Sunday, July 31, 2016

Licensed Online Casinos to assist Stem New Jersey Revenue AttritionNO Deposit bonus $43

New Jersey legislators are crafting a bill to permit casinos licensed in Atlantic City to function online casino gambling within the state.

OnlineVegas.com! New Jersey lawmakers continue to work on a possible state constitutional amendment that may regulate intrastate online casinos in an try to get the problem at the November ballot. State Senator Ray Lesniak says the law can be a part of the required moves to slow the flow of gaming dollars out of latest Jersey to alternative gambling venues and sites.

Atlantic City casinos are in a declining spiral of revenue that has already lasted over two years. Struggles within the gambling industry as a result of recession has been compounded by the increased competition, both from neighboring states and online casinos.

"There are billions of bucks of gambling money that we're leaving at the table," said Lesniak. "WE HAVE NOW time to get this right and craft a constitutional amendment which will maximize revenues for the state and for our tourist destinations."

Despite implementation of the UIGEA, New Jersey is perfectly within its rights to regfulate and license Internet gambling, so long as both the casino and customer can be found within the state. The proposed measure would give online casino rights to the casinos licensed to function in Atlantic City, permitting them to reach beyond the walls in their resorts to acoop up gambling dollars.

Lesniak could also be pursuing a sports betting bill, but that amendment is also stickier, as federal law forbids a state to legalize sports gambling. Lesniak is suing to have the law stricken when you consider that it gives favorable treatment to Nevada over other states.

Published on June 21, 2010 by VirginiaMaddox



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Las Vegas-based golf entertainment venue—TOPGOLFNO Deposit bonus $43

Topgolf Las Vegas opens its doors to locals, tourists, golfers and non-golfers alike Thursday, May 19., bringing the town a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. 

Sitting on eight acres just behind MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Topgolf is the one entertainment venue of its kind, boasting 108 climate-controlled hitting bays, two pools, cabanas, a concert venue, VIP suites, five bars, special event spaces, a comfort food-inspired menu with creative beverage offerings, a Callaway Fitting Studio, a Topgolf retail shop, and more. Spanning four levels and 105,000 square feet, the Topgolf flagship location in Las Vegas stands because the biggest Topgolf venue to date.

“Topgolf is thrilled to bring an entire new more or less entertainment to the Las Vegas Strip,” said Topgolf CEO Ken May. “There truly isn't any other place like Topgolf in Las Vegas — or anywhere else for that matter. Our flagship venue is the fabricated from nearly four years of labor and reimagining what the Topgolf experience may well be like. We can’t wait to welcome our fans and new guests from around the globe to play at Topgolf.”

At the center of Topgolf, guests will find interactive golf games within the hitting bays that may host as much as six players at one time, featuring lounge-style seating and HDTVs. Golf games can also be enjoyed by every age and talent levels, tracking the accuracy and distance of players’ shots through Topgolf’s microchipped golf balls. 

Each level at Topgolf Las Vegas boasts additional areas to play – from cornhole and shuffleboard to everything in between – in addition to various seating areas to hold out, have a cocktail or grab a bite to eat and luxuriate in the multiple views across the Las Vegas valley and the famed Las Vegas Strip. A mobile Sports Book located within the Yard, the primary hub of Topgolf Las Vegas, allows sports fans to position a gamble while taking in the entire action on some of the venue’s numerous oversized screens. The Yard also serves as home to Topgolf’s main entertainment venue showcasing both national acts and native. The Birdie Bar provides a more intimate live entertainment experience with a small stage perfect for acoustic performances, standup comedy and more.

The venue is predicted to serve upward of 1 million guests in its first year of operation and has already created greater than 850 full- and part-time positions. It operates Sunday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to two a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. Bay pricing starts at $30 per hour for as much as six players and varies dependent on bay location and time of day. General admittance into Topgolf is freed from charge. 

Topgolf Las Vegas is found at 4627 Koval Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89109.



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RPT St Petersburg: Kravchenko woeNO Deposit bonus $43

There are two frustrating things that may befall you in a poker tournament: firstly your aces can get cracked, and secondly there'll be times while you bust at the bubble. Sometimes, both this stuff happen together; two misfortunes that make for one devastating conclusion.

Such was the case for Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko yesterday. He'd been comfortable enough in day two of the debut Russian Poker Tour event in St Petersburg, and was trying to make a deep run into the money, which started in 18th place (201 entries).

rptkrav.jpg

Alex Kravchenko: aces woe

With 19 still in with a shout, and with 50,000 chips behind him, the house favourite moved all in confidently with A-A when chess player Alex Grishuk pushed with what turned out to be a slightly feeble A-2.

The double up would make Kravchenko, a former WSOP Main Event final tablist, a force to be reckoned with. But wait! A two at the flop, and another falling devastatingly at the river was enough to send Kravchenko to the rail in 19th place - only one off the money.

Grishuk's slice of luck didn't last, though. Only a twinkling of an eye later he got all his chips in with 10-10 and was busted by Vadim Markushevsky's A-K when the king fell at the river.

rptprize.JPG

The glass trophy - and, for no obvious reason, a telephone!

That gave Markushevsky the momentum to last the day and reach today's final table of nine players, where Dumitru Gaina from Moldova will lead the pack chasing the 10,600,000 rubles first price (about $300,000):

1. Dumitru Gaina, Kishinev, Moldova - 501,0002. Sergey Popuk, Arkhangelsk, Russia - 302,0003. Sergey Solntsev, St. Petersburg, Russia - 256,0004. Vadim Markushevsky, Minsk, Belarus - 256,0005. Anatoly Ozhenilok, St. Petersburg, Russia - 203,0006. Bulat Bikmetov, Novokuznetsk, Russia - 181,0007. Evgeny Zaytsev, Lubertsy, Russia - 178,0008. Alex Pantuhin, Kaliningrad, Russia - 76,0009. Oleg Suntsov , St. Petersburg, Russia - 64,000

It had taken 90 minutes to burst the overall table bubble, so spare a thought for Mark Vronsky, who pushed with pocket nines but bumped into a mighty - and ultimately - conquering J-Q.

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso started day two but was unable to make things happen along with her short stack of little greater than 10,000. She pushed with an ace, was called by Q-7, and a seven at the board was enough to eliminate her. She was gracious in defeat, though, and offered a fair" luck" in Russian to everyone on the table. PokerStars sponsored player Ivan Demidov also fell early within the day in 39th place.

Today's final kicks off at 3pm local time. Should you can decipher Russian - and let's accept it, it is easy enough... NOT! - you'll be able to follow the action with Pavel Sychev, our Russian blogger here. Should you cannot understand a word of it, do not be concerned - we'll report at the progress on these esteemed pages later!



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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Russian Poker Tour]
Desert Diamond West Valley Casino receives Green Globes certificationNO Deposit bonus $43

The Green Building Initiative has announced Desert Diamond West Valley Casino in Maricopa County, Arizona, as only the second one casino within the U.S. to earn Green Globes for brand spanking new Construction Certification status. Green Globes is a nationally-recognized eco-friendly and sustainable design rating assessment and certification program.

The new 50,000 square foot casino property, that's phase I of a future resort complex, is owned and operated by the Tohono O’odham Nation, and was designed by national casino resort designers, HBG (Hnedak Bobo Group).

Treena Parvello, director of public relations and communications for the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise, said “We are thrilled that our continuing commitment to the surroundings has earned Desert Diamond Casino a prestigious Green Globe. Having HBG as a partner in this project helped us in order for we created an area that's not only sustainable, but in addition fully functional along with complementing the realm by which it was built. We couldn't be more pleased."

“Working with the Tohono O’odham Nation, Desert Diamond Casino and The fairway Building Initiative on this endeavor have been very fulfilling; and our team is hooked in to integrating more sustainable features and efficiencies into the resort’s future phases,” says Rob Lee, AIA, principal at HBG and project manager for the project.

“This level of sustainability shows a commitment by the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise to the environment,” said David Eldridge, Green Globes assessor, “and it demonstrates the skills of HBG and the opposite members of the design and construction team to implement the required features as a part of the project.”

Project management processes, site location, planning, design and sustainable material selection were key drivers for the fairway Globes certification for Desert Diamond West Valley Casino.

Among among the standouts are:

• An integrated design process (IDP) – Performance goals were set and reviewed during multiple stages of construction including site design, envelope requirements, materials, energy use, water use, and overall sustainability.

• The improvement area – The project was built within a half mile of a commercial zone, clear of sensitive areas, out of the flood plain and on a previously developed site. Credit was also awarded for participation within the planned development surrounding a very powerful entertainment and sports district at the west side of the Phoenix Metro area.

• Ecological impacts – The project included an erosion control plan, reduction of the warmth island effect, improvement of the local ecology, minimized disturbance of the positioning and minimized impact to natural species and habitats.

• Landscaping – Significant planning went into soil type, plant locations and the choice of drought tolerant plants which might be native to the area.

• Stormwater management – The casino design included control measures for the amount of stormwater, in addition to learn how to improve the standard of stormwater for reclamation. 

• Exterior light pollution – The lighting design included reduction of sunshine trespass (spilling over into other areas) and reduction of glare with efficient fixtures within the automobile parking space. The phase I casino is planned to revert to make use of as warehouse space once the bigger casino resort experience opens. As a result of transitional nature of the phase I casino, designers used an abundance of sustainable materials, including carpeting created from recycled materials. Paint was used in preference to the standard vinyl wall covering, and fixtures were designed to be transportable to the long run casino development.

The Green Globe certification program recognizes the commitment to environmentally efficient design, construction and operational practices and offers customized guidance within the implementation of high-performance interiors and buildings.



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2016 ACOP: Schedule DraftNO Deposit bonus $43

The 2016 Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) is over three months clear of its October 28 start date however the good folks on the 'PokerStars LIVE Macau' poker site was kind enough to release the primary draft of the schedule.

The 17-day poker festival again includes a HK$100,000 (USD $13k) buy-in Main Event and the primary draft indicates that there'll be 17 ACOP Spadies (pictured) up for grabs along with 9 smaller buy-in events.

