We've left the confines of the Casino Barriere, Cannes, and returned to the plush surroundings of the Majestic Hotel for the third faze of this exciting unique tournament format.
Day 1 played out 9-handed before that was reduced to 6-max yesterday. Today is all about heads up action. The pressure and excitement that this tournament produces has been building each day, and there is nowhere to hide today!
The plan for today is to play the round of 16 matches and the round of eight matches so we are left with four players who will advance to tomorrow's semi-finals.
Brandon Cantu is a massive favourite coming into today's play as he has more than 25% of the chips in play after an extraordinary day of play yesterday. He won't find it that easy today though as he has to play Phil Hellmuth today; a man who declared war on him yesterday.
Join us back here at 2:00 PM (CET) for the start of the first set of matches.
Jason Mercier had the button. He raised to an unknown amount and Jonathan Aguiar three-bet all in. Mercier snap called and tabled . Aguiar rolled his eyes and showed .
It seemed to get even better for Mercier when he flopped a set on the flop. However, a shocked look quickly washed over Mercier's face as the rolled off on the turn, giving Aguiar the nut straight. Mercier would need to make a full house or quads on the river, but the bricked out for him and he was eliminated from the tournament.
"Let's play ball!" Mercier said to Vanessa Selbst, who recently showed up to the room with a basketball in hand.
Aguiar, on the other hand, will be returning to the round of 8 with a stack of 229,000.
Phil Hellmuth came in with high hopes today but had a Brandon Cantu shaped mountain to climb to advance. He made it over the first crest, slipped a little, and then fell down that mountain.
Hellmuth raised to 6,000 and was three-bet to 22,000 by Cantu. He quickly committed his 140,000 stack and Cantu called.
Hellmuth:
Cantu:
The board ran and Cantu will advance to the round of eight.
Hellmuth said afterwards that he had regrets that he didn't play more patiently
Jennifer Tilly opened to 7,500 from the button and Marvin Rettenmaier announced "all in".
Tilly called all in for 65,000 and her tournament life.
Tilly:
Rettenmaier:
The board fell and Rettenmaier was able to deliver the killing blow. Tilly will take home €20,443 for her efforts while Rettenmaier will take a stack of 354,400 into the round of 8.
Kristijonas Andrulis shipped all in from the button for his last 50,000 or so and Roger Hairabedian called.
Andrulis:
Hairabedian:
The board fell and Hairabedian's pair of fives secured him the victory. Andrulis was sent to the rail and Hairabedian is the first player to advance to the round of four. Hairabedian now has at least a one in four chance to become the first every player to win two World Series of Poker Europe bracelets in one year.
Martin Jacobson had the button. He raised to an unknown amount. Brandon Cantu three-bet to 26,000 only to have Jacobson come back over the top with a four-bet to 52,000. Cantu stood up from the table, counted his chips, and then announced that he was all in. Jacobson called and the hands were revealed to be racing:
Cantu:
Jacobson:
The board fell and Cantu's pocket jacks were able to hold. The match is now close to where it started in terms of chip distribution between the players.
Jonathan Aguiar had the button. He opened for a min-raise and Marvin Rettenmaier three-bet all in for his last 125,000. Aguiar called and the hands were tabled:
Aguiar:
Rettenmaier:
The board fell and Aguiar heaved a sigh of relief. The two players shook hands and Rettenmaier exited the tournament area. With this win Aguiar has officially secured himself a spot in the final four.
. Aguiar rolled his eyes and showed 
.
flop. However, a shocked look quickly washed over Mercier's face as the 
rolled off on the turn, giving Aguiar the nut straight. Mercier would need to make a full house or quads on the river, but the 
bricked out for him and he was eliminated from the tournament.
, called by the Russian holding the monster 
.
to seal the Frenchman's fate.
and Rettenmaier was able to deliver the killing blow. Tilly will take home €20,443 for her efforts while Rettenmaier will take a stack of 354,400 into the round of 8.
and Hairabedian's pair of fives secured him the victory. Andrulis was sent to the rail and Hairabedian is the first player to advance to the round of four. Hairabedian now has at least a one in four chance to become the first every player to win two World Series of Poker Europe bracelets in one year.
to pair Jaka's nine. He advances to play Jonathan Aguiar.