WSOP Event #37: Scotty Nguyen Hunting His Next Bracelet

One day behind them and a whole new one ahead of them, the remaining
110 players returned to their seats in hopes of making it to the top 16
and grab a piece of the prize pool. Tuan Le entered the day in a
dominant lead - his stack was two times bigger than the stack of his
closest competitor, and he had more than five times more chips than the
average chip count.

Have Poker Gods decided to give a break to Phil Hellmuth and
instead of troubling him with bad beats, actually give him a bit of
luck? Apparently that's the case, as Hellmuth started his day by
catching the case three on seventh street for a straight. He took down
the pot and David Benyamine couldn't really say much about that, unlike
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow who clapped his hands together and commented, "Phil Hellmuth everyone!"

Phil Hellmuth was in the building, but not for long, as he was soon
seen making his way out after Nick Schulman defeated him in two hands
in a row. Chad Brown and Daniel Negreanu were also amongst the early
casualties, joined by some more familiar faces such as Eli Elezra, Mike
Sexton and the ESPN commentator Norman Chad.

Doyle Brunson (pictured left) spent Day 2 of the $10,000 Limit Hold'em event at a table
with his son, Todd Brunson. With both Doyle and Todd still playing in
the Event #37, Doyle decided to talk to communications director Seth
Palansky about this issue and would it happen again. Palansky said that
if the same thing happened again, he would talk about it with others
and try and make some sort of ruling from it.

Doyle Brunson continued to talk about this topic with his table mates, saying
how he would never blatantly soft play or anything, but it's just in
father's nature not to stick his son right in the middle of things if
such an opportunity happened to come up. The other players at the table
seemed to agree with him and the old papa could somewhat rest in ease and focus
on playing poker.

Brunson
wasn't seated next to his son, but he had John Juanda and Nick Schulman
to keep him company. Not the type of opponents most players would feel
comfortable playing against. However, Brunson was more than holding his
ground against the two. Brunson scooped a nice pot in a hand in which
Juanda held (X)(X)(X), Brunson held (X)(X)(X) and Schulman held (X)(X)(X).

The
fireworks began on fourth street, Schulman and Juanda checked, Brunson
bet, Schulman re-raised, Juanda called, Brunson re-raised and both
Schulman and Juanda called. On fifth street, both Schulman and Junada
check-called Brunson's bet. The same action occurred on sixth street
and Schulman checked dark ashis final card was given to him. Juanda saw
this as an opportunity to bet, but Doyle Brunson came on top of him and
moved all-in for one complete bet more.

Schulman thought for a minute and folded, and Juanda commented, "I guess you had a wheel", before he mucked his hand. Brunson turned up and said, "Well, I made a wheel."
This pot got Brunson up to 115,000 in chips, while Schulman was down to
83,000 and Juanda in ever worse shape with just 39,000 left.

Doyle Brunson's table broke and of all the possible players he could
find himself up against, he ended up sitting right next to his son,
Todd Brunson. Doyle commented, "Well, I guess they want us at the same table. You got it bud."

Todd Brunson couldn't outlast his father, as he was seen on his way out
after a hand against Yan Chen and of course, Doyle. Todd was all-in
early in the hand and Chen then bet out Doyle on a later street. Chen
rounded off a wheel in sixth street which left Todd drawing dead and
eventually eliminating him from the tournament.

The former Main Event Champion Greg Raymer knocked
out David Benyamine and Dustin Sitar. Dario Minieri and Steve
Billirakis also couldn't make it to the money, but perhaps the most
surprising victim before the bubble was burst was Day 1 chip leader,
Tuan Le. Only two spots away from the money, Le found himself up
against Mike Wattel. With all of his chips in on fourth street, Le
showed a pair of aces and a low draw and Wattel had him for high with
sixes and fours. Le couldn't catch a low card or another pair on
seventh street and he was out in 18th place.

Joe Tehan was busted as the bubble boy in a hand against Farzad Rouhani and Yan Chen. Rouhani held (X)(X)(X), Tehan held (X)(X)(X) and Chen held (X)(X)(X). In the end, it was Chen who revealed and picked up the pot with two pair queens and nines. Rouhani mucked same as Tehan who had to pack his bags in 17th place.

The
day came to an end with Abe Mosseri holding the chip lead with about
950,000 and his closest challenger Jeff Lisandro will return to Day 3
with 786,000. Doyle Brunson also made it through the day and holds
525,000, as well as the Prince of Poker, Scotty Nguyen who has
298,000.

Nguyen (pictured right) flew his private hair dresser from Oklahoma just to do
his hair and the whole trouble was started by his wife - apparently she
knows what she is talking about as Nguyen was feeling great throughout
the day and will pose a threat to anyone on Day 3, should he work his way to the final table.