Day 1b of the €5,300 PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® Starts at 12 p.m.

Welcome to Day 1b of the PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® €5,300 Main Event. The first ever PokerStars Championship on European soil is on familiar ground, as the former EPT Grand Final has morphed into its new incarnation. The prestigious tournament in the gorgeous Principality of Monaco never fails to attract the best and brightest from around the world and this year is no different.

Yesterday, Day 1a drew 235 players and 107 of them survived. Jeff Hakim had a monster day and bagged over ten times his starting stack - 305,300 - after just eight levels of play. Germany's Stefan Schillhabel (203,000) and Manig Loeser (195,700) rounded out the top three. Notables like Ole Schemion (144,900), Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin (125,500) and Fabrice Soulier (105,100) also bagged big on Day 1a.

Day 1b will attract even more hopefuls vying to follow in Jan Bendik's footsteps. The Slovakian topped a 1,098 strong field last year and banked a staggering €961,800. He's expected to take his seat today and start his title defense. Besides the Main Event, the €50,000 Single-Day High Roller will kick off as well, which will feature €100,000 Super High Roller winner Bryn Kenney, David Peters, Steve O'Dwyer and the aforementioned Schemion, among a slew of other notables.

Day 1b will commence at noon local time and eight levels of 75 minutes will be played. There will be 20-minute breaks after every two levels, plus a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6. Players will start with stacks of 30,000 and blinds at 50/100. The tournament is in a freezeout format; players are on one bullet only. Follow PokerNews throughout the week as we crown the first ever PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Main Event champion!

Day 1 Level Structure