Before the second event of the 2006 WSOP began, history had already been made. 2,776 players entered the $1,500 buy-in event. Aside from last year’s main event, that was the second largest field for any WSOP tournament. Harrah’s also accepted over 400 hundred alternates. I suspected that over 3,000 players wanted to play in the first open event of the 2006 WSOP but the Rio could not accommodate the extra players. They were already seating 11 players at some tables and could not fit any more.
When Day 1 ended on Tuesday, Carlos Mortensen emerged as the chiplead. He would lose most of his lead on Day 2. As the action got close to the TV bubble, he held on as one of the short stacks. He found A-A at the right time and doubled up against Drew Rubin’s Q-Q. When Day 2 ended, he was 7th in chips.
Greg Raymer made history when he became the only player to have cashed in all five WSOP events that had at least 2,000 players. Fossilman once again proved that he’s tough to beat against gigantic fields. He finished in 63rd place when he got sucked out by a runner-runner flush. Phil Hellmuth also made history. He finished in 67th place and cashed in his 49th WSOP event. That tied him with Men the Master for most career cashes.
Several notable pros made the money on Day 2. That included Paul Darden, Bill Gazes, Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon, Devilfish, Tuan Le, John Bonetti, Carl Olson, E-Fro, and Blair Rodman. Jen Harman was looking for her third bracelet. She failed in her quest when she busted out in 11th place when her A-K lost to A-A.
Here’s Event #2 $1,500 NL Final Table chip counts (courtesy of Poker Wire):
1 Brandon Cantu (Vancouver, WA) 753K
1 Lee Padilla (Modesto, CA) 753K
3 Drew Rubin (Hollywood, FL) 573K
4 Mark Ly (Los Angeles, CA) 516K
5 Mark Swartz (Phoenix. AZ) 359K
6 Don Zewin (Las Vegas, NV) 342K
7 Carlos Mortensen (Las Vegas, NV) 337K
8 Ron Stanley (Henderson, NV) 283K
9 Brent Roberts (Staten Island, NY) 260K
The final table featured three players who made it to a final table of the WSOP main event. Carlos Mortensen won the championship in 2001. Don Zewin took third in 1989 when Phil Hellmuth beat out Johnny Chan. Ron Stanley took 4th place in 1997 when Stu Ungar won his third WSOP title. The final table players came from all walks of life including a college student, an almond farmer, and a psychiatrist.
Carlos Mortensen was the first player eliminated, much to the delight of his table mates. In various interviews, almost every person at the final table said that the player they feared the most was… Carlos Mortensen. With his exit, the race for the bracelet was wide open. Mortensen won $71,617 for 9th place.
Mortensen lost three big coinflips at the final table. Within twenty minutes, Mortensen doubled up players twice when his A-Q lost two different races against Don Zewin’s 10-10 and Drew Rubin’s J-J. Less than ten minutes later, Mortensen was busted when his 4-4 lost to Mark Ly’s Q-9.
“You need to win those races,” a dejected Mortensen said in an interview with Bluff Poker Radio. “And today I lost three big ones.”
Mark Swartz busted out in 8th place when his K-J lost a race against Brandon Cantu’s 10-10. Swartz won $88,668. In one hand, Lee Padilla took out two other players. Ron Stanley moved all in with a short stack and both Don Zewin and Padilla called. Zewin led preflop with 8-8. Padilla flipped over As-Js and Ron Stanley had A-9s. Two spades flopped and a third fell on the river to give Padilla an ace high flush. Ron Stanley won $107,614 for 7th place, while Don Zewin took home $126,940 for 6th place. Padilla jumped up to second in chips right behind Brandon Cantu.
21 year old NYU student Brent Roberts went from one of the short stacks to over 900K in chips after his Q-Q held up against Brandon Cantu’s K-Q. His stack took a hit after he doubled up Drew Rubin when Rubin’s 2-2 held up against his K-J. Then Roberts found himself slugging it out with Cantu in a classic race. Cantu held A-Q against Roberts’ 7-7. Cantu flopped a Queen and his A-Q held up. Roberts ended up with $151,570 for 5th place.
Mark Ly loves the Hilton Sisters after he ran up his stack to over 1M in chips. He moved all in preflop with Q-Q and Brandon Cantu called with Big Slick. Ly flopped a set of Queens, then rivered Quads as the crowd bubbled over with excitement. Ly took over the chiplead a few hands later.
Ly sent Lee Padilla to the rail when his A-10 held up against Padilla’s A-rag. Ly turned a 10. Padilla, the California almond farmer, won $176,579 for 4th place. He trailed Cantu in chips 1.7M to 1.5M. Drew Rubin was the shortstack with 600K.
Ly took over the chiplead when he won a race with A-Q against Cantu’s 6-6. Drew Rubin would eventually head to the rail in 3rd place when his A-6 lost to Brandon Cantu’s 8-8. Rubin won $226,597. When heads-up play began, Brandon Cantu was ahead of Mark Ly with 2.42M to 1.75M in chips.
The heads-up match started out slow as action followed a snail’s pace. Both players traded chips but the aggressor usually picked up the pots. Cantu raised pre-flop and Ly called. On a board of A-J-6, Ly flopped second pair with J-4s. He check-called the flop and check-raised all in on the turn when a 7 fell. Cantu quickly called with A-K. The river didn’t help Ly and he was reduced to just 10K in chips.
For second place, Ly won $416,816. Brandon Cantu won his first bracelet and $757,839 in cash.