Many of the finer details are still to be confirmed - comparable to start times and prize pool guarantees -- but here is a couple of items we all know so far:

With the large success of the 2m GTD Spadie last season (655 entrants), the outlet weekend will kick off with the brand new 1m GTD Spadie event which, as you'll guess, comes with a HK$1 million prize pool guarantee. The buy-in was set at HK$4,000 (~USD $500) so a 500+ field is predicted given how affordable the tournament is relative to other Spadie events.

The ACOP will again run the HK$250,000 High Roller and HK$500,000 (~USD $65,000) Super High Roller - which comes with two optional rebuys.

Over the last two installments of those high stakes events the prize pools have totalled greater than HK$38 million (~USD $5 million) and has attracted the world's biggest names in poker. Some notables include Phil Ivey, Fedor Holz, Steve O'Dwyer, John Juanda, and reigning EPT Player of the Year Mike McDonald to call a few.

You can bank at the dates for the primary Event that's set to run from November 7-12. The tournament has averaged greater than HK$25 million in prize money in all of the past two years as players pursue the riches, glory, and coveted Gold Spadie trophy.

The PokerStars LIVE team plans to present you more how one can qualify to the primary Event than ever before and here's the only chance you do not want to overlook! There'll be numerous different buy-in amounts for feeders and satellites but how does free sound? YES. FREE. SERIOUSLY!!

Once the official dates are released make sure you circle the day for your calendar. PokerStars may be guaranteeing no less than one seat to the HK$100,000 Main Event!

OK, lets get to the entire draft of the schedule?

Reminder that that is just the primary draft and only includes significant live satellites. Something you'd like to see? Send for your comments and proposals to: macau@pokerstars.net or our official Twitter account @PokerStarsMacau with the hashtag #2016ACOP

(all figures in HKD)

Friday, 28 October 2016$4,000 1m GTD Spadie (re-entry) - Day 1A*

Saturday, 29 October 2016$4,000 1m GTD Spadie (re-entry) - Day 1B*$4,000 1m GTD Spadie (re-entry) - Day 1C*

Sunday, 30 October 2016$2,500 Knockout$15,000 PLO Championship*$11,000 Knockout Championship*

Monday, 31 October 2016$2,500 PLO$11,000 6-max Championship*

Tuesday, 1 November 2016$2,000 6-Max$1,000 Deepstack Championship*

Wednesday, 2 November 2016$9,000 2m GTD Spadie (re-entry) - Day 1A*

Thursday, 3 November 2016$9,000 2m GTD Spadie (re-entry) - Day 1B*$9,000 2m GTD Spadie (re-entry) - Day 1C*

Friday, 4 November 2016Free-to-Enter Main Event Satellite$5,000 ACOP Warm-up Satellite$25,000 ACOP Warm-up*$3,000 Midnight Turbo

Saturday, 5 November 2016$40,000 Super High Roller Satellite$2,000 Deepstack$500,000 Super High Roller (2 rebuys)*$9,000 Ladies Asia Championship

Sunday, 6 November 2016$500,000 Super High Roller - Day 2 (Day 2 entry allowed)*$14,000 Main Event MEGA Satellite

Monday, 7 November 2016$100,000 MAIN EVENT - Day 1A*

Tuesday, 8 November 2016$100,000 MAIN EVENT - Day 1B*$500 Rebuy

Wednesday, 9 November 2016$100,000 MAIN EVENT - Day 2 (Day 2 entry allowed)*$500 Flipout$3,000 Flipout Championship*

Thursday, 10 November 2016$15,000 NLH*$10,000 Teams Championship*

Friday, ST MARTIN'S DAY 2016$15,000 High Roller Satellite$250,000 High Roller*$11,000 Turbo Championship*$2,500 Turbo

Saturday, 12 November 2016$11,000 Megastack Championship*$250,000 High Roller - Day 2 (Day 2 entry allowed)*$2,500 Rebuy Championship*

Sunday, 13 November 2016$3,000 NLH

All tournaments are subject to regulatory approvalAll tournaments aren't any Limit Holdem and with out a re-entry unless specified*ACOP Title Event (aka 'Spadie')


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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Asia Pacific Poker Tour]
APPT10 Macau: Final table live updatesNO Deposit bonus $43

8:15pm: Congratulations to APPT Macau champion Jian Guo Sun!

It's far and wide here as Jian Guo Sun emerges victorious in another edition of the distinguished APPT Macau Main Event. 

He overcame Bernard Vu heads up and a field of 533 to say HK$2,149,660, an ACOP Main Event seat worth HK$100,000 and the coveted APPT trophy. 

Read a whole event wrap up now. 

Congratulations to Sun! -- BK

2016 appt macau champion Jian Guo Sun.jpg

8:10pm: Sun shines as Vu is eliminated in second placeLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

Bernard Vu is officially our last elimination on this APPT Main Event. He leaves us one shy of hoisted the championship trophy. 

The heads up players didn't hesitate to get all of the chips in straight out of the gate. On a flop of J♦5♥9♦ Jian Guo Sun checked to Vu who barrelled for 500,000. Sun came back excessive with an all-in jam and enough to hide Vu, who called off for his tournament life with second pair. 

Sun: J♣8♦Vu: A♥9♥

Vu was chasing an ace or nine to take the lead however the 3♣ turn and 8♠ river meant he'd leave us in second place and collect HK$2,065,000 after a heads up deal. -- BK

2016 appt macau runner up bernard vu.jpg

Runner up - Bernard Vu

8:05pm: Sun wins first big oneLevel 29 - Blinds: 50,000/100,000 (ante: 10,000)

Players just saw the primary river card of heads up play--and it was by far the largest pot too. Jian Guo Sun won it and has now taken the chip lead. 

Sun opened his button, making it 225,000 to play. Vu called for a flop of 7♠K♥7♦ and Vu led for 175,000. Sun called. They both checked the A♣ turn but then it got frantic at the J♠ river.

Vu bet 300,000 and Sun responded with a raise to twelve. million. Vu called, but quickly saw some bad news. Sun showed A♥7♣ and Vu mucked. -- HS

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
29 50,000 100,000 10,000

8:00pm: Popping out swingingLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

It's only been a pair hands of heads up and we've already seen some crazy action. 

In one hand Bernard Vu opened to 200,000 at the button before Jian Guo Sun slid a hefty 1,080,000 million into the pot. Vu folded but would get revenge shortly after. 

That hand saw Sun raise to 285,000 and Vu come again excessive with an all-in move to take the pot down. -- BK

7:50pm: Deal timeLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

With stacks all but equal, the 2 remaining players have done an ICM chop. They're leaving HK$140,000, plus the HK$100,000 ACOP main event seat and the trophy still to play for, but have locked up the following:

Bernard Vu: HK$2,065,000Jian Guo Sun: HK$2,009,660

2016 appt macau heads up.jpg

Bernard Vu and Jian Guo Sun prepare for battle

7:25pm: Ward eliminated; heads up setLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

Alex Ward started at the final table this afternoon with almost half the chips in play but unfortunately for the Englishman he couldn't grow to be champion after finishing in third place. 

His last hand began with Bernard Vu raising to 250,000 at the button and Ward defending his big ignorant of see the 2♠K♦T♥ flop. Ward checked first to behave and Vu continued for 325,000. Ward announced he was all in and Vu started to count his opponent's stack. 

It was firm that Ward had roughly 1.3 million and Vu decided to name to position his tablemate in peril. Ward tabled Q♠J♣ and wasn't looking good against Vu's A♣J♦. Had to find an ace or nine to make a straight and stay alive, Ward couldn't do it because the 6♦ turn and 4♥ arrived to seal his fate. 

Vu screamed with excitement and high-fived his railbirds before shaking Ward's hand. 

2016 APPT Macau 3rd place alex ward.jpg

And with that, heads up play is set. 

Bernard Vu - 5,635,000Jian Guo Sun - 5,025,000

Both players are close in chips and this championship continues to be anyone's for the taking. Our two remaining players have stepped clear of the table momentarily before returning to battle it out for the APPT Macau poker crown. -- BK

7:20pm: Action everywhereLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

Although this APPT10 Macau festival is now drawing to a detailed we still have four tournaments under way. Along with the principle event, the high roller is all the way down to its last nine players, the 6-Max is heads up and there are 50 players left within the $2,500 deep-stack event, from a starting field of 170. 

This festival, featuring 14 official Asia Player of the Year events, is now confirmed because the largest ever APPT Macau for both total players (2,962) and prize money (HK$34,808,863 or US$4,491,466) -- HS

pokerstars live macau branding.jpg

7:10pm: Deja VuLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

Alex Ward remains to be struggling to come back into the suitable gear. It's two steps forward followed by two steps back.

Shortly once you have his stack back to around 1.9 million with a few pre-flop raises that got through, he gave a few hundred back to Bernard Vu. Vu raised the button and Ward called within the big blind.

They checked the flop of J♦5♣7♥ after which after Ward checked the 5♦ turn, Vu bet 325,000 and took it down. Vu was just about flawless today and is showing the take advantage of some really shrewd play. -- HS

6:55pm: Vu takes it out on WardLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

With Jian Guo Sun now sitting with 5.5 million, and coasting, hostilities has resumed between Bernard Vu and Alex Ward, and the previous is adding to Ward's recent miseries.

The two of them got to a flop of 2♠5♦3♥, with Ward within the small blind and Vu within the big, and Ward bet 80,000. Vu called. The turn brought the Q♣ and Ward bet 210,000 now. Vu called again.

The A♥ fell at the river and Ward now checked. But Vu didn't. He bet 600,000, which gave Ward cause of caution. He tanked some time after which folded, leaving himself all the way down to 1.75 million. Vu has about 3.5 million. -- HS

6:45pm: Sun keeps the pressure onLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

Jian Guo Sun recently took the chip lead and his stack is solely growing bigger. 

On a flop of 5♠K♠3♥ Sun checked from the small blind before Bernard Vu bet 250,000 at the button. Sun called and the turn landed 2♥. Both players checked their option and the 2♣ river completed the board. 

