinks will be setting their alarm clocks to avoid “doing a Hellmuth” and we wish them all well in the tournament this evening.

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