36 Remain in 2015 Master Classics of Poker Main Event, with Donald Rae Leading
The 2015 Master Classics of Poker €4,250 Main Event saw another 13 players enter the competition before registration closed at the start of Day 2 to bump the overall field to 291 entries. All but one of those late registrants busted before the end of the day, with just Andrew Leathem advancing through to Day 3 with a stack of 201,000 in chips. But, all eyes will be on the United Kingdom's Donald Rae, as he bagged the overnight lead with 682,000.
The Englishman was followed by 2015 World Series of Poker Europe bracelet winner Makarios Avramidis (635,000) and fellow Greek Georgios Zisimopoulos (550,000). [Removed:172] (536,000) and Timothy Adams (507,000) completed the top five.
Day 2 was all about making the money, and the money bubble burst at the start of Level 18 when Zisimopoulos open-shoved the button with jack-three and Juha Helppi called with ace-nine suited from the blinds. A jack and a three appeared on the flop, and that proved the end of the road for Helppi.
Many other notables didn't even make it as far. Ludovic Geilich, Kevin Killeen, Fatiy Aydin, and Bryn Kenney all fell in the first level of the day, along with Tom Hall, Paul Hoefer, Micha Hoedemaker, Matthias de Meulder, and Jason Wheeler.
Antoine Vranken had started as one of the biggest stacks, but he departed in the second level of Wednesday's action. Avramidis then took care of Aviv Meiri and EPT Malta champion Jean Montury shortly after to soar into the lead.
Thomas Muehloecker, Noah Boeken, Eugene Katchalov, Farid Chati, Rodrigo Caprioli, Matas Cimbolas, and Paul Berende had nothing to show for either following their eliminations.
Berende saw his pocket aces cracked by start-of-the-day chip leader Martin Finger, and German wunderkind Ole Schemion sent over the remainder of his stack to Kramer.
Ari Engel's stack melted in four big hands, and a crazy two minutes saw the simultaneous eliminations of [Removed:17], Raoul Refos, and 2011 MCOP champion David Boyaciyan.
Govert Metaal also lost a flip towards the end of Level 17 before the bubble burst.
Notables to make it through to the penultimate day included Przemyslaw Piotrowski (419,000), Joep van den Bijgaart (406,000), Ilan Boujenah (378,000), Pieter de Korver (293,000), Anton Wigg (212,000), Bryan Paris (212,000), Jussi Nevanlinna (208,000), Pascal Vos (201,000), former November Niner Michiel Brummelhuis (195,000), Steven van Zadelhoff (195,000), Tobias Peters (182,000), Steve O'Dwyer (152,000), defending champion Ruben Visser (86,000), and the aforementioned Day 1b leader Finger (38,000).
With 36 players left, all have locked up a min-cash of €5,762 for their efforts. But, all eyes will be set on the unique winner plate and first-place payday of €299,614.
Play will resume on Thursday at 14:00 local time with 90-minute levels. The blinds continue at 3,000/6,000 with a running ante of 1,000, and you can find live coverage in the PokerNews Live Reporting section.