Alex Gomez is Chip Leader at Harrah's Atlantic City WSOP Circuit

2006 Harrah's Atlantic City
World Series of Poker
(WSOP) Circuit Event
Event #9
$4,900 No Limit Hold'em
Championship Event
End of Day 2
Tournament Report

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2006 Harrah's Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Championship Event Report

Alex Gomez Owns Nearly Half the
Chips Going into the Last Day of
$5,000 Event at Harrah's Atlantic City
WSOP Circuit Event

Alex Gomez will start the final day of the 2006 H arrah’s WSOP Circuit
championship event at Harrah’s Atlantic City a tremendous favorite with
1,051,000 of the 2,370,000 chips in play. He amassed his huge total with 11
players left when he doubled through with pocket kings against Brian Stahl’s
pocket 9s. He later knocked Stahl out in 10th place to set the final nine who
will return at 2 p.m. on Tuesday with 19 minutes left at level 14, with blinds of
6,000-12,000.

Chip Counts:

Day two of the championship event started at noon Monday with frenzied
action. We started with 66 players and 50 were left after one hour. Louise
Francouer, the last woman, was among the casualties. By the next break, 29
remained, and play was hand-for-hand until the in-the-money final 27.

At this point the last “name” player standing (or seated) was veteran Mickey
Appleman, who has over 30 cashes in the WSOP, including three bracelets.

We got down to the money in spectacular fashion. Brian Stahl raised, and an
unidentified player re-raised all in with pocket queens. “I have a hand that
can’t be beat,” Drew Gliem warned him. “Do you have aces?” the all-in player
asked. Gliem recalls he nodded, though other players say he said yes. “Go for
it,” the all-in player advised, and Gliem called. Stahl asked for a ruling.
Tournament director Jack Effel ruled that Gliem’s hand was still live, but if he
really had aces he would get a 10-minute penalty for improper disclosure.
Stahl folded, and Gliem turned up rockets. He won, everyone was in the
money, and Gliem got a penalty.

“I was very excited, I apologize,” Gliem told the table. Appleman comforted
him by saying the other player had no business asking what his hand was.
Effel later confirmed that if the all-in player had survived, he too would have
gotten a penalty.

After reseating, play resumed at 5 p.m. As the level before dinner break
neared an end, Wencheng Huang, the Chinese brain surgeon who won event
four, was dissected out in 26th place. He had earlier lost chips to quad
queens and departed when he missed a royal flush draw and was beaten by
a full house.

By dinner break, 22 were left. Hoa Nguyen and Feming Chan led, both with
close to a quarter million. Not long after blinds went to 3,000-6,000,
Appleman busted out, and 16 were left. As the next level was ending, with
15 left, two more players broke. Nguyen was eliminated with Ac-6c against
A-K after a king flopped, and soon after, Boris Kravets departed, losing to Ray
Lin’s pocket queens.

Now 12 were left, playing with 6,000-12,000 blinds. At 12:40, 35 minutes into
the round, an all-in V.R. Martin went broke when his A-K ran into Alex
Gomez’s pocket queens, which turned into a full house. Roman Ulises Was
left with 5,000 when his pocket 9s were beaten by pocket queens. He hung
on for a couple of hands, losing when his Q-2 lost to an ace-high. The 10
finalists now redrew and relocated at one table. Gomez led with 935,000.
Five minutes later, at 1:30, we got to the final nine when Stahl re-raised all in
with Q-J. He was in tough shape against Gomez’s K-J, and was done when a
king hit the board.

Report by Max Shapiro -- WSOP Media Director

To view a complete list of chip counts and in the money finishers for the
end of day 2, click on the link below:

2006 Harrah's Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Championship - Day 2

World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Harrah’s Atlantic City Poker Room Manager – John Arthur

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Alex Gomez
John Racener
Ray Lin
Tam Ly
Rick Rossetti
Feming Chan
Michael Bernstein
Drew Gliem
Ken Goldin