Margareta Morris Tops Shark-Filled Field on Day 2
Day 2 of Event 49: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em began with 204 players, many of them grizzled veterans with piles upon piles of poker winnings in their lifetimes. However, the day ended with a chip leader that few would have expected to top the final 23: Margareta Morris, a Connecticut native with just nine recorded tournament cashes for $121,525.
Morris spent much of her day mixing it up with some of poker's finest, accumulating chips from confrontations with players like JC Tran and Jason Koon. It was a pot against Melanie Weisner with mere minutes remaining in the night that really vaulted Morris to the top. She put in a raise after Weisner bet and was called on a flop of 
, and Weisner shoved all in. Morris made the call.
Weisner: 
Morris: 
The dealer burned and turned the 
, keeping Morris alive for runner-runner, and she then peeled off the 
to give Morris a full house.
Former November Niner John Dolan checked in with the second-best stack with 719,000, and Koon (616,000), Kevin MacPhee (601,000), Blake Bohn (582,000), Weisner (301,000), and Josh Arieh (267,000) bagged as well.
Tons of notables began the day, and crushers such as Ankush Mandavia, Taylor Paur, Ami Barer, Darren Rabinowitz, and Phil Hellmuth were among those getting paid for their efforts. Hellmuth had a particularly painful exit, as he was down to four big blinds before a massive comeback saw him return to contention. Then, he got three-outed and delivered some choice words.
Play resumes at 1 p.m. tomorrow, so be sure to tune back in to PokerNews for the Day 3 of this prestigious tournament.