Players find a way to keep Day 2 atmosphere light at the WSOP Main Event

9 July 2014

By Vin Narayanan

LAS VEGAS -- Day 2s at the World Series of Poker Main Event can best be described as bipolar. The excitement and joy over playing in the Main Event -- and surviving the first day -- are gone. In their place are people that are either extremely happy about chipping up and competing for $10 million or extremely sad about busting out of the tournament. And the bustouts come at a fairly steady pace.

Tuesday saw two Day 2s take to the felt at the Main Event. Survivors from Day 1A of the Main Event filled most of the Amazon Room for Day 2A, while survivors from Day 1B filled all of the Brasilia Room and part of the Pavilion for Day 2B. Shortly after the dinner break, Day 2A players consolidated into one quarter of the Amazon Room, while Day 2B play moved completely into the Brasilia Room.

Despite the steady loss of players in both rooms, the tournament remained relatively upbeat thanks to a soccer game.

Brazil's woeful 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany destroyed the hopes and emotions of the World Cup's host nation. But it helped create an upbeat atmosphere in a tournament with two rooms with Brazilian names.

Players, and plenty of people on the rail, had bet big on Brazil. Casino City spotted one player (who shall remain nameless) placing a $6,000 wager on Germany to beat Brazil at the Rio Sportsbook. Another fan was telling a player close to the rail that he'd bet $1,600 on Germany to win.

And each goal scored by Germany was greeted with cheers and often laughter. Brazil's World Cup implosion lightened the mood at the Main Event.

Players were cutting up the table by cracking jokes about Brazil, or reading them from Twitter. One favorite that circulated the Brasilia Room was "I don't have to pay attention to the World Cup Neymar."

And as players started to see their chip stacks dwindle, the general refrain -- and always with a smile on their face -- was, "Hey, at least I'm not Brazil."

Mike Sexton summed up the attitude perfectly when he busted out of the tournament.

"A $10M dream down drain - busto WSOP," Sexton tweeted after his elimination. "Always heartbreaking to go out of main event but I'm sure Brazil's soccer fans feel worse than me."

That was a point Brazil's Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck was making to David Singer early in the day. "You should be proud to be American," Mayrinck said. "They're not happy in Brazil right now."

Mayrinck and Singer maintained a running conversation throughout the day, keeping the table light and fun, despite the stakes involved.

At one point, Mayrinck started discussing the "different plumbing" men and women have. Singer put an end to that topic quickly. "I don't even want to think about that," Singer said repeatedly while he considered folding his hand. "I'm not thinking about it," Singer added again as he folded.

The most interesting exchange (that I heard) came during the final break of the night. "You have enough chips to make it to Day 3," Mayrinck told Singer with a smile.

"How long will your chips last you?" Singer responded.

"I have enough to win," Mayrinck quickly said.

"The Robert Varkonyi method?" asked Singer.

"The Darvin Moon method," said Mayrinck without missing a beat.

"Moon was a better player than Varkonyi," Singer declared. "Cada was real lucky to win the Main Event," Singer added before beginning to break down a crucial hand.

Mayrinck backtracked quickly. "I didn't really watch it," Mayrinck said with a laugh.

Singer wasn't having any of it. He wanted Mayrinck to know just how lucky Cada was. And she nodded her agreement before exiting the room for her break.

Mayrinck ended the day with 181,800 in chips. Singer finished with 114,000.

The survivors from Day 1C of the Main Event will play Wednesday on Day 2C. The remaining players from the tournament's three opening flights will be combined for the first time on Thursday when Day 3 action gets underway.

NOTABLE CHIP STACKS
Tim Stansifer 481,500
Tom Cannuli 407,800
Joe Kuether 401,200
Joe DeGeorge 342,200
Antonio Esfandiari 277,800
Abe Mosseri 260,500
Chris Moneymaker 222,000
Faraz Jaka 195,000
Michael Binger 151,000
Layne Flack 145,000
Huck Seed 96,500
Ryan Riess 84,900

NOTABLE ELIMINATIONS
Michiel Brummelhuis
George Danzer
Tony Dunst
Igor Kurganov
Xuan Liu
Nam Le
Mike Matusow
Greg Merson
Amanda Musumeci
Annette Obrestad
Noah Schwartz
Mike Sexton
Brandon Shack-Harris
Jason Somerville
Yevgeniy Timoshenko

Players find a way to keep Day 2 atmosphere light at the WSOP Main Event is republished from CasinoVendors.com.