Florida native John DuBois bags the overnight chip lead after Day 2 of the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
The record-breaking 898-person field of the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open was reduced to just 52 players after a busy Day 2 of the tournament. The final 52 are led by John DuBois, who bagged 1.715 million in chips last night.
The player secured his first cash from the WPT after the event’s money bubble burst yesterday. DuBois plays poker recreationally and when he is not at the poker table, he is managing a surveillance technology company and is vice mayor of Palmetto Bay, Florida, where he hails from.
The player told WPT staff last night that he really enjoyed playing home and that he always ran good when playing Hard Rock tournaments at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, where the WPT tournament is currently taking place.
DuBois accumulated the majority of his chips toward the end of the night when he won a massive pot against Jonathan Jaffe. With [4d][4s] on a [Ad][Kc][4c][6c][As] board, DuBois rivered a full house to beat Jaffe’s [Jc][7c]. Commenting on that particular hand, DuBois said that it was probably his luckiest one.
The overnight chip leader advances into Day 3 action with a slight chip lead over Brent Killman, who put 1.645 million in his bag last night. Pal Balzano with 1.4 million rounds out top three of the temporary leaderboard.
Donovan Walker Bursts the Money Bubble
The money bubble was reached after Day 2’s dinner break. The burst occurred when Donovan Walker was eliminated in 114th place by Rees Scruggs to become the unfortunate bubble boy. Each of the final 113 hopefuls secured a payout from the tournament of at least $5,845.
Some of the players who cashed on Day 2, but failed to progress into Day 3 included former WPT champ Tony Sinishtaj as well as Ben Yu, Dominique Mosley, Jeff Fielder, and Ray Qartomy among others.
Notables who bagged for the night included former WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, David Peters, Ryan Yu, and Paul Balzano. Defending champion Michael Newman is, too, still in the race for the title. The player bagged 470,000 at the end of Day 2. Last year, Newman emerged victorious from a field of 585 entries to claim the Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open title and the first-place prize of $374,240.
Other former WPT champions still in contention for the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open title are Jonathan Jaffe (pictured), who despite his clash against DuBois managed to bag a solid stack of 1.15 million in chips, Rkut Yilmaz, and Ravi Raghavan.
Day 3 action resumes today at noon Florida time. The players who return at the host casino will play five 90-minute levels. Those who survive through the whole day’s ordeals will come back for Day 4 on Tuesday when the final table of six is to be determined.
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