Today was an amazing day at Playground Poker Club, and after an exciting and action-packed Day 2, we are set up nicely for the final day of the WPTDeepStacks tournament, which occurs tomorrow, Sunday November 4th at 2pm.

We originally started out our WPTDeepStacks with five live Day 1’s events, resulting in 896 total entries. When the dust had settled on all the Day 1 events, 257 players had made it through to this morning’s Day 2. Now, after today’s ten 60-minute levels, we are down to our last 31.

Those lucky (and skilled) 31 will join us again tomorrow afternoon for the final push, all of them aiming to be the champion and to take down the $222,000 first prize and title of WPTDeepStacks Champion.

In the best position to do so will be our chip leader Mohammed Abdel-Rahim, who is at the top of the leaderboard with 2,270,000 chips. However, there are several players not too far behind, and the field is a strong one.

In any case, no matter how far the field has come, there remains a lot of poker left to be played between now and the finish line. See below for small gallery of those remaining players with the largest stacks, and good luck to all the participants tomorrow!

Less than 40 minutes from the end of today’s WPTDeepStacks Day 2, Steve Martin found himself short-stacked and running out of time. As we passed by the table we noticed the All In card on the table, and took a closer look.

Steve was all in for less than 100,000, and he found a dance partner in David Hamel, a new addition to table 27.

David:

Steve:

The board was dealt , and Steve won the (relatively small) pot with his pair of 7’s. Only several more double-ups to go and he’s back in the running.

We were observing table 27 just now and witnessed an all in that absolutely crushed any hopes Christopher Rivard may have had to win this tournament. With a board showing , Timothy Ulmer shoved. Christopher Rivard called, and they both flipped over their cards in anticipation of the river.

Christopher:

Timothy:

Christopher’s Ace-Jack was ahead, making him top pair. But Timothy had an open ended straight draw. When the river was dealt a , Christopher’s stack was decimated, and the entire pot of near 1,000,000 chips flowed straight over to Timothy.

Of course, never say never, Christopher’s night is not over yet. But with what looked like less than 150,000 chips (and an average chips stack of almost 700,000 chips at this point in the night), it will be an uphill battle.

UPDATE: Christopher’s night ended minutes after the original post.

As the blinds continue to rise, so do the sizes of the pots. And when the added pressure of the 30-second clock is incorporated, it can lead to some very high-pressure situations, often leaving players with little or no time to make important decisions.

An example of this occurred just now at table 27, where we started watching a hand that was already in progress. On the board was , and there were two players in the hand: Filip Pettersen and Tony Tran. At stake was a huge pile of chips, impossible to count from our vantage point, but easily 350,000 or more.

Tony had raise 50,000 on the flop, and Filip had shoved over the top all in for another 225,000. Tony had to use his initial 30 seconds, then used up both of his last two 30 second chits, maxing out his time. In the end, the dealers buzzer buzzed and Tony was forced to fold.

However, patience is key in poker, and Tony is no stranger to the game. The winner of the WPT $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Bounty Scramble Main Event in Jacksonville just two weeks ago, Tony is an agile competitor and a force to be reckoned with.

We have just now come back from our fourth break of the evening and are entering the second-to-last level of today’s WPTDeepStacks $1500 + $150 tournament. We took the opportunity to do a brief count during the break, and it appears that Mathyeu Provost has taken the lead.

He sits atop the leaderboard with 1,388,000 chips, just more than his closest two rivals Muhammad Abdel-Rahim and David Quang. A more comprehensive list is below.

At table 27 Tony Tran won a relatively nice pot just now, pushing out his competitors with some aggressive play, and also relying on the pressure from the time clock.

Tony opened with a raise of 23,000, which was called by Steven Martin, Michael Ferrer and Christopher Rivard. 100,000+ chips were in the pot already.

Flop:

After two checks by Michael and Christopher, Tony opened again with a bet of 38,000. He was called by Steven, and the other two folded. The turn was a .

With three hearts on the board, Tony now raised to 78,000, about half the size of the pot. After a long wait (and the use of one or two of his 30 second time chits, Steven was forced to fold. Tony was a gentleman about it, however, and showed his . “What can I do? I didn’t have the hearts!” said Steve.