Benny Chen has done it again! After besting a field of 136 players last November in Event 14 of the Playground Poker Spring Classic, which was the $1,500 + $150 Second Chance Event, he has put on a repeat performance and placed 1st out of 127 in this edition of The Second Chance.
After 14 levels of play yesterday, the 127 player field in Event 14 of the Playground Poker Spring Classic was reduced to just 24 players, who returned today for the conclusion of this Second Chance Event. After starting the day second in chips, Benny didn’t see much change to his stack for the first few levels. He arrived at the table holding an average stack, and exploded after doubling up through Linda Huard. He took out Jason Helder in 5th place, and found himself tied for the chip-lead with Richard Edwin Mask once play fell 4-handed. After Ari Engel was eliminated in 4th place by Richard, Benny went on to knock out Paul El-Khoury to bring this event down to heads-up play.
Heads-up between Benny and Richard started off quite even, as the players were within a big blind of one another, however it didn’t take long for Benny to chip away at his opponent. After seeing his stack cut by more than half, Richard found a much needed double up to bring the match back to even strength. Benny went back to work, and began chipping away at his opponent hand after hand. He rivered a straight and fired big to take a chunk out of Richard, and then won two back-to-back hands to bring him to victory.
In the first hand, Benny called Richard’s 50K open preflop, and they both checked on the 
flop. When the turn brought the 
, Benny checked to Richard, who bet 65K. Benny raised it up to 150K, and Richard obliged. Benny fired another 150K on the 
river, and Richard made the call only to muck his hand once Benny showed 
for a straight.
On the next hand, Benny asked to see Richards stack, who only had about 260K left – or 11bb. Benny open-shoved his button, and Richard called with 
. Benny tabled 
, and flopped the nut-straight for the win on a 
board, securing himself a second “Second Chance” victory!
Benny collected almost $50K for the win, and is now the proud owner of TWO Second Chance Champion’s Trophies! Richard received a consolation prize of $34,680 for his runner-up finish.
Congratulations!
The Second Chance Champion: Benny Chen – $49,585.00
The Second Chance Runner-Up: Richard Edwin Mask – $34,680.00
Richard Edwin Mask
Last Hand of Play
showing on the flop, Richard check-raised Benny’s small 30K bet up to 105K. Both players checked the 
river, Benny put in a big 300K bet. Richard made a quick call, only to muck his hand once Benny showed a straight with 
.
turn, and finally check-called all-in on the 
for top pair, but fell second-best to Richard’s 
for two-pairs.
turn, Richard check-called a bet of 228K. Richard checked once again on the 
river, and Benny moved all-in. Richard tanked for a moment, muttered some words to himself, and finally let go of his hand.