Sun then decided to switch the flow of play, leading into Vu for 400,000. The most efficient was enough to take down the pot and Sun added another bundle of chips to his pile. -- BK

6:30pm: Sun blinds Ward, takes chip leadLevel 28 - Blinds: 40,000/80,000 (ante: 10,000)

Comfortably the strangest--and biggest--hand of the overall table has ended in a tremendous shift in fortunes here in Macau. Jian Guo Sun has scored an entire double through Alex Ward, taking the British player out of the chip lead for the primary time since yesterday.

This was a little bit unconventional. Sun limped from the small blind and Ward took his method to raise from the massive. He made it 160,000 more. Sun called.

That took them to a flop of 7♦K♣6♥ and Sun check-called Ward's bet of 160,000. They then went to the 7♠ turn and Sun checked again. Ward bet 350,000 this time and Sun snap-called.

The river was the 4♣ and Sun asked for the all-in triangle. That was a shove of precisely 1.56 million and Sun accompanied it with an enormous whoop of pleasure. He shoved his hands within the air and yelped in excitement. 

Ward, faced with what can only be described as unconventional action, chuckled after which asked for a count. Then he went throughout the tricky technique of seeking to establish what Sun could have.

In the end, he figured that he could beat it, whatever it was, and he called.

In true baccarat tradition, Sun peeked privately at his cards, then flipped just one of them over. It was the 3♥. He then peeled the opposite one slowly and revealed the 7♥ for turned trips. 

Ward has played enough in Asia to not be too offended by the slow-roll. But he shook his head ruefully and cut out the chips needed from his stack.

Ward now has 3 million. Sun has 4.6 million. Vu, who was a spectator to this, has concerning the same as Ward. -- HS

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
28 40,000 80,000 10,000

6:10pm: Take a break!

It's time again for a 10-minute break. 

We still have three players looking for the APPT Macau Main Event trophy. 

Here's how the chip stacks look right now. 

Alex Ward - 5,050,000Bernard Vu - 3,065,000Jian Guo Sun - 2,445,000

6pm: Varying the patternLevel 27 - Blinds: 30,000/60,000 (ante: 10,000)

A slight change of tack here from Alex Ward, who completed from the small blind and prompted a raise to 185,000 from Bernard Vu within the big. Ward then responded with a three-bet to 550,000, which now persuaded Vu to get out of how. -- HS

5:55pm: Cold four-bet from SunLevel 27 - Blinds: 30,000/60,000 (ante: 10,000)

Jian Guo Sun have been fairly inactive lately but he just utilized some well-timed aggression against Bernard Vu. 

It was Alex Ward who opened the action by raising to 130,000 at the button, before Vu bumped it as much as 400,000. It was then on Sun who counted out his own stack and decided to bet greater than half it with a cold-four bet to 1,050,000. 

Ward snap-folded and after about 30 seconds Vu also relinquished his hand. -- BK

5:30pm: Ward nibbles back against VuLevel 27 - Blinds: 30,000/60,000 (ante: 10,000)

Momentum had began to swing slightly towards Bernard Vu, but Alex Ward just won back-to-back pots to halt the beginning of a slide.

On the primary of the hands, Vu opened his button to 175,000 and Ward called from the large blind. They took a flop of J♠Q♠3♥ and Ward checked. Vu bet 250,000 and Ward called, bringing the 6♦ at the turn. Check, check. Additionally they both checked the 3♦ at the river and Ward turned over his 5♠6♠. His flopped flush-draw had become third pair, and it was good. Vu mucked.

alex ward appt10 macau day4.jpg

Alex Ward: Arresting the slide

There were similarities with the following hand too, although Ward got this one started with a raise to 160,000 from the small blind. (IT'LL be noted that Jian Guo Sun had minimal interest in either of those pots, although he's indeed still on the table.)

Vu called they usually saw a flop of A♣9♠2♠, which Ward checked. Vu bet 225,000 and Ward called. They both checked the 3♠ turn and, as with the last hand, in addition they checked the river, which was the 8♥ on this instance. Ward now tabled 5♠5♥ and this time fourth pair was good. -- HS

5:30pm: Vu closing the gapLevel 27 - Blinds: 30,000/60,000 (ante: 10,000)

Alex Ward has had a commanding chip lead all throughout this final table, and while he's still in front, momentum is beginning to shift in Bernard Vu's favour. 

The biggest pot of late saw Vu open to 175,000 at the button and Ward defend from the large blind. The flop fell 3♦9♣2♣ and Ward check-called Vu's continuation bet of 200,000. 

The turn landed the 3♣ and after another check from Ward, Vu fired for 450,000. Ward decided to present it up and Vu flashed the A♣

Vu has now climbed to around 4.2 million in chips, now not removed from Ward's 4.4 million.  -- BK

5:20pm: Sun blockLevel 27 - Blinds: 30,000/60,000 (ante: 10,000)

After a now-customary period of pre-flop raising from Alex Ward, met by little resistance, Jian Guo Sun just stopped him in his tracks. Ward opened to 130,000 from the button and Sun called within the big blind. Both players checked the flop of 3♠3♣6♣.

Sun bet 200,000 on the 5♠ turn, which Ward called, and so they then saw the Q♦ at the river. Sun now pushed forward a tower of red chips, plus a few, for a raffle of about 600,000. Ward folded. -- HS

5:15pm: Big anteLevel 27 - Blinds: 30,000/60,000 (ante: 10,000)

The average stack is 60 big blinds heading into Level 27, so that is removed from over. That said, the ante is now 10,000 and that might hasten things slightly. -- HS

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
27 30,000 60,000 10,000

5:05pm: And that is the end of the level

Level ends, and stale they opt for their two minutes. The chip stacks at this stage: 

Alex Ward: 5,040,000Bernard Vu: 3,500,000Jian Guo Sun: 1,835,000

5pm: A HANDY GUIDE A ROUGH two minutesLevel 26 - Blinds: 25,000/50,000 (ante: 5,000)

Not lots has occurred during the last 10 minutes or so. In fact, probably the most interesting incident was Bernard Vu requesting an unscheduled two minute break on the end of the extent so he could visit the toilet. The tournament staff originally said no--"We play for 2 hours"--but then yielded when either one of Vu's opponents agreed that was fine.

Other than that, it has been Alex Ward raising from button and small blind and the opposite two mostly folding. -- HS

4:50pm: Action slowingLevel 26 - Blinds: 25,000/50,000 (ante: 5,000)

Now that we've reached three-handed play, stacks are deeper and we're not seeing as much action as we've become accustomed too. There were nothing but raises met with folds pre-flop, with river cards showing up as a rarity. 

Bernard Vu did be ready to break the lull momentarily with back to back three-bets within the last orbit. The primary saw Alex Ward raise the small unaware of 130,000 and Vu play back at him for 300,000 from the large blind. Ward let it go and it was directly to the following one. 

Ward opened the button this time to 125,000 and again Vu made it 300,000 to head. Again ward surrendered and Vu collected the pot. -- BK

4:35pm: One-way trafficLevel 26 - Blinds: 25,000/50,000 (ante: 5,000)

Alex Ward is playing just about every hand and, as you'd expect, neither of his opponents desires to be the following out so that they try to maintain it small. That said, they can not let him run over the table an excessive amount of and Bernard Vu is a minimum of looking to halt the charge.

On one recent hand, Ward opened from the small blind, making it 130,000 to move. Vu called from the large blind after which called Ward's 80,000 bet at the flop of A♠Q♣5♦. When the 7♥ came at the turn, Ward checked and Vu took over. He bet 80,000. Ward called.

The 8♣ came at the river and now they both checked. Ward showed Q♠T♦ and Vu mucked.

Vu has about 2.45 million; Jian Guo Sun has 2.15 million; Ward has the remainder. -- HS

4:30pm: Three millionairesLevel 26 - Blinds: 25,000/50,000 (ante: 5,000)

The third place finisher here at APPT Macau gets HK$1,002,000 and become the primary millionaire of the week. The whole payout schedule is at the payouts page, where you can too see details of who has cashed so far. 

By the way, that is what a three-handed chip lead looks like:

three handed chip lead.jpg

4:10pm: Trips to the SunLevel 26 - Blinds: 25,000/50,000 (ante: 5,000)

Alex Ward has barely needed to break sweat to construct his stack to this dominant position, but he just met some resistance within the type of Jian Guo Sun--and lost his first significant pot of the day.

Ward opened his button, making it 100,000 to play. That was his standard M.O. Sun called from the massive blind, and both players checked the flop of T♣2♣4♠.

The 2♥ came at the turn and Sun checked. Ward bet 125,000 and although this exact pattern has happened a few times, it has previously been followed by a fold from Sun. Not this time. In came a check-raise to 375,000.

Ward double-checked his cards before calling, and that took them to the 5♠ at the river. Sun fired at it. He cut 350,000 from his stack of about 600,000 and after a small time within the tank, Ward called.

Sun flipped his A♣2♠ for trips. Ward had that too, but his 2♦6♠ had kicker problems. Sun built his stack to around 1.9 million. -- HS

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
26 25,000 50,000 5,000

3:55pm: First break; three-handed chip counts

It's only the primary break and we've already lost greater than half the table. Here's how the rest three stack up. 

Alex Ward - 6,455,000Bernard Vu - 2,775,000Jian Guo Sun - 1,430,000

3:50pm: Sun shiningLevel 25 - Blinds: 20,000/40,000 (ante: 5,000)

Alex Ward kicked us off with a raise to 80,000 before Jian Guo Sun three-bet to 275,000 from the large blind. Ward scoped out Sun's stack before announcing all in with a lot more than enough to hide Sun's 1,030,000. 

Sun didn't hesitate long before calling with A♦K♦ and he was more healthy to double against Ward' A♠T♥. The 4♦J♠9♠ didn't change much and while the 7♥ brought a gut shot sweat, the 5♦ river bricked off and Sun survived. -- BK

3:40pm: Ward continues dominant, sends Fu home in fourthLevel 25 - Blinds: 20,000/40,000 (ante: 5,000)

We are right down to three in Macau after Ying Fu's turbulent final table came to an lead to fourth place. On what would grow to be his last hand, Fu opened to 80,000 from the cutoff and Alex Ward three-bet to 200,000 from the small blind. Bernard Vu folded his big blind, but Fu asked for the all-in triangle.

