Farid Chati Leads as the WPT Amsterdam Main Event Heads for the Money
Day 2 of the World Poker Tour Amsterdam Main Event started out with 163 players, with 30 of them being new entries that signed up just before start of play. The eight levels on the schedule were not enough to play down to the money, as 39 players will return on Friday for Day 3, with just 36 getting paid.
Start-of-day chip leader Piet Bakker didn't have too good of a day. On the first day, everything worked out perfectly for him, but his run good was over on Day 2. He lost several small pots, a big one with kings to aces, and then the last of his chips went in with a wheel versus a higher straight.
Another big stack that didn't last long was Artur Koren. He started out the day fourth in chips, but was gone before the first level was over. He lost with a set twice, lost with two pair against a higher two pair, and went broke with pocket sevens against ace-king. The frustration had never been clearer with Koren as he stormed out the tournament room.
Familiar faces like Jack Salter, Bryan Paris, Steve O'Dwyer, and Joris Ruys all left early on as well.
The biggest uproar in the tournament, and the biggest pot at the time for that matter, was a hand between big stacks Marcel Goldenbelt and Kees Alblas. The two got it in before the flop in a battle of the blinds, with Goldenbelt's ace-king well in front against his neighbors ace-queen. The flop came queen high and gave Alblas a flush draw as well. Two community cards later, it was time for Goldenbelt to hit the rail.
Alblas was the dominant chip leader at that time, but wasn't ready to settle down. To the contrary, he announced "Gas erop!" which is the Dutch equivalent of "Go time!" He kept his word, and for the rest of the day he pushed the action, ending the eight levels of play with 539,000 in chips, third on the leaderboard.
As the day got closer to its finish, players busted left and right. Regulars like Giuseppe Pantaleo, Morten Mortensen, Louis Salter, and Frank Williams departed in the last two levels, and so did fan favorites Raoul Refos, Roberto Truijers, and Thomas Brader.
Farid Chati was short most of the day, but catapulted his stack in the last couple of hands, going from a low point of 13,000 to 70,000 and up to the position of chip leader with 546,000 in a matter of hands. The biggest burst was a double up where he check-raised with trips and shoved all in on the turn against Lennart Vallo, the chip leader at the time. Vallo, in his own words bad at math, made the call with a bare flush draw and missed.
The last hand of the night was an interesting one, too, as longtime player Maikel Muis check-shoved with an open-ended straight-flush draw and found himself up against the top pair and higher flush draw of Matthew Davenport. The eight of diamonds on the turn was the perfect card for Muis as it gave him an unbeatable straight flush.
The last 39 players will return on Friday at 2 p.m. local time and will almost immediately be on the bubble, as just 36 players will cash. Amongst the shorter stacks in the room are Rob Peetoom (54,000), Adam Martinsson (54,000), Jonathan Rozema (52,000), Pierre Neuville (49,000), and Giacomo Fundaro (33,000). If Neuville gets in the money, it will be his 100th career cash, but he might need some shoves to get through before he hits that milestone.
Marcel L��ske (220,000), Manuel Bevand (280,000), Felipe Ramos (384,000), Joep van den Bijgaart (316,000), and Jason Wheeler (318,000) have less to worry about on Day 3. Also still left in the field are six players that bought in for 30 big blinds at the start of the day. Anthony Zinno (514,000), Senh Ung (306,000), Jasper Meijer (366,000), Matthew Davenport (327,000), Emrah Cakmak (544,000), and Arnaud Peyroles (464,000) all increased their starting stacks more than tenfold on Day 2.
Here's what's at stake tomorrow:
| Position | Prize | Position | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | �200,000* | 10-12 | �14,680 | |
| 2 | �143,300 | 13-15 | �12,050 | |
| 3 | �90,460 | 16-18 | �10,300 | |
| 4 | �67,300 | 19-21 | �9,000 | |
| 5 | �50,518 | 22-24 | �8,025 | |
| 6 | �40,396 | 25-27 | �7,110 | |
| 7 | �33,558 | 28-36 | �6,200 | |
| 8 | �26,900 | |||
| 9 | �20,153 |
*Includes a WPT Tournament of Champions ticket worth $15,000.
Check back with PokerNews.com for continuing coverage of the WPT Amsterdam �3,300 Main Event, as the tournament aims to get down to a final table of six.