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The total number of runners who made it out for Day 1a was 191. Of those, 174 currently remain.
Last year's total field was 586, meaning that Day 1b is going to have to draw more than 395 runners to beat it. It would be an impressive feat, but it's still very possible.
Jeff Sarwer continues to chip up and finds himself armed with a stack of 55,600, enough to keep him hot on the heels of the chip leaders.
The action folded around to Sarwer in the hijack seat and he decided that a raise to 800 was in order. Possibly sensing a steal attempt, the cutoff raised to 2,050 and when the action folded back around to Sarwer, he made the call.
Flop: 
- Sarwer checked and stared intensely at his opponent from the corner of his eye and snap-called the 2,250 bet he made.
Turn: 
- Both players opted to check the turn
River: 
- Mirroring the turn, both players checked.
"What you got?" quizzed Sarwer but he received no answer. Instead his opponent slid his cards into the muck without even seeing Sarwer's hole cards. Sarwer checked his cards and turned over one of them, the 
exclaiming, "I have a deuce!" which is enough to win the pot
Entering Level 5 (nine in total will be played today), it looks like our current chip leader is Matt Widdoes, who has picked up a few tidy cashes back in the USA, but has yet to climb the EPT leaderboard. His 83,000 put him out in front of the mere doublers and sets him up for a relaxed dinner break in two hours' time if he holds on to his momentum or just his present stack.
Also still up around the top of the counts is Kevin MacPhee, with 65,000. He just had a go at three-betting Josef Gulas from the cutoff preflop (750 to 1,900), but immediately passed when Gulas promptly made it 5,700. He then turned to a small piece of paper and started making notes.*
*Just a guess, I don't read over people's shoulders. He could have been sketching the dealer.
Level: 5
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
...of the tournament area. For 15 minutes. Back soon.
Nicolas Levi has been splashing around in a couple of pots in the last few minutes, attacking the blinds with varying degrees of success.
Hand 1: On a board reading 
and with 10,200 in the pot, the big blind checked, Levi quickly bet 10,000 from the button, prompting his opponent to ask him for a count. Levi confidently counted his remaining 5,000 chips, prompting a fold from his opponent.
Hand 2: The action folded around to Levi in the cutoff who raised it up to 850. This time the button called, along with the big blind, menaing three players saw the 
flop. The big blind checked, Levi made a continuation bet of 1,250, a bet that only the button called.
Turn: 
- Both players checked
River: - Levi attempted to represent the scare card on the river with a 3,200 bet but will have known he was in big trouble when his opponent snap-called.
Levi: 
Button: 
At the end of all that levi is now on 19,250
Worthy of particular note this time around is Yann Brosolo. The Frenchman, who finished 13th here last year, is back up to 24,000 after dropping down to just 8,000 in the first couple levels.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
52,000 | |
|
52,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
||
|
45,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
|
||
|
37,500
6,500
|
6,500 |
|
24,000
-14,450
|
-14,450 |
|
||
|
24,000
15,500
|
15,500 |
|
24,000
-13,000
|
-13,000 |
|
|
||
|
23,000
-3,600
|
-3,600 |
|
19,000
-11,000
|
-11,000 |
We believe that Arnaud Mattern raised and then shoved to a reraise from Ankush Mandavia on the button. Either way it all happened very quickly and the cards were on their backs within seconds.
Mattern: 
Mandavia: 
Board: 
While tablemates told Mandavia, "Nice comeback," - he's at over 50,000 now - the Team PokerStars Pro hit the rail. Marcin Horecki is now the only Team PokerStars Pro still with a shot at making it through Day 1a.
Every time we pass his table, Hugo Lemaire seems to be doing something with his chips, getting them in a whole lot of pots (but not necessarily getting them out again). He contributed a few to Sorel Mizzi's now 26k stack, calling his 3,400 bet on the turn of a 
board on the button, before quickly checking behind on the river. Mizzi showed 
which were good to take the pot.
A selection of chip counts from around the room. Enjoy!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
66,500
-1,500
|
-1,500 |
|
63,300
-1,700
|
-1,700 |
|
57,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
|
||
|
51,300
14,800
|
14,800 |
|
50,200
-4,800
|
-4,800 |
|
|
||
|
48,350
3,350
|
3,350 |
|
47,200
13,200
|
13,200 |
|
42,200
16,200
|
16,200 |
|
|
38,450
10,950
|
10,950 |
|
|
||
|
32,300
13,300
|
13,300 |
|
28,600
2,600
|
2,600 |
|
28,000 | |
|
|
26,600
7,600
|
7,600 |
|
25,750
-17,250
|
-17,250 |
|
||
|
|
23,550
-4,450
|
-4,450 |
|
|
16,600
-10,200
|
-10,200 |
|
14,200
-7,800
|
-7,800 |
|
13,500
-500
|
-500 |
|
10,700
-14,300
|
-14,300 |
|
6,250
-25,550
|
-25,550 |
|
|
||