It wasn't even out at the table before Ward had called, and this was another pretty imbalanced showdown:

Ward: A♣J♣Fu: A♥7♦

The board didn't help Fu. It ran T♥4♥K♣T♠5♠ and that was the tip of Fu. He was chip leader for a period yesterday, but then Ward came to take a seat to his left. We all know what that meant...

Fu gets $755,000 for fourth and, for the primary time, Chinese players at the moment are within the minority on this tournament. -- HS

3:30pm: Battle of the blinds sends Jin out in in fifthLevel 25 - Blinds: 20,000/40,000 (ante: 5,000)

It didn't take long for our next final table casualty to search out the exit after Jiayi Jin departs in 5th place. 

It folded to Jin within the small blind and he pushed his last 550,000 in chips into the center. Ying Fu wa within the big blind and the bet was for the majority of his stack. As he leaned back in his seat and put his hands on his head it was clear he had a call on his hands. 

Fu did ultimately call as both players stood up out in their seats and the cards went on their backs. 

Fu: A♥9♣Jin: A♦6♠ Jin had kicked problems however the 7♥7♠8♥ flop did bring some potential for a chop. By the T♠ turn the 2 players were chasing each other's kicker to make a straight but if the 2♥ river arrived it was the top of Jin's Main Event. 

The crowd gave Jin a round of applause as Fu moved as much as 1,200,000. -- BK

2016 APPT Macau Jiayi Jin 5th place.jpg

Jiayi Ji shakes the hand of his assassin

3:25pm: Fu begins the rebuilding processLevel 25 - Blinds: 20,000/40,000 (ante: 5,000)

Left with only about 255,000 after the hand against Jiayi Jin, Ying Fu had little choice but to get it within the middle pretty quickly. He did so at the very next hand, and Alex Ward called him. Fu had found an ace -- A♥6♣ -- but so had Ward -- A♠6♥. Although there has been the specter of a four-flush when the primary cards out came 8♥9♥8♣ | J♥ the 8♦ at the river was a blank.

Fu shoved the following hand too, and got it through, after which it got even better. He scored the double up he needed.

Ward opened to 80,000 and Fu shoved from the small blind, for 305,000. Ward called with 9♦8♦ and Fu was ahead along with his A♣J♣

There was something for either one of them at the board of 7♣5♣Q♥ and Ward's rail started calling for a six. They got what they asked for, however the 6♣ was much better for Fu than Ward. The 2♠ river meant nothing and Fu doubled. He's as much as 660,000 now. -- HS

3:20pm: Lucky double for JinLevel 25 - Blinds: 20,000/40,000 (ante: 5,000)

It folded around to shortstack Jiayi Jin at the button and he moved all in for his last 315,000. Ying Fu counted out a decision from the small blind before pushing it forward. The large blind mucked instantly and the 2 active players revealed their cards. 

Jin: J♠7♥Fu: A♠9♠

Jin needed help and located some at the 7♣4♥3♣ flop. His top pair improved to trips by the tip because the 8♠ turn and 7♠ river rolled off to peer Jin double up. 

Fu isn't very short stacked with only 230,000 in play. -- BK

3:00pm: Vu flops the joint, busts Xie in sixthLevel 25 - Blinds: 20,000/40,000 (ante: 5,000)

Alex Ward could have some competition in the end because Bernard Vu has just put his stack beyond 2 million after knocking out Weijian Xie in sixth place. This hand just about played itself, but Xie goes to depart thinking he got a coarse deal.

Vu opened to 85,000 from under the gun and Xi, within the cutoff, three-bet to 210,000. He had exactly 575,000 behind. Everyone else got out of the way, taking the verdict back to Vu and he called.

That took them to a flop of J♦6♦9♣ and Vu, sitting within the nine seat, stretched out his left arm into the dealer's tray and collected the red all-in triangle. He then deposited it directly to the felt in front of him. The intention was clear.

bernard vu appt10 macau day4.jpg

Bernard Vu: Huge flop

Xie rubbed his head in dismay, but then called. He turned over Q♥Q♠, which was technically ahead at this point. But Vu had flopped the arena together with his Q♦T♦.

He did not have to attend long for gratification for his draw. The 8♣ came at the turn and Xie was drawing dead. The inconsequential 2♥ came at the river.

Xie is our sixth-place finisher, earning $413,000. Vu now has enough to mount a challenge to the dominant Ward. -- HS

weijian xie appt10 macau.jpg

The end of Weijian Xie

3:00pm: Updated chips countsLevel 25 - Blinds: 20,000/40,000 (ante: 5,000)

Alex Ward - 6,200,000Bernard Vu - 1,300000Jian Guo Sun - 1,260,000Weijan Xie - 730,000Ying Fu - 700,000Jiayi Jin - 500,000

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
25 20,000 40,000 5,000

2:55pm: Ward picks off Fu's bluffLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

Ying Fu made a powerful river play within the hand just glided by Alex Ward sniffed out that something was afoot and made the proper decision so as to add much more to his monster stack. 

Fu opened preflop to 65,000 before Ward popped it as much as 175,000 from the small blind. Fu opted to name and players went to a flop of Q♥K♦6♦

The action checked through to the 2♣ turn and the 6♠ river where Ward decided to take a look at for some value with A♠Q♦. Fu had other ideas though and put a big component of his stack at the line with a reraise to 425,000. 

Ward deliberated for a couple of moments before committing the chips to name and Fu revealed 7♦5♦ for a whole air ball. Fu was left with only 730,000 while Ward increased his already insurmountable chip lead. -- BK

2:45pm: Xie gets it inLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

Weijan Xie has a pair more chips to play with after moving all in over chip leader Alex Ward's open. 

Ward brought it in for 65,000 and Xie quickly formed a triangle along with his hands to suggest he desired to bet it all. 

Ward threw the hand away and Xie tabled the 8♥ before collecting the pot. -- BK

2:45pm: Small Anglo-French duelsLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

Bernard Vu has the most productive seat on the table today, with position on Alex Ward. That said, he just showed he's prepared to tackle the chip leader without or with that positional advantage--to mixed results.

In the primary hand, Ward opened to 75,000 from the small blind and Vu called from the massive. It was the 2 biggest stacks on the table going to a flop of 9♥5♥K♣. Ward bet 70,000 and Vu called.

The 9♦ came at the turn and Ward bogged down. After he checked, Vu bet 125,000 and Ward let this one go.

Both players climbed back at the horse at the next hand, with Ward this time raising to 60,000 from the button and Vu calling from the small blind. This time the British player had position.

The 9♣6♦T♠ fell at the flop and both players checked. The 9♥ turn followed. Vu bet 65,000 and Ward called, buying the Q♥ at the river. Vu now checked and, after a moment's thought, Ward checked behind.

Vu revealed his K♥8♠, a gutshot that did not get there. Ward showed his A♣2♣ to take it down. -- HS

2:40pm: Sun setsLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

Jian Guo Sun continues to construct after spiking a collection against Ying Fu. 

Fu began the action with a raise to 65,000 and Sun called to look a flop of A♣K♦5♣

Both players checked to the T♠ turn and Fu made a delayed continuation bet of 65,000. Sun smooth called and the 9♣ river completed the board. 

Fu checked his option at the end but Sun fired for a good 100,000. Fu didn't take long before pushing in a decision only to peer he was beat by Sun's T♥T♣ for a turned set. 

With that hand Sun takes his total as much as 1.5 million in chips as Fu dips to 1.3 million. -- BK

2:30pm: Sun comes out to playLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

It's been mainly small pots since Feng's elimination, including the next hand. But this one involved two of the tournament's less active players, so will have represented a few big-ish hands. Weijan Xie got thing started, raising to 65,000 from early position. Jian Guo Sun, at the button, three-bet to 150,000, leaving himself 750,000 behind. Xie called.

They saw a flop of A♠2♥7♥ and Xie checked. Sun continued. He bet 150,000 and Xie got out of how. -- HS

jian guo sun appt10 macau day4.jpg

Jian Guo Sun

2:16pm: Feng slams into Ward's queens, out in seventhLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

We have lost a player already, with Zhiyi Feng the primary to perish from this final table in just its fourth hand. Action folded to Feng at the button and he move all in for his 665,000 total. But Alex Ward quickly called from the massive blind and showed his Q♦Q♥, which was sooner than Feng's A♦2♠.

The flop brought some drama for all. There has been the A♣ within the window and, because it happens, the A♠ also there. But so was the Q♠ meaning Ward flopped a whole house. The 7♦ at the turn meant Feng now had seven outs: the opposite three sevens, the 3 other twos or the opposite ace. 

But the 6♦ at the river was a blank and Feng hits the rail in seventh, winning HK$336,000. Ward takes his stack beyond 5 million. -- HS

zhiyi feng appt10 macau eliminated.jpg

Zhiyi Feng: Out in a flash

2:15pm: Jiayi Ji gets it throughLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

The action folded around to Jiayi Ji within the hijack seat and he moved all in for 410,000 in chips. 

The remainder of the table threw their hands away and Ji collected the pot. -- BK

2:10pm: First one to WardLevel 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

In a pattern a good way to likely repeat for many today, Alex Ward opened the primary hand of the overall table, making it 60,000 from the cutoff. Everyone else folded. The second one hand was slightly different. Ward folded, and action actually got around to Weijian Xie within the small blind. He completed, but then folded after Ying Fu raised another 40,000. -- HS

2:10pm: Let's go!Level 24 - Blinds: 15,000/30,000 (ante: 5,000)

It's time for our final seven to become one. 

PokerStars LIVE Macau's Rex Cheong just introduced final tablists and after an applause from the railbirds it is time to get things underway. 

Blinds recommence with 47 minutes left at 15,000/30,000 (5,000) and Alex Ward is the commanding chip leader with 4,715,000 in chips. 

Shuffle up and deal! -- BK

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
24 15,000 30,000 500

1:30pm: Time to crown a winner

It's the overall day of the APPT10 Macau main event and, from 533 players, we are going to be left with only one, who will earn himself HK$2,694,000. Seven players are still involved at this stage, and you may learn just a little about them at the player profiles page. The dominant chip leader is Alex Ward, but that is removed from a foregone conclusion.

