WSOP Event #15: Baron Leads The Way Into Day 3

A total of 164 players returned for Day 2 of the $5,000 No Limit
Hold'em event. With the first cards dealt, some of the players were
already packing their bags. Carlos Mortensen made an early exit after
he moved all-in with pocket queens and found himself up against Theo
Tran's A-J. An ace came on the flop and with blanks coming on both turn
and the river, Mortensen was out.

Jimmy Fricke, Andy Black and Erick Lindgren also made early exits.
While most of the pros in the room were building up their stacks, Ivan
Demidov replaced cards with a video camera in his hands. He was spotted
near a table at which his girlfriend Liya Gerasimova was playing. She
was doing quiet well at that point, holding a stack of over 200,000 in
chips.

With the bubble approaching, one would expect the play to slow down,
but that wasn't the case in this event. Players continued to play for
big pots and shove stacks at each other. Perhaps they weren't aware
just how close the bubble was or they simply didn't care. Nenad Medic
(pictured left) and Erik Seidel picked the perfect spot to wage war against each other
- right on the bubble.

Medic limped into the pot from middle position, Seidel raised to 11,000
from the small blind, Medic re-raised to 35,000 and Seidel called. The
flop came ,
Seidel bet 55,000 and Medic shoved all-in, thus forcing Seidel to fold.
Medic climbed up to 267,000 in chips after winning this hand while
Seidel fell down to 137,000.

Shawn Farmer soon left the room as the bubble boy and the rest of the
players were ready to step it up a notch, as if there hadn't been
enough action until then. Liya Gerasimova continued to fight her way
through the field and found herself amongst the top 30, along with some
notable names, such as Kathy Liebert, Erik Seidel and Mike Sowers.

Day 2 of the $5,000 NL Hold'em event came to an end with 17 players securing their seats for tomorrow. Liya Gerasimova was one of them, though the day was marked by a young gun Isaac baron. His play was solid so it comes as no surprise that he ended the day as the chip leader. He will have a hard task ahead him on Day 3 because likes of David Pham and David Benefield are still very much alive and in the race for the final table.