2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza

€1,000,000 Big One For One Drop
Day: 2
Event Info

2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
65
Prize
€11,111,111
Event Info
Buy-in
€1,000,000
Prize Pool
€24,888,892
Entries
28
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
800,000 / 1,600,000
Ante
200,000

€1,000,000 Big One For One Drop

Day 2 Completed

Andrew Pantling Leads Final Table of Big One for One Drop

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante
Andrew Pantling
Andrew Pantling

One of poker’s enduring myths is the curse of the chip leader and here at the stunning Casino de Monte-Carlo that came true as Al De Carolis, who began the day in top spot, was the last man out today. In keeping with the day, it was a cooler as De Carolis ran queens into Rick Salomon’s kings for his final 25 big blinds.

When the final eight return tomorrow at noon to play for the first prize of €11,111,111 this is how they’ll stack up:

SeatPlayerChipsBig Blinds
1Brandon Steven8,000,00020
2Rick Salomon26,900,00067
3Andrew Pantling31,775,00079
4James Bord18,125,00045
5Haralabos Voulgaris5,375,00013
6Anatoly Gurtovoy16,775,00042
7Elton Tsang23,550,00059
8Cary Katz9,550,00024

It took just under five hours of play to go from 24 to 8 and for most of that time, Andrew Pantling, who started the day seventh in chips, held the chip lead. He survived a couple of early dents in the opening hour before his stack began trending upwards.

While Pantling was leading at the first break, the truth is that the opening two levels were all about Paul Phua. In that 90-minute period, Phua took care of Patrick Madden (aces versus kings), Tony Bloom (jacks versus ace-nine), Mark Teltscher (jacks versus ace-ten) and, most notably, Guy Laliberté. The One Drop founder got his final 15 big blinds in with ace-queen and was in great shape against Phua’s king-queen. However, the former Macau junkiteer flopped top two pair and the turn and river bricked to send Laliberté to the rail.

Quickly the final three tables became two and up on the feature stage we saw, potentially, a tournament-defining pot play out between Bob Safai and Pantling. The chips flew in on the turn of a {J-Clubs}{9-Hearts}{2-Diamonds}{8-Hearts} board. Safai had the nuts with queen-ten and Pantling had two-pair with nine-eight. An eight on the river filled Pantling up and sent a shell-shocked Safai tumbling out. “So sick,” said Antonio Esfandiari, who was watching on as Safai’s coach. That pot gave Pantling almost a quarter of the chips in play and he upped the aggression accordingly.

Whilst that was undoubtedly the hand of the day it was far from the end of the action as big pots were the order of the day. Paul Newey and Talal Shakerchi had been eliminated by the time Al De Carolis briefly reclaimed the chip lead. An accidental flop re-raise from De Carolis worked out pretty well as Pantling set him in holding top pair and De Carolis called with a