Here's how they line up at this point: 

Seat 1) Jiayi Jin, China - 465,000Seat 2) Weijian Xie, China - 1,215,000Seat 3) Ying Fu, China - 1,105,000Seat 4) Zhiyi Feng, China - 685,000Seat 5) Jian Guo Sun, China - 1,055,000Seat 6) Alex Ward, Uk - 4,715,000Seat 7) Bernard Vu, France - 1,420,000

And review yesterday's coverage to find how they came. Also check out the long list of names who're out already, but who made the cash. They're at the prizewinners page.

Stick around here for full coverage as they play to a winner.

appt10 macau final table players.jpg

Final table players (l-r): Alex Ward, Jiayi Jin, Zhiyi Feng, Bernard Vu, Jian Guo Sun, Fu Ying, Weijian Xie.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Macau: Brad Kain and Howard Swains. Photos by Long Guan of Kenneth Lim Photography.



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FPS Monaco: Main Event Day 2 coverage archiveNO Deposit bonus $43

It was a fast-paced Day 2 within the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event on Friday -- so fast, in fact, the verdict was made to forgo the dinner break stop a few levels early. When the last hands were dealt 60 players remained, all that's left from the large 1,261-player field that began the development. And tonight Philipp Wenzelburger enjoys the overnight chip lead after bagging an outstanding 1,389,000 at night's end.

EPT12MON Chipleader Philipp Wenzelburger 0634 JulesPochy-a.jpg

Philipp Wenzelburger

The first two hours today were the Leonardo Pires show, with the start-of-day chip leader from Brazil greater than doubling his starting stack during just two levels to sit down with 715,000 on the day's first break. A reprise, it seemed, of what Pires had done on the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure back in January where he led the tournament for several days before busting in 13th.

That stack would've been greater than average on the end of Day 2, not to mention two hours in, but after a pair more levels Pires had seen that massive mountain chips reduce to a few of hundred thousand, then soon into the day's fifth level he was eliminated in 160th.

At least Pires made the cash, however, because the top 183 finishers were scheduled to divide the tournament's €1,223,170 prize pool. The bubble burst late within the afternoon, with China's Yangzi Wang the unlucky 184th-place finisher.

Soon after the post-bubble rush of exits, Gleb Tremzin -- runner-up finisher within the EPT12 Prague Main Event -- enjoyed a time period because the tournament's chip leader becoming the primary player to succeed in the 1 million-chip mark. He eventually fell back to the pack, though, while his fellow German Philipp Wenzelburger climbed to the highest to sit down in first position because the field narrowed to not up to 100.

Late within the evening Niall Farrell and Romans Voitovs both began challenging for the highest honors, before finally at night's end Wenzelburger ended up pushing back out in front.

Bruno Cohen, Yury Gulyy, Aaron Gustavson, Marvin Rettenmaier, Arnaud Mattern, Ana Marquez, Mario Lopez, Ivan Freitez, and Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu were a few of the cashers today. You'll check the prize pool and payouts page to peer where they finished and what kind of they took away.

Besides Wenzelburger, there have been several others who finished strong on Day 2, including Jean Bertrand (1,171,000), Niall Farrell (1,122,000), Mathew Hopkins (1,120,000), Thierry Morel (1,053,000), Alexandre Sette (982,000), Kamel Hamou (963,000), Mauro Tarantini (957,000), Tudor Purice (917,000), Gleb Tremzin (860,000), and Pedro Oliveira (860,000)

Meanwhile some of the others still within the hunt with an opportunity at taking their FPS Monaco Main Event runs deeper include Keith Johnson (319,000), Julien Brecard (289,000), and Andrey Andreev (155,000).

Tomorrow they pick things back up at 12 noon yet again to continue the march toward Sunday's final table and the €218,000 prize awaiting the champion. See you back here then, but for now, bon soir. --MH

FULL DAY 2 COVERAGE:

9:20pm: 60 advance to Day 3Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

The bell has tolled on Day 2 of the FPS Monaco Main Event and it looks like 60 players might be back for Day 3 tomorrow. Play starts at noon CEST. Join us then for Day 3 coverage, but look out for a wrap of the day's play appearing above, overnight chip counts, and an afternoon 3 seat draw with a purpose to all be available via the @PokerStarsBlog twitter account. --NW

9:08pm: Three more handsLevel 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Clock? Paused. Hands to play? Three. --MH

9:05pm: Crazy four-way all-in!Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Nothing like a four-way all-in to get the pulses racing.

Oleksandr Vorobii shoved from under-the-gun for 122,000 with 2♦2♥, Xiaoyong Liao then re-raised all-in for approximately 225,000 total with 9♠9♦ and action paused as Jean-Charles Beunas considered his options. Eventually he too moved all-in, he had A♦J♠ after which Pedro Oliveira, who had all of them covered, called as well!

Oliveira had K♠K♥ and was in search of a triple-knockout. The 5♥7♣A♣ flop gave Beunas the lead, the 2♣ turn vaulted Vorobii to front and the J♥ river kept him there.

So Vorobii basically quadrupled as much as 500,000, Oliveira all but broke even at the hand, and Beunas and Liao were eliminated. --NW

8:59pm: Graupner goneLevel 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

It folded around to Thomas Graupner who pushed his last 125,000 or so within the middle over the small blind, and Kidhir Megrous didn't take very long to make the call.

Graupner turned over K♥4♥ and needed improvement to outlive versus the A♠9♥ of Megrous. However the 2♠J♥8♠Q♦7♣ board didn't provide any help and Grauner is out.

Megrous has about 420,000 now, a little below the common of just over 500,000 with 63 players left. --MH

8:45pm: Haigh jackedLevel 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Down to a handful of giant blind Robert Haigh moved all-in with Q♦Q♥ and was up against the J♦J♠ of Kamel Hamou.

The 4♣3♦K♠J♣9♣ board was cruel for Haigh and he exited the tournament. --NW

8:35pm: It's tight on the topLevel 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

There are 67 players remaining at the moment and 7 of these players have over 1,000,000 in chips. They are:

Name Country Status Chips
Philipp Wenzelburger Germany PokerStars TV Stars 1,200,000
Niall Farrell UK PokerStars player 1,200,000
Romans Voitovs Latvia PokerStars qualifier 1,200,000
Mauro Tarantini Italy   1,065,000
Miguel Silva Portugal PokerStars player 1,050,000
Jean Bertrand France   1,040,000
Pedro Oliveira Portugal   1,020,000

8:21pm: Last level of the nightLevel 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

One more hour of poker to go, and the bagging and tagging will commence. --MH

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
20 6,000 12,000 2,000

8:17pm: Farrell and Hamou play 900K potLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Kamel Hamou limped from under-the-gun and next to behave Toni Zengovski raised it as much as 28,000 total. Action then folded the entire solution to Niall Farrell within the big blind. He put the cost of poker as much as 67,000 just for Hamou to transport all-in. Zengovski didn't miss a beat and folded, Farrell though wanted a count. It was 454,000 total and after a few minutes he shrugged and call.

The EPT12 Malta champion showed A♠K♠ and was relieved when Hamou opened A♦K♥. The 7♣4♣7♦8♦9♦ board meant the pot was chopped. --NW

EPT12MON Niall Farrell 0539 JulesPochy.jpgFarrell fairing well

8:13pm: Andreev knocks out RuzicicLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Andrey Andreev limped in from middle position and Gleb Tremzin limped in addition from the button, then Sloboban Ruzicic reraised all-in for his last 56,000 from the small blind. It folded back to Andreev who called, Tremzin called as well, and people two checked both the flop and switch. Andreev then led with a chance at the river, and Tremzin let his hand go.

The completed board showed K♠K♥J♥7♦Q♥, and Andreev swiftly tabled his 6♥5♥ to turn he'd made a flush. Ruzicic showed his beated 4♣4♦ and left to gather his payout.

Andreev is back up around 695,000 now with 75 players left. --MH

8:05pm: Your starting stack within the type of a single chipLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

The starting stack on this event was 25,000 and that equated to quite a lot of physical chips when play began. At first of this level tournament staff introduced the lime green chips worth T25,000 apiece. Each of these represents the stack of a player who entered this tournament! --NW

7:50pm: Silva shiningLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

All-in and in danger with 7♥7♣, Raphael Montefalcone hoped the small pair would hold against Miguel Silva's A♦J♥. However the T♣K♥A♣ flop quickly swung the advantage Silva's way, and after the K♠ turn and 4♥ river, Montefalcone is out.

Silva is now up around 1.2 million and beginning to challenge Philipp Wenzelburger for the chip lead. --MH

7:34pm: Wenzelburger sizzlingLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

The Philipp Wenzelburger express continues unabated, with the Germany continuing to amass chips at a rapid rate.

Just now Wenzelburger grabbed a couple of more while reducing the sphere by one in a hand versus Mamouni Smain. The latter was all in with a brief stack behind 3♥3♠ and had run into Wenzelburger's 7♦7♥, and after a K♠Q♥A♠6♠9♦ runout Smain was knocked out while Wenzelburger moved as much as about 1.325 million -- the largest stack around with 90 players left. --MH

7:30pm: Purice continues to climbLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Tudor Purice has had an up and down day. He was as little as 15 big blinds at one point but now has almost 100 big blinds after winning a big pot against Jessica Drissi. At the river the Romanian bet 92,000 right into a pot of around 200,000. Drissi checked out the Q♠J♥9♥2♥8♥ board after which called. Purice showed A♥5♥ for a flush and Drissi mucked.

After that hand Purice has roughly 970,000. --NW

7:19pm: Every decision has a rippling effectLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Ariel Mantel (121st, €2,040), Marvin Rettenmaier (113th, €2,310), Josh Prager (105th, €2,310), and Aaron Gustavson (100th, €2,310) were a part of the last wave of knockouts in advance of the last break. Don't forget, you'll be able to check who finished where at the constantly updated prize pool and payouts page. --MH

EPT12MON Marvin Reitenmeir Out 0543 JulesPochy.jpg

Rettenmaier's run is over

7:10pm: Top 10 stacksLevel 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Below are the highest ten stacks initially of level 19. It's Philipp Wenzelburger who leads the way.

