Gary McGinty from Ireland is the chip leader with 2,835,000 at the close of Day 2 of the PokerStars Festival Main Event Dublin.
Another Irishman Michael Graydon is second with 1,631,000 while third place was claimed by a Romanian, Florian Duta who finished on 1,586,000.
The day began with 199 players who had made it through from a total number of 544 entries across the three Day 1s including the last Day 1c Turbo that finished in the early hours of Saturday morning.
With final numbers confirmed the prize pool was released and from the €700,000 guarantee the eventual winner is set to receive €130,410. That would have to wait until the final day tomorrow though and it was the bubble that was uppermost in many minds with 79 places getting paid with a min-cash worth €2,310.
Among those who fell short of that were Steven Watts, Chris Dowling, Niall Farrell and Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker.
It was Paul Carr who was eliminated on the bubble at the end of level 16 when he four-bet jammed holding and was called by Sacha Lebreton who had .
One man who was delighted to cash and a little unlucky to bust was guest of PokerStars seven-time World Snooker Champion Stephen Hendry. He explained how he opened and called a three bet with pocket fours and flopped a set. All the money went in but unfortunately for Hendry his opponent Padhraic Mulligan had flopped a set of Kings. It was a creditable 56th place for his first Hendon Mob flag and €2,510.
There were a number of players contesting the chip lead as dinner approached but it was Gary McGinty who nosed ahead and breached the one million chip mark around the dinner break. McGinty put those chips to good use and went on a bit of a tear and was the first player to break the two million barrier with the average stack hovering around the 40 big blind blind mark. Going into the final level it was still McGinty out front closing in on three million chips.
After 10 levels of play with the time approaching midnight the final 16 players bagged up their chips and headed to the PokerStars Players Party for a well-earned drink.
Play resumes on Sunday at 12 p.m. for the final Day of the PokerStars Festival which will see a new champion crowned. The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand until the final card hits the felt so be sure not to miss any of the action.
Coming back from dinner break Gary McGinty was the chip leader with 1,150,000 and we went to check up on him and see whether he was well rested from his dinner break.
Daniel Ulvrell opened from the hijack and Sacha Lebreton flat-called in the cutoff. Virgilio Dicicco also called on the button before McGinty three-bet from the big blind to 105,000. Lebreton was the only caller.
The flop came and McGinty continued for 79,000. Lebreton raised to 158,000. McGinty moved all in and Lebreton eventually folded.
McGinty showed while raking in the pot, meaning he moves up to just under 1,500,000.
We saw Stephen Hendry heading to the cage to get paid out, and he explained that a set-over-set situation saw him eliminated.
He raised with and Pandhraic Mulligan to his immediate left three-bet and Hendry called. They both checked the flop. Hendry continued on the turn and his opponent called, and the seven-time world champion moved all in on the river with his opponent snap-called. His opponent showed Kings for a bigger set.
Hendry said that the whole experience has been amazing.
"To be honest I've been card dead all day," he explained, "I managed to get some scores here or there to keep myself ticking along.
Deborah Worley-Roberts' table was the latest to break and she let out a cry of anguish.
"Parting is such sweet sorrow," she said, almost Shakespeare-esque. The Romeo to her Juliet? Gaetano Brignone.
"I didn't bust out Pussy Cat!" said Worley-Roberts, referring to Brignone.
Someone uttered the almost compulsory 'See you at the Final Table' and Worley-Roberts lept upon it.
"You had better concentrate and play better! I'll see you there!"
Arriving at her new table Worley-Roberts greeted her new table mates but got zero response so she promptly called them, “Miserable fuckers.”
Virgilio Dicicco opened for 12,000 and it folded to Worley-Roberts in the big blind who called.
The flop was and Worley-Roberts check-called a 25,000 bet from Dicicco.
The turn was the and a check saw a shove from Dicicco.
“You are an angry man aren’t you?” Worley-Roberts.
“Call, call,” Dicicco responded as Worley-Roberts began to decide on what to do and asked for the pot to be spread and a count of his stack.
“Two to one,” she pondered, “Ninety six more? I don’t believe you my friend. My gut has been pretty goddamned good this year honey. I must be insane.”
