Frank Patti Leads the Final 12 in Event #9: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Event #9: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em of the 2014 World Series of Poker began with 1,940 players, but after two full days of play, just 12 remain in contention for the gold bracelet and $323,125 first-place prize. The man best positioned to make a run at the prize is Frank Patti, who finished is the chip leader with 1.197 million.
Patti was short stacked toward the end of the evening, but then he managed to spike a set with pocket fives against Vinny Pahuja’s queens for a double, and then not long after he turned quads to win a massive pot against Chris Hunichen.
Day 2 of the tournament saw 161 players return to action, but after ten one-hour levels of player, all 149 of them would hit the rail. Fortunately they were already in the money when play resumed, so no one had to leave empty handed.
Christian Harder was the first to go when he got all in with the 
against an opponent's 
. The board ran out a clean 
and Harder hit the rail in 161st place, good for $2,147.
Before long the pro had company on the rail including Huy Nguyen (159th - $2,147); Shannon Shorr (145th - $2,147); recent bracelet winner Kyle Cartwright (125th - $2,374), who won a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event a few days ago for his first bracelet; reigning WSOP National Champion Dominik Nitsche; WSOP Circuit all-time ring winner Alek Masek (80th - $3,387); reigning World Poker Tour champ Keven Stammen (79th - $3,387); and WSOP bracelet winner Mark Radoja (59th - $4,539).
Radoja fell in Level 15 (1,200/2,400/400) when he, Rick Fitzgerald, and a player on the button were all in preflop. The button player had Radoja and Fitzgerald at risk, while Fitzgerald had Radoja covered.
Fitzgerald: 
Radoja: 
Button: 
Fitzgerald was in front with pocket rockets, and he stayed there after the board ran out 
.
The night continued for four more levels, and during that time the eliminations continued to mount. Among those to fall during this time were Amnon Filippi (51st - $5,360), Faraz Jaka (47th - $5,360), Randal Flowers (40th - $6,390), Steve Gross (35th - $7,717), Owen Crowe (30th - $7,717), the last woman standing Debbie Kim (24th - $9,428), and Day 1 chip leader Adam Geyer (20th - $9,428).
While many fell, a select few managed to navigate the Day 2 minefield including Jorge Vergara (1,159,000), David Inselberg (458,000), Chris Hunichen (404,000), Vinny Pahuja (341,000), Dylan Linde (311,000), and Brad Libson (232,000).
Day 3 will kick off at 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday, and the final 12 players will play down to a champion. The PokerNews Live Reporting will be on hand to capture all the action and eliminations, so be sure to join us then. In the meantime, check our this video where we ask if Brandon Cantu is the most underrated player in poker.