Name Country Status Chips
Philipp Wenzelburger Germany PokerStars TV Stars 1,247,000
Miguel Silva Portugal PokerStars player 1,052,000
Gleb Tremzin Russia PokerStars player 830,000
Pedro Oliveira Portugal   785,000
Mauro Tarantini Italy   750,000
Olivier Decamps France   738,000
Tudor Purice Romania PokerStars player 730,000
Jessica Drissi France   720,000
Niall Farrell UK PokerStars player 710,000
Bruno Dos Santos Caseiro Portugal   670,000
  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
19 5,000 10,000 1,000

6:55pm: Last break of the day

Reaching the tip of Level 18, the rest 94 players have gone on one last 20-minute break for today. Recall the schedule has changed -- in place of visit dinner now, they'll get back shortly for 2 more one-hour levels, then call it an afternoon. --MH

Get a seat on the table. Click here to get a PokerStars account.

6:42pm: Every decision has a rippling effectLevel 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Ivan Arbatskii opened for 18,000 from the center position, Andrey Andreev called from a few seats over, then Gleb Tremzin made it 51,000 to head from the button. Slobodan Ruzicic called the three-bet from the following seat within the small blind, and it folded back to Arbatskii who shoved all-in for 253,000 total.

Andreev let his hand go, but Tremzin wasn't going anywhere and called the shove. That sent Ruzicic deep into the tank, and after a while he eventually emerged to fold his hand. The rest two players tabled their cards:

Arbatskii: K♦K♣Tremzin: A♥K♥

The flop came 9♣Q♣T♥, and while neither of the players within the hand responded at all, Ruzicic was fit to be tied, standing from his seat together with his hands on hips. The turn was the 8♣ and river the 4♥, and Arbatskii survived with a more-than-double-up.

Before sitting down, Ruzicic leaned over and poked a finger on the nine at the board, and it wasn't hard for the others to infer he'd folded pocket nines.

Gleb Tremzin - 720,000Ivan Arbatskii - 565,000Andrey Andreev - 555,000Sloboban Ruzicic - 345,000

Ruzicic continued to shake his head as he sat back down, although Arbatskii was plenty glad he had chosen to not gamble. --MH

EPT12MON chips 0344 JulesPochy.jpg

The chips are going back and forth

6:40pm: All the way down to the general 100Level 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Just 100 players remain within the FPS Monaco Main Event and there are still two EPT champions among them.

Niall Farrell, who triumphed in Malta this season is chugging along nicely. He's got 765,000 that's well above the common that is 312,000. Compared Aaron Gustavson has work to do as he's got 160,000. -- NW

6:32pm: Mattern, Marquez outLevel 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

More eliminated to report -- Arnaud Mattern (134th) and Ana Marquez (137th), each of whom earned €2,040.

EPT12MON Ana Marquez 0414 JulesPochy.jpg

Marquez out

6:17pm: Gabriel gets gotLevel 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Add Niste Mihai Gabriel to the growing list of eliminated players. Gabriel got his small stack in with K♠J♦ versus the 9♣9♦ of Mamouni Smain, a 2♠9♥9♠Q♦5♦ runout giving Smain quads was greater than was had to end Gabriel's run.

They are actually all the way down to 119 players. --MH

6:10pm: What a horrible spotLevel 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Laurent Olive just found himself in a ridiculously tough spot and it isn't one you'll ever train for or expect to happen. I'll explain...

From under-the-gun Massimiliano Patroncini moved all-in for 132,000 and Olive flat called from his stack of 360,000. It folded all of the strategy to Fabio Freitas within the big blind but before the Brazilian could act Patroncini went to show his hand over, thinking that Freitas had folded.

Before he fully exposed his hand Freitas told him to stop, but it surely was too late as Freitas had seen the cards. The ground was called and it was ruled that Patrocini's hand must be exposed and the J♠J♥ was turned over.

It must be noted that Freitas had claimed he'd yet to take a look at his cards at this point. He then took a peak and fairly quickly moved all-in. This was not what Olive desired to hear. He asked for a count and the shove was for 290,000. Olive took a while after which folded the opposite two jacks face-up!

Freitas showed K♥K♣ and the 6♠9♦5♥6♦5♣ board kept him in front. He's as much as 525,000 whilst Olive is right down to 230,000. --NW

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
18 4,000 8,000 1,000

5:53pm: Tremzin up over a millionLevel 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Gleb Tremzin saw both Dany Parlafes and Slobodan Ruzicic go all-in before the flop, and he had a decision.

About Parlafes, Tremzin slightly less concerned, as he was only in for 81,000. Meanwhile Ruzicic had committed nearly a quarter-million, and while Tremzin already had some chips within the middle, he wasn't sure if he desired to put to any extent further at risk.

Finally Tremzin did call, showing A♣J♥, and expressed some relief when he saw Ruzicic turn over A♥J♦. Meanwhile Parlafes had 4♠4♥, and looked as if he was about to triple up after the T♣5♥7♦ flop and 9♠ turn.

But the river brought the 8♠ to offer the larger stacks a straight, and Parlafes was eliminated. Ruzicic sits with about 275,000, while Tremzin now looks to be the primary player in seven figures as he has about 1.07 million. --MH

EPT12MON Gleb Tremzin 0552 JulesPochy.jpg

The Tremzinator

5:40pm: Change of plansLevel 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

There were 10 levels scheduled for today but we've been informed by the tournament director that the verdict was made to play just eight levels today instead. Play should end around 20.45 CEST. --NW

5:30pm: Stacks of chipsLevel 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Gleb Tremzin is the present chip leader, the Russian player is closing in on one million.

Name Country Status Chips
Gleb Tremzin Russia PokerStars player 940,000
Philipp Wenzelburger Germany PokerStars player 900,000
Thomas Popov Canada PokerStars player 780,000
Andrey Andreev Russia   710,000
Niall Farrell UK PokerStars player 675,000
Fahd Boudaouine France   585,000
Maxence Benoulha France   480,000
Stefano Terziani Italy PokerStars qualifier 470,000
Jessica Drissi France   450,000
Mirco Maisano France   445,000
Francisco Acevedo Chile   440,000
Miguel Silva Portugal PokerStars player 440,000
Pedro Oliveira Portugal   430,000
Nicolas Guest France   408,000
Xiaoyong Liao China   400,000
Toni Zengovski Macedonia   395,000
Mathew Hopkins UK PokerStars qualifier 380,000
Keith Johnson UK   370,000
Kidhir Megrous France   362,000
Alexis Queneau France PokerStars qualifier 360,000
Ariel Mantel Argentina PokerStars player 345,000
Raphael Montefalcone France   345,000
Olivier Decamps France   340,000
Makram Saber Lebanon   330,000
Tudor Purice Romania PokerStars player 330,000
Mirko Radovic Monténégro   320,000
Ahmed Sahih France PokerStars qualifier 312,000
Apostolos Bechrakis Greece PokerStars player 306,000
Perego Michele Italy   301,000
Chebli Chebli Lebanon PokerStars qualifier 300,000
Abdulatif Taslim Finland   290,000
Slobodan Ruzicic Serbia   290,000
Ut Tam Vo France   280,000
Ghassan Yared Lebanon   275,000
Nicolaj D Antoni Italy   273,000
Bruno Dos Santos Caseiro Portugal   270,000
Vicente Delgado Spain PokerStars qualifier 265,000
Sergey Tikhonov Russia   263,000
Olivier Aarmougon France   262,000
Arthur Conan France   260,000
Aaron Gustavson USA PokerStars player 250,000
Ivan Arbatskii Russia   245,000
Adrian Apmann Germany PokerStars player 240,000
Oleksandr Vorobii Ukraine PokerStars player 240,000
Olivier Puche France   232,000
Gaetano Preite Italy   230,000
Thomas Graupner Germany   230,000
Nicolas Ferrandes France   220,000
Benoit Averes France   210,000
Leonardo Pires Brazil PokerStars player 205,000
Thierry Morel France PokerStars qualifier 200,000
Yannick Dupont France   195,000
Mamouni Smain Canada   190,000
Bertrand Guenoun France   187,000
Philip Christiernin Rung Sweden   182,000
Sylvain Mazza France   180,000
Cyprien Berger France   170,000
Robert Leszczynski Norway   170,000
Ivan Freitez Venezuela PokerStars player 166,000
Dany Parlafes Romania   160,000
Fred Weiss France   160,000
Mady Cherit France PokerStars qualifier 160,000
Michel PoMaret France   160,000
Steven van Zadelhoff Netherlands PokerStars qualifier 147,000
Marvin Rettenmaier Germany PokerStars player 145,000
Ait Obram Ali France   141,000
Niste Mihai Gabriel Romania PokerStars qualifier 130,000
Arnaud Mattern France   124,000
Yaxi Zhu China Team PokerStars Pro 118,000
Guido Pezzotta Italy   110,000
Armand Lopez France PokerStars qualifier 105,000
Ana Marquez Spain PokerStars player 93,700
Gabriel Nassif France   91,300
Yury Gulyy Russia PokerStars qualifier 84,000
Julien Brécard France PokerStars TV Stars 81,000
Ana Marquez Spain PokerStars player 70,000

EPT12MON chips 0580 JulesPochy a.jpg

What everyone wants

5:16pm: Benoulha bounces CamhiLevel 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Eric Camhi was all-in with a brief stack with K♠Q♠, and the stack was short enough that Maxence Benoulha couldn't bow out of the hand along with his 7♦4♦.

The flop came 2♦A♠7♣ to hit Benhoula's seven, and after the 5♦ turn and 3♣ river Camhi was done for a small cash. Benoulha now's moving up the leaderboard, having chipped as much as 525,000. --MH

5:14pm: More fallLevel 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Ricardo Chauriye (149th), Vicente Delgado (155th), and Luca Moschitta (159th) were also a number of the latest knockouts, with each of them earning €1,770. --MH

5:07pm: Pires bustsLevel 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

At the beginning of Day 2, Leonardo Pires was the whole chip leader with 339 players left. After two hours of play, he'd greater than doubled his stack to 715,000 to steer by a fair wider margin over the 255 or so players still remaining.