Worley-Roberts called and Dicicco turned over to the of Worley-Roberts.
The on the river completed the board and the full house for Dicicco.
Not the start at the new tables she was looking for and Worley-Roberts berated herself for making such a read straight after joining a brand new table.
We saw Chris Moneymaker, iPad in hand, heading to the exit and we headed over to his table. Sean Prendiville, who at last count had just over 250,000 was raking in the chips and he recounted the hand.
Moneymaker had opened and Prendiville defended his big blind. The flop came and Prendiville check-raised Moneymaker's continuation bet. Moneymaker then three-bet and Prendiville four-bet jammed. Moneymaker called.
Chris Moneymaker:
Sean Prendiville:
Prendiville held top pair but an inferior flush draw to the 2003 Main Event champion. The turn was another queen, the and the river the , but it was too little too late as Moneymaker was eliminated, with Prendiville's stack being boosted to around 500,000.
With Deborah Worley-Roberts in the nine seat and Jake Quinsee in the one seat the floor was called to make a ruling as Worley-Roberts had exposed her hand.
Quinsee still had 15,000 behind and the ruling was that Worley-Roberts’ hand was live but play would continue with her hand exposed.
The flop was
Action was on Worley-Roberts and she duly bet 15,000 with her draw.
“At least I got to see if I liked the flop,” Quinsee said and called showing his . “I’ll take the five of diamonds.”
The turn was the but the river brought the flush to bust Quinsee.
“You have a one round penalty,” said the floor which the table judged to be a bit harsh but Worley-Roberts accepted it with good grace saying, “Don’t you dare put that in the blog.”
With just shy of 400,000 in chips now Worley-Roberts continues to crush and no doubt the table will be trying to gather some chips before her return.
Chris Moneymaker raised to 7,000 and Masoud Etemadiherisi raised to 15,000 on the button. Moneymaker called and the flop came . Moneymaker moved all in for around 50,000 and Etemadiherisi called.
Masoud Etemadiherisi:
Chris Moneymaker:
The turn was the , giving Moneymaker a straight, and the river was the , giving Moneymaker another straight.
Uh oh I got lucky! Cracked kings for a double once got short. #luckoftheirish @pokerstars
— Chris Moneymaker (@CMONEYMAKER)
Etemadiherisi was eliminated in the very next hand, with Moneymaker moving up to around 130,000 in chips.
The PokerStars Blog tracked Chris Moneymaker at the start of the day, so head over there to find out how he got on as he made an action-packed start to his Day 2.
Deborah Worley-Roberts aka ”Debs The Destroyer” begins the day as the chip leader with a whopping 317,600 and full of confidence after cashing the last three live events she has entered.
Not too far behind are Ireland’s Emmett Mullin (311,700) and Andrew Grimason (263,600).
Some of the other notables to make it through to Day 2 include Jason Wheeler (83,900), Niall Farrell (93,000), Dermot Blain (96,000), Andrew Christoforou (97,100), Tomas Soderstrom (107,100), and Tom Hall (87,300).
Also in the hunt is guest of PokerStars the seven-time World Snooker Champion Stephen Hendry (75,200)
The remaining players are set to resume battle at 12 p.m at The Regency here in sunny Dublin for the penultimate day of the €700,000 guarantee Main Event and will include those who made it through from the Day 1c Turbo that finished in the early hours of Saturday.
The prize pool will be announced shortly after play commences so players will know how much the eventual winner is set to receive but also how many places will be paid and the nail biting bubble position.
Stay tuned toPokerNews as the Live Reporting team keeps you bang up to date with all the craic and action from the felt as the PokerStars Festival Dublin 2017 continues.
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and was called by Sacha Lebreton who had 
.
and Worley-Roberts headed to the exit.
and McGinty continued for 79,000. Lebreton raised to 158,000. McGinty moved all in and Lebreton eventually folded.
while raking in the pot, meaning he moves up to just under 1,500,000.
flop. Hendry continued on the turn and his opponent called, and the seven-time world champion moved all in on the river with his opponent snap-called. His opponent showed Kings for a bigger set.
of Worley-Roberts.
and the river the 
hand.
. “I’ll take the five of diamonds.”
, giving Moneymaker a straight, and the river was the 