What with all the cameras and side events taking up space, and with the money being so close, media have technically been banned from the tournament area. But we have been granted special dispensation to sneak in there so long as we only go in one at a time, so hopefully we'l be able to bring you the action without knocking anything over.
Konstantin Puchkov, a regular on the European Poker Tour, has just increased his stack to 250,000 after winning a nice sized pot from Kristoffer Thorsson.
Thorsson opened to 10,500 from early position and it initially looked as if all of his table mates had folded, but Puchkov, tucked away in the big blind next to the imposing figure that is "Elky", called.
Flop: - Both players decline to bet, simply checking
Turn: - Puchkov checks, then quickly calls Thorsson's 14,000 bet.
River: - Puchkov once again refuses to bet but as soon as Thorsson bets 25,000 he beats him into the pot to call.
If you were going to use farm animals as an analogy you would pitch Nicolo Calia as an old bull and Bryn Kenney as a young bull. You would think that the young bull would be the aggressor but not if the old bull gets there first!
Kenney opens up to 13,000 and Calia calls in the cut-off. The action folds around and the dealer gives us a flop of . Kenney checks and Calia shoves. Kenney mucks instantly and Calia shows him the Snowmen.
We arrived just in time to see a massive three-way all-in showdown in progress. We suspect that the chips went in preflop.
Asa Smith:
Daniel Egea:
Iddo Feinberg:
It all happened rather fast (and it involved a bit of a scramble across the room to catch it at all) so we didn't manage to catch any of the board - except for the fact that it very definitely had a queen on it. Feinberg took the main pot to put him up to 280,000, Egea took the side pot and is at 210,000, and the hapless Smith hit the rail, just a few places off the money.
As we approach the bubble there are some players who you can just tell have seen it, done it and bought the t-shirt. One of those players quietly going about his business has seen it, has done it and took off his t-shirt when he won a World Series of Poker bracelet. Pascal LeFrancois not only won his bracelet this year for a princely sum of $568,974 but a few days later he went on to better that feat when he finished 11th in the Main Event itself for a prize of $635,011.
You will remember one Jonathan Duhamel went on to win that particular event. Pascal LeFrancois is a personal friend of Duhamels and is part of the formidable Montreal school of players who had a tremendously successful 2010.
Pascal LeFrancois is currently sat with over 300,000 chips. He has far more than anyone at his table and looks more composed than anyone as well. He also has all of his clothes on, which is good news for the rest of the players, because the last time we saw him without his top it was when he was being photographed with the winning hand, bracelet and a big pile of cash in front of him.
On a flop reading , Bryan Pellegrino made a 14,000 bet when his opponent checked to him.
Turn: - Both players check
River: - Again, both players check.
The dealer asked the players to turn over their cards, Pellegrino shows for a busted flush draw and missed gutshot, and his opponent turned over the winning
Hand for hand on the bubble, Koen de Visscher moved all in and was called by Andre Bucica. They had to wait a good five minutes for all the hands at the other tables to be completed before they got to see what they were respectively up against.
De Visscher:
Bucica:
Board:
With that, ladies and gentlemen, 112 players are in the money and play is over for the day.
So seven long levels later, and our field has once more been decimated - we started with a ballroom-filling 400 players today, and have been reduced to just 112, each one of them guaranteed a minimum payout of €7,500.
Chip leader as we head into the business end of the tournament is Mr. Bryn Kenney. The bejewelled American finished up the day on 693,500, around 50,000 chips clear of his nearest rival Roman Makhlin.
Also still in the running are LAPT Mar del Plata winner Dominik Nitsche, Amsterdam Master Classics winner Kristoffer Thorsson and WSOP bracelet winners Konstantin Puchkov and Tomer Berda. Still flying the flag for Team PokerStars Pro are Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Ruben Visser, Matthias de Meulder, Alexandre Gomes and Leo Fernandez.
Also still in, although with below average chips, is Carlos Mortensen. The 2001 World Champion could be looking at a triple crown if things go his way today.
Today has flown by at breakneck speed, but tomorrow's going to have to go even faster if we want to follow the schedule and play down to 24 tomorrow. We have faith though. Our 112 cashers will return tomorrow at noon and we'll be right there with them as they begin the slow ascent to the serious money.