Andras Nemeth raised to 1.1 million and called a three-bet to see the flop, on which he checked. Table neighbor Hermogenes Gelonezi bet 3.25 million and Nemeth made the call.
On the turn both players checked and Nemeth bet the river for 8.025 million with around 6.1 million behind.
Gelonezi jammed with the superior stack and Nemeth eventually called with the . Gelonezi had that beat with the and sent the dangerous Hungarian to the rail.
Mikita Badziakouski somehow got all his chips in while sitting on the button and was up against Peter Jetten who was sitting in the early position with the bigger stack.
Mikita Badziakouski:
Peter Jetten:
The board ran out for Jetten to hold with the queens to send the partypoker Ambassador out of the tournament in 48th place.
Picking up the action on the flop, Dzmitry Urbanovich checked his option from the small blind and Ilia Rusalimchik bet 1,380,000. Urbanovich check-raised to 4,800,000 only for Rusalimchik to make it 8,820,000 and pick up a call by the partypoker sponsored pro.
The fell on the turn and Urbanovich check-called all-in for 15,216,897.
Dzmitry Urbanovich:
Ilia Rusalimchik:
The fell on the river and Urbanovich's flush secured a huge double.
Christian Jeppson shoved from the button for 7,190,478 and Vitalijs Zavorotnijs three-bet enough from the small blind to put Simon Nielsen in the big blind all-in who decided to make the call for the 18,659,658 he had behind.
Christian Jeppsson:
Simon Nielsen:
Vitalijs Zavorotnijs:
The flop came to keep Zavorotnijs ahead but the turn brought them the for both Jeppsson and Nielsen to improve to the higher two pair.
However, the river completed the board with the for Zavorotnijs to improve to a full house to eliminate both Jeppsson and Nielsen before the end of the night.
It was moving day in the 2021 partypoker MILLIONS $5,300 Main Event, as all remaining 160 contenders out of 1,084 entries had locked up a portion of the $5,420,000 prize pool. Ten levels of 30 minutes each were scheduled and once the final river showdown was completed, only 28 hopefuls still had chips at their disposal.
Among them are also two partypoker representatives in Dzmitry Urbanovich and Jaime Staples, both of which can be found in the middle of the pack.
The honor of being the Day 2 chip lead belongs to Ukraine's Valentyn Kazantsev with 68,852,752 in chips. Little is known about Kazantsev as there is only one recorded live event cash to his name.
Plenty of other notables in the overnight top 10 are, however, well-known names of the international online and live poker circuit. German High Roller regular Oliver Weis finished the day second in chips with 66,475,886, followed closely by Endrit Geci with 62,331,105. WSOP bracelet winner Jerry Ödeen bagged up a very healthy 60,600,259 and 2021 partypoker MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event Justin Ouimette will aim to achieve an unprecedented double as he advanced with 59,028,336.
The 2020 WSOP Main Event international leg finalist Dominykas Mikolaitis also claimed a top 10 stack to his name and finished Day 2 with 55,041,104 in chips.
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Valentyn Kazantsev
Ukraine
68,852,752
86
2
Oliver Weis
Germany
66,475,886
83
3
Endrit Geci
United Kingdom
62,331,105
78
4
Jerry Odeen
Sweden
60,600,259
76
5
Justin Ouimette
Canada
59,028,336
74
6
Timothy Ulmer
United States
56,275,337
70
7
Dominykas Mikolaitis
Lithuania
55,041,104
69
8
Richard Mullen
Canada
53,305,689
67
9
Martin Brinkmann
United Kingdom
48,994,828
61
10
Christopher Brice
United Kingdom
48,047,296
60
Just outside of the top ten is WPT Barcelona champion Vitalijs Zavorotnijs (47,348,859) while partypoker sponsored pro Urbanovich sits in 14th place with 39,376,294. Twitch streamer Staples isn't far behind as he made it through with 30,667,945 in chips.
Plenty of other notables advanced including the Day 1 chip leaders Peter Jetten and Daniel Dvoress, 2018 partypoker MILLIONS Online champion Manuel Ruivo, Juan Carlos Vecino, Christian Rudolph, and Joris Ruijs. All 28 remaining contenders have $27,724 locked up for their efforts and the next pay-jump will be reached at 23 players left.
Before the start of the day, Twitch streamer Staples shared all but a short "It’s time. I’m hyped" on Twitter. He was then busy for the next five and a half hours, during which he chipped up significantly. Early on, Staples knocked out High Roller regular Sergi Reixach and also won a flip to bust Aki Virtanen a few levels later.
The Canadian boosted his stack to more than 50 million at one point before dropping back just below the average during the late stages. After the final hand was over, it took a while for Staples to gather his thoughts, which he then shared via Twitter as follows:
"$892,000 for the win and there are 28 left in the @partypoker Millions Main event! 28!!!! I've been working 11 years for this moment."
partypoker sponsored pro Urbanovich was among the shortest stacks in contention when the action resumed but scored two early double-ups to gain traction. He then went on a hot streak to eliminate several opponents and joined the top five in chips mid-way through the day. The meteoric rise culminated in a big double with a turned flush, which saw Urbanovich soar above 50 million in chips. Like Staples, he lost some chips towards the end but is right in the mix.
The partypoker ambassadors Jason Koon and Kristen Bicknell were among the early casualties of the day. Bicknell got it in with a flopped set only to see the top pair of Sosia Jiang improve to a runner-runner straight. Moments later, the UK's Martin Bremner departed in 123rd place. He had qualified for the Main Event after starting his journey in a $5 satellite and parlayed that into an $11,490 cash. Alan Ford also risked just $5 to enter the fray and made ut even further, bowing out in 76th place for $13,931.
Another partypoker ambassador made a deep run and that was Mikita Badziakouski. The Belorussian was well above the average mid-way through the day but eventually ran out of steam. It was a classic flip for Badziakouski, who held ace-king and failed to beat the pocket queens of Peter Jetten. Right before that, poker philanthropist Scott Wellenbach had departed in 49th place.
Among the late casualties on Day 2 were notables such as Francois Billard, Christian Jeppsson, Andrei Chernokoz, Andreas Christoforou, and Alexander Ivarsson. Many other big names of the international poker circuit could be listed among those who walked away with a cash prize on Day 2, as the field was filled with bracelet winners and High Roller regulars from all over the world.
All remaining 28 players will return to their virtual seats after a good night's sleep on March 2 at 7.05 p.m. GMT.
Here is what they are still playing for:
Place
Prize
1
$892,275
2
$614,523
3
$422,422
4
$276,128
5
$189,320
6
$146,300
7
$115,425
8
$91,542
9
$72,260
10-11
$54,542
12-15
$43,335
16-23
$35,084
24-28
$27,724
The blinds at the start of Day 3 will recommence at 400,000-800,000 with a running ante of 100,000. The penultimate tournament day will play down to the nine-handed final table, which will then be streamed with cards-up coverage and commentary the following day. Stay tuned for more as the PokerNews live reporting team will be there to provide all the action until a champion has been crowned.