A little over two hours more, and Pires is out in 160th for a 1,770 min-cash, ending his FPS Monaco roller coaster here before the dinner break. --MH

EPT12MON Leonardo Pires 0342 JulesPochy.jpg

An earlier shot of Pires, when the pots were all going his way

4:59pm: Min-cashersLevel 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Among the primary taking trips to the cashier, Kasra Pour Khomamy (178th), Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu (171st), Ivan Freitez (168th), and Mario Lopez (166th) all collected 1,770 for his or her efforts.

To keep tabs on who's finishing where, check the constantly updated prize pool and payouts page. --MH

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
17 3,000 6,000 1,000

4:37pm: Break it up

The next 20-minute break has arrived, giving the rest 163 players a possibility to catch their breath after the joy of the bubble's bursting. --MH

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4:31pm: Andreev at the ascentLevel 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

End-of-Day-1A leader Andrey Andreev is now sitting behind an impressive stack of chips after picking up a pleasing post-bubble pot versus Guido Pezzotta.

With about 230,000 within the middle and the board showing A♦5♣8♣7♦, an all-in shove by Andreev just couldn't be called by Pezzotta, and now Andreev has about 780,000 because the next break nears. --MH

EPT12MON Andrey Andreev 0369 JulesPochy.jpg

More for Andreev

4:25pm: All-in crazy!Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Since the bubble burst this joint has gone mental! There's smoke coming off the felt such is the rate that chips are being moved around.

I saw five all-ins in barely a few minutes, here is what happened:

1. Cederic Ramqaj moved all-in for his final 30,000 with 9♠8♠ and he found a decision from Ariel Mantel who held A♣T♠. The A♠6♣J♥K♠ gave Ramqaj hope however the river was the 5♦ meaning Ramqaj was eliminated and Mantel climbed to 240,000.

2. Julien Brécard had just 18,000 they usually went in with 6♥6♦, Vicente Delgado had already opened and he called the additional off with 8♥7♥. A 6♣J♠K♥9♣J♦ board gave Brécard a fright but he survived. Delgado is now right down to 260,000.

3. Christos Stefanidis was in peril for his final 53,000 holding A♦7♠ and within the deep stuff against Vincent Antoine Cavailles, who held pocket tens. The 4♥3♦7♥ flop gave Stefanidis hope, the 4♣ turn was a blank, however the A♥ river saw the Greek player survive.

4. Action folded to Stefano Terziani within the small blind, he looked to his left and eyed up Steven Baldolli's stack. It totaled around 77,000 and Terziani elected to transport all-in, of venture Baldolli snap called.

Terziani showed 8♥7♥ and feature live cards against Baldolli's A♠K♦. That proved crucial because the 3♥8♣J♥4♦6♠ board favoured the suited connectors and eliminated Baldolli.

5. Vincent Antoine Cavailles got probably the most chips he'd lost back as his A♣Q♦ held against Jimmy Guerrero's Q♥9♦. Guerrero was all-in for his last 55,000 and sent on his solution to the payout desk. --NW

4:11pm: Yangzi bubblesLevel 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

After Morgan Aceto survived a river shove all-in with trip aces -- doubling up after he was called by Mario Melis -- it was confirmed that 184 players were left, eight each at 23 tables.

On the primary hand of hand-for-hand play, Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu saw an opponent raise to 12,000, then while at the button with just 15,000 looked down at what was a playable hand. She grimaced a little, then the table chuckled once they heard "all in and contact" coming from a neighboring table.

EPT12MON Yaxi Zhu 0473 JulesPochy.jpg

Zhu wondering what to do

Finally, Zhu let her hand go, and in spite of everything of the opposite tables finished their hands everyone congregated across the table featuring the all-in.

8G2A9715EPT12MON Bubble Neil Stoddart.jpg

Suspense!

Yangzi Wang of China was the only in peril. She stood and waiting after having put her last 49,000 in from middle position, with Mauro Tarantini having called her from the massive blind. Finally the cards were revealed:

Tarantini: 9♣9♠Wang: K♣Q♣

The dealer dealt the primary three community cards, and a king appeared within the window to offer Wang. But if the flop was spread it showed a villanous nine underneath (from Wang's point of view), the board showing 9♦6♣K♦.

The A♣ then fell at the turn, giving hope to Wang that she might make a backdoor flush to overcome Tarantini's set. However the river was the 4♥, and with a round of applause the bubble were burst.

EPT12MON Bubble girl Yingzi Wang 0443 JulesPochy.jpg

Yingzi Wang, 184th place

They're halfway through Level 16. Let's have a look at what number of visit the moneyier's desk before the break happens in half an hour. --MH

4:06pm: Bad time for kings for BonavenaLevel 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

With 185 players left -- just two from the cash -- Salvatore Bonavena just found himself in a bit a nightmarish situation.

A blind-versus-blind hand between Bonavena and Ivan Arbatskii ended in the previous being all in with a below average stack with K♥K♦ only to peer Arbatskii table A♣A♥. The board ran out J♦5♣9♥4♠Q♦, and Bonavena exits shy of the cash.

There may be a short lived pause because the tables are balanced to verify just 184 are left. Stay tuned. --MH

4:05pm: Pires gets poorerLevel 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Leonardo Pires was as much as 600,000 at one point, he's now all the way down to 205,000. That looks like a small stack but it's still above average. Thomas Popov, who's sat to his right is as much as 450,000. The 2 could also be connected. --NW

3:55pm: Miracle for MaisanoLevel 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Oh. My. God.

Mirco Maisano just hit a miracle!

I only saw the denouement of the hand but on a 5♠3♥Q♥6♠6♥ Maisano had got his last 163,000 in at the river and Patrick Schuhl had matched it. Maisano had 6♣6♦ in front of him for quads, whilst Schuhl had pocket queens for a flopped set that became an entire house that lost to quads!

He had his hands on his head and well he might, he's all the way down to 59,000 whilst Maisano is as much as 410,000. --NW

3:45pm: Deadman done for in advance of the bubbleLevel 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

We're just two spots off the bubble now and Simon Deadman is a kind of who've just missed out on a cash.

In his exit hand Ariel Mantel raised to 10,000, Tudor Purice three-bet to 32,500 from the small blind and Deadman then moved all-in for 44,500 from the massive blind. Mantel smooth called and Purice then wanted confirmation from the ground that he couldn't raise.

The floor was called and Purice was informed he could only call, which he did. The flop fell 2♥2♣3♥ and Purice moved all-in, whilst Mantel folded. Deadman showed pocket fives and he was sooner than Purice's A♣Q♥.

The Q♣ turn gave Purice the lead though and Deadman didn't hit the 9♦ river.

Other players just missing out on a cash include Slaven Popov and Daniel Smith. --NW

3:38pm: Tough spot for ZhuLevel 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Just 190 players remain -- seven from the money -- and Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu finds herself in a tough spot.

Just now she lost a preflop all-in versus Lionel Clerc wherein her T♥9♥ couldn't catch as much as his A♠K♣. Zhu got as much as leave, thinking the 85,000 or so she'd pushed forward was completely lost, but because it happened she had Clerc outchipped by just a little and so she has kept her seat.

But with not up to 10,000 -- and the extent having just changed -- she doesn't have two big blinds left in her stack. We'll see if she will be able to hang on and make the money. --MH

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
16 2,500 5,000 500

3:26pm: Pires tripped upLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Leader Leonardo Pires just dropped a couple of chips in a large multi-way pot. We saw him fire of venture of 100,000 -- roughly the dimensions of the pot -- to force a few folds but one player called.

The board showed T♦K♣7♥2♥A♥ and Pires turned over J♥8♦, appearing a bit of dismayed as he did. That was no match for the set of deuces held by the winner, and now Pires is all the way down to about 465,000. --MH

3:17pm: Big stacksLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

The bubble is fast approaching as 192 players remain and 183 receives a commission. For the players below though the bubble should hold no fear as they're the large stacks.

Name Country Status Chips
Leonardo Pires Brazil PokerStars player 660,000
Andrey Andreev Russia   477,000
Xiaoyong Liao China   460,000
Ahmed Sahih France PokerStars qualifier 448,000
Niall Farrell UK PokerStars player 385,000
Aaron Gustavson USA PokerStars player 365,000

3:07pm: Boeree bounced, Dattani down, Urbanovich undoneLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

The field is shrinking down with regards to just 200 players left, with a couple of more notables a number of the recent exits.

Ami Barer, Alessandro De Iaco, Joao Vieira, and Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree have seen their FPS Monaco Main Event runs end shy of the cash. So, too, has Michel Dattani lost the last of his stack.

And after continuing a brief stack this afternoon, Dzmitry Urbanovich was finally felted to boot. --MH

EPT12MON Dzmitry Urbanovich 0397 JulesPochy.jpg

Urbanovich out

2:55pm: More exitsLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Numbers continue to dwindle on this event with Joseph Carlino, Andrei Konopelko, Matias Ruzzi, Dietrich Fast, and Govert Meetal some of the latest batch of departures. --NW

EPT12MON Joseph Carlino Bust 0377 JulesPochy.jpg

Joseph Carlino's last hand

2:51pm: Patricio picked offLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

LAPT6 Peru Main Event champion sat quietly, his last 75,000 or so pushed out before him. He was waiting to look if Gerard Sanches was going to name or fold. He hoped for the latter, as we'd come to seek out out, precisely because Sanches would select differently.

Upon hearing the call, Rojas showed his J♥T♥, and Sanches turned over 9♦9♣ to say the pot and knock out the Chilean. Sanches has about 225,000 now. --MH

2:45pm: Much needed double for Cederic RamqajLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Tudor Purice opened to 9,500 from early position and Cederic Ramqaj then shoved for 26,000 with Q♥Q♠. Purice made a rapid call with A♦8♣ however the pair hung on the K♣5♦8♦6♠Q♦ board. --NW

2:40pm: Jaka shot downLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

A big thanks to Faraz Jaka for filling us in on his exit hand as he was leaving the tournament room.

He told us that he got dealt pocket jacks under-the-gun+3 and flat called from a stack of 80,000 after the under-the-gun player had opened to 12,000 with A♥6♥. Another player then moved all-in for 32,000 with king-queen, the under-the-gun player re-raised all-in and Jaka snap called.

