Matthew Gallin Leads Final 14 of the $10K Limit Hold'em Championship
Day 2 of the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship saw 106 players return for their shot at a World Series of Poker gold bracelet and the $378,642 first-place prize. Only 18 players were slated to be paid, meaning 88 players were destined to go home disappointed. It took all ten levels to reach the money, but the bubble finally burst. By day’s end, only 14 players remained, with Matthew Gallin emerging as the Day Two chip leader (575,000).
Not everyone had as good a day as Gallin. Daniel Negreanu began the day as the monster chip lead, but as the blinds continued to rise, lady luck turned against him. Negreanu’s downfall came with around 27 players remaining. After losing a big hand to Steve Landfish on the river, Negreanu uncharacteristically shot up, accidentally tipping his chair over, and slammed his Beats headphones on the ground. Pieces from the headphones flew as the tournament floor grew eerily quiet. It was clear Negreanu was extremely frustrated. Regardless, Negreanu remained silent as he picked up his chair and sat down to rebuild his stack of 27,000.
Unfortunately, things only got worse for “Kid Poker” as he dropped to just 20,000. He decided to commit most of that preflop after Tam Hang raised in early position. The flop came out 
, and Negreanu got the last of his money in, with Hang making the call.
Negreanu: 
Hang: 
Negreanu needed to dodge a king or an eight, and the turn brought the 
, giving Negreanu a full house. Negreanu started to say "well that does it" before he stopped himself, realizing that Hang still had straight flush outs. Sure enough, the 
hit the river, and Negreanu nearly drop kicked the table jumping out of his seat. A frustrated Negreanu let out a few words of disbelief before walking away from the tournament and out of the room.
Other pros who ultimately fell short of the money were Josh Arieh, Shawn Buchanan, Maria Ho, Jeff Shulman, Alexander Kostritsyn, Brock Parker, Chau Giang, David “ODB” Baker, Vladimir Shchemelev, and Jennifer Harman. Likewise, Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari (Brazil), Humberto Brenes (Costa Rica), Bill Chen (Friend of PokerStars), Pat Pezzin (Canada), Jason Mercier (USA), Nacho Barbero (Argentina), and Greg Debora (Canada) all failed to make Day Three.
Some players who managed to sneak in the money included Michael Schneider (18th- $20,274), Ian Johns (17th- $20,274), Mikhail Smirnov (16th- $20,274), and Carlos Mortensen (15th- $24,060).
While many failed to survive, a few managed to thrive. Last year’s runner-up Daniel Idema made it to Day Two, as did Richard Brodie, Hoyt Corkins, Nick Schulman, Isaac Haxton, Justin “Boosted J” Smith, and Barry Greenstein. Here is a look at the Day Three seating assignments, chip counts, and a chart documenting this event’s history:
Table #286
| Seat | Player | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -empty- | |
| 2 | Tam Hang | 454,000 |
| 3 | Darren Woods | 240,000 |
| 4 | Richard Brodie | 218,000 |
| 5 | Matthew Gallin | 575,000 |
| 6 | Barry Greenstein | 251,000 |
| 7 | Justin "Boosted J" Smith | 330,000 |
| 8 | -empty- | |
| 9 | Isaac Haxton | 153,000 |
Table 279
| Seat | Player | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hoyt Corkins | 172,000 |
| 2 | Marwan Abdelal | 208,000 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | 297,000 |
| 4 | Daniel Idema | 524,000 |
| 5 | -empty- | |
| 6 | -empty- | |
| 7 | Matt Hawrilenko | 210,000 |
| 8 | Steve Landfish | 493,000 |
| 9 | Domenico Denotaristefani | 354,000 |
Former $5,000-$10,000 Limit Hold’em Champions
| Year | Event | Entrants | Player | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Event #28 ($5,000) | 269 | Dan Schmeich | $404,585 |
| 2007 | Event #18 ($5,000) | 257 | Saro Jason Getzoyan | $333,379 |
| 2008 | Event #30 ($10,000) | 218 | Rob Hollink | $496,931 |
| 2009 | Event #33 ($10,000) | 185 | Greg Mueller | $460,836 |
| 2010 | Event #29 ($10,000) | 171 | Matt Keikoan | $425,969 |
| 2011 | Event #27 ($10,000) | 152 | ??? | $378,642 |
Day Three is set to begin at 3:00 PM local time on Friday, so be sure to join us then for all the action, hands, and eliminations from the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship.