With 20,000 in starting chips and comfortable 75-minute levels, I expected some tight action.

I was wrong. Check-raising, semi-bluffs, full blown bluffs, and the like are winnowing this field table by table and sad-faced players are making the long walk to the beach.

As we end the second level, here are some pictures, hands, and notable chip stacks.

Terrence Chan


Steve Paul-Ambrose


Yosh Nakano and pbdrunks


Bill Chen

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The Ed Report

Dario Minieri--Dario Minieri lost a noteworthy chunk of his stack. With 5,000 chips already in the pot and the board showing 5-A-3-9, Dario led out with 2.5K. His opponent called and when the river came an 8, he checked once again to Dario. Dario followed suit and mucked his cards when his opponent shows A-Q. Dario is down to 24K, but still very strong despite this slight setback.

Laying down the ladies--Facing a raise from early position of 700, Joe Sebok raiseed to 2,500. A 3rd player then re-raised to 5,500. The initial raiser takes an age to fold, and Joe quickly mucks Q-Q face up. His opponent did not show, but merely said, "Good fold."

Team PokerStars Vanessa Rousso adds to her stack Facing an early position raise to 650, Vanessa called from the button and the blinds fold. The flop is far from a raiser's dream, with it showing 8-6-10 rainbow. Her opponent checked and Vanessa tosses a yellow 1,000 chip into the pot which is enough to take it down there and then. Vanessa currently has around 22K.

Last years winner is all in--With the pot at 1,200 and the board showing Kd-9d-5h Steve-Paul Ambrose bets the pot. His only opponent raises to 3,000 total. Steve then immediately moves all-in. After 20 seconds or so of thought, his opponent folds. After a rough start to the day, Steve is now back up to his starting stack of 20K.

Huge hand for this level--Facing a raise of 700 chips, Chris Moneymaker re-raised to 2,200 and his opponent flat called. The flop came Jd-5c-Kh and Chris led out with 3,000 ,which his opponent called. The turn brought the 7h and Chris bet out 6,500 chips. His opponent thought for a second before moving all in for a total of 16K. Chris thought for an age, checking how much he would be left with if he called, before eventually passing. He is now back down to his starting stack of 20K or so after a decent early accumulation.



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Selected end of Level 2 Chip Counts

tigerti -- 9K
maximilian74 -- 12K
The Beat -- 22K
Chris Moneymaker -- 24K
Vanessa Rousso -- 32K
Katja Thater -- 26K
Jim Hamburger -- 20K
Steve Paul Ambrose -- 16K
Terrence Chan -- 22K
Bill Chen -- 20K
Mimi Rogers -- 18K
Joe Sebok -- 17K
Antonio Esfandiari -- 4K
David Singer -- 13K
Robert Williamson -- 10K
Dario Minieri -- 17K