Although the covering player turned a flush draw it was looking good for Jaka until he was Barry Greensteined by an ace at the river. --NW

2:29pm: From around the globe to MonacoLevel 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

We have pie! The ever popular nationalities pie chart, that is, giving us some insight on where all 1,261 of those FPS Monaco Main Event players came from to get here.

Unsurprisingly, France was chargeable for probably the most entrants, the 550 players representing just over 43% of the sphere. Italy was next in keeping with about 9.3%, with the UK, Russia, and Germany next at the list.

A total of 71 countries sent players. Here's that pie for more (click to embiggen). --MH

fpsmonaconationalities.jpg

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
15 2,000 4,000 500

2:07pm: Break time

With lower than 260 players left -- still about 80 off the cash -- the primary 20-minute break of the day has arrived. --MH

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2:02pm: Pires keeps collectingLevel 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Leonardo Pires just capped off his first two hours of play today having greater than doubled his chip-leading stack already. Near the tip of Level 14 he picked up another 100,000-plus in a hand of Kasra Pour Khomamy who entered today with a top 10 stack.

The hand started with Pires raising to 11,100 from middle position, and only Khomamy called from the small blind. The flop came 6♥7♠4♣, Khomany checked, Pires bet 15,000, and Khomamy called. The turn was the 5♣, and Khomamy again check-called a chance from Pires, this time for 20,000.

Pires checked his cards another time because the 2♥ completed the board. Khomamy checked a 3rd time, and after acting quickly inside the hand Pires paused a few half-minute, then slid forward a stack containing 67,300. Khomamy stacked up calling chips, thought of it for one more beat or two, the called.

Pires tabled A♥8♥ for a turned straight, and Khomamy mucked.

The Brazilian is up around 715,000 now going to break, greater than 300,000 away from his nearest challenger at this time. --MH

1:58pm: OutLevel 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

We're all the way down to just 261 players after the hole two levels with Pablo Gordillo, Ben Heath, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Alex Difelice and Rasmus Agerskov a few of the big names who've crashed out. --NW

1:55pm: Counts!Level 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

The overnight chip leader shows no signs of losing it. Leonardo Pires is as much as 605,000 and still holds the chip lead.

Leonardo Pires - 605,000Andrey Andreev - 490,000Aaron Gustavson - 395,000Ariel Mantel - 295,000Vicente Delgado - 285,000Niall Farrell - 238,000Andrei Boghean - 235,000Keith Johnson - 190,000Ivan Freitez - 166,000Dany Parlafes - 160,000Steven van Zadelhoff - 147,000Simon Deadman - 140,000Yaxi Zhu - 118,000Salvatore Bonavena - 103,000Liv Boeree - 98,000Marvin Rettenmaier - 84,000Arnaud Mattern - 77,000Julien Brécard - 70,000Tudor Purice - 63,000Faraz Jaka - 62,000Dmitry Urbanovich - 55,000

1:45pm: Deadman's turn to doubleLevel 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

It's raining double ups!

The cards were already on their backs by the point I reached table 17 to look Simon Deadman & Weiyi Zhang all-in and at risk, with Tudor Purice on the lookout for the double knockout.

Deadman: A♦Q♠Zhang: Q♣T♣Purice: K♣J♠

A 2♦6♠8♥5♥Q♥ board meant Zhang, who was the shortest of the three, was eliminated and Deadman, who was all-in for 68,900, greater than doubled to around 150,000. After that hit Purice drops to 63,000. --NW

1:26pm: Dzmitry dzoublesLevel 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Roger Mouries opened for 6,500 from early position and after you have a choice from his neighbor to the left watched the table fold around to Dzmitry Urbanovich at the button. Urbanovich swiftly set out his remaining short stack before him as an all-in reraise for roughly 26,000. The blinds got out, Mouries reraised excessive for approximately twice what Urbanovich had, and the rest player folded.

Mouries had 9♠9♣, but that meant Urbanovich was in better shape with T♥T♠. A 10 at the turn then sealed things for the Polish pro, shooting him back as much as around 55,000. --MH

1:10pm: Big double for AcetoLevel 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Nicolas Guest requested a count. He was in a precarious position and had to know exactly where he stood. He'd bet 31,000 at the turn of a 2♠7♠T♦4♦ board and Morgan Aceto had then shoved all-in.

There was already roughly 35,000 within the pot and also you could now add 84,200 to that figure as that was the dimensions of Aceto's shove. Numbers crunched Guest made the decision and showed 9♠8♠ for the mix draw.

He'd want to hit as Aceto had K♠K♦, however the 2♥ was a brick and Aceto held to double to over 200,000, whilst Guest is right down to 64,000. --NW

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
14 1,500 3,000 400

1:06pm: Kings serve BrecardLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Julien Brecard was today all-in and in danger for his last 35,000 or so, but in a fair spot, relatively speaking, holding K♣K♦ versus Quentin Lecomte's A♠K♥. The board came clean for Brecard -- 4♠9♥8♦7♣2♥ -- and he's back up around 70,000 while Lecomte is suddenly all the way down to not up to 10,000. --MH

1pm: Tough crowdLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

There are a couple of candidates for 'table of death' in this day and age. Table 17 is actually up there as Tudor Purice, Simon Deadman, Marvin Rettenmaier and Ariel Mantel are all scrapping it out for chips there. -- NW

12:56pm: Andreev takes his seatLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Day 1A chip leader Andrey Andreev was late arriving today, which meant those two tickets he won for Saturday's football match (a prize for his Day 1A accomplishment) needed to wait along with his stack.

EPT12MON Andrey Andreev 0293 JulesPochy.jpg

Chips and tix

But Andreev did finally get here, and after pocketing his tickets has now gotten to work seeking to build his big stack even further. --MH

12:51pm: Loeser leaves, Metalidi moves onLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

More than 25 players have already lost their stacks within the first half-hour of play, with Manig Loeser and Artem Metalidi a number of the latest wave sent railward. --MH

12:45pm: Malinowski outLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Viktor Malinowski just got the last of his stack in behind K♦J♦ but unfortunately for him had run into the K♣K♥ of Laurent Olive. The board ran out 2♦5♦2♠T♠5♥, and Malinowski hit the rail. Olive meanwhile is now up around 120,000. --MH

12:40pm: Vieira takes a hitLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Joao Vieira has seen his stack cut in half after losing a flip to Jeremie Maxime Beneteau.

Kevin Fallourd opened to 5,100 from under-the-gun and Vieira called from early position. The action folded to Beneteau - who was the massive blind - and he shoved for 27,800 total. Fallourd folded but Vieira made the call.

Beneteau: K♣J♦Vieira: T♠T♥

The 9♥J♥3♠A♥4♦ board favoured the overcards and dropped Vieira to about 30,000. --NW

12:25pm: Gustavson takes out MetalidiLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Artem Metalidi was all-in for his last 27,000 with 5♣5♦ and Aaron Gustavson had him in serious trouble with T♠T♣. The board ran Q♣2♠K♦2♦4♣ and Metalidi departed.

Gustavson now has over 180,000 because of this. --NW

12:21pm: Early bustoutsLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Among the primary to fall here on Day 2 were Cedric Louard, Vladyslav But, Sebastien Boyard, Jeremie Maxime Beneteau, Vasily Kurdin, Stephane Gamet, and Jaroslaw Sikora. --MH

12:14pm: Prize pool and payoutsLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

With 1,261 total entrants on this event, the overall prize pool is an immense €1,223,170. The highest 183 finishers can be splitting those riches, with a min-cash being €1,770 and the primary prize €218,000.

Here are the prizes awaiting those making the overall table:

1st: €218,0002nd: €127,9003rd: €89,9004th: €67,1005th: €51,7806th: €38,5007th: €29,3508th: €20,900

For a whole list of payouts, click here. --MH

12:11pm: A sunny startLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Day 2 has begun with 339 players remaining, all still vying to make it to 1 of the highest 183 spots and the cash of this event. In other words, everyone still has a comparatively sunny disposition because the first hands of the day are being dealt.

Such is appropriate, because tournament organizers have opened the roof at the main tournament room here on the Sporting Club, revealing a wonderful blue sky overhead. They'll keep it open for the primary couple of minutes, then close it as much as make for a more familiar setting for poker because the sun sets (so that you can speak) at the day's first bustouts.

8G2A9514EPT12MON FPS Neil Stoddart.jpg

Look at the bright side... everyone still has a chance

Just before play began, Day 1A chip leader Andrey Andreev and Day 1B leader Leonardo Pires were each awarded a couple of tickets to tomorrow's football match between French Ligue 1 sides AS Monaco and EA Guingamp. Actually only Pires picked up his tickets, as Andreev has yet to reach today.

Whoever happens to have the highest spot on the end of Day 2 may even win the similar prize, although given how that person might be playing poker on Saturday night, the tickets may well be going to a chum. --MH

12:09pm: Chip count pageLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (300 ante)

With such a lot of players within the field it's impossible to maintain track of everyone but we'll be updating the chip counts of as many players as possible. You can find that information at the selected chip counts page with a view to include the large stacks, names and notables because the day progresses.

12:07pm: Let's beginLevel 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (300 ante)

Day 2 action has started. --NW

EPT12MON shuffleupanddeal 0285 JulesPochy.jpg

EPT Tournament Director Thomas Lamatsch begins the day

  LEVEL SMALL BLIND BIG BLIND ANTE
13 1,200 2,400 300

11:45am: Time to bust a move but not bust in Monaco

On a few of the regional tours that PokerStars operate all over the world the blogging fraternity seek advice from Day 2 as 'moving day'.

It's the day when tournament winning stacks are built and the cash starts to be dished out. Whilst 339 players return today we predict only around 10% of that field will still have chips to bag come the top of the day. The common stack will rocket to around 850,000 and Leonardo Pires's start of Day 2 chip leading stack of 339,400 will appear to be chump change 10 levels from now. This isn't an afternoon to keep up and stand still, it is a day to move.

The key start of day info will also be accessed below. Cards are within the air at noon CEST.

Start of Day 2 seat drawStart of Day 2 chip counts

EPT12MON location le rocher 9466 JulesPochy.jpg

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at FPS Monaco: Martin Harris and Nick Wright. Photos by Jules Pochy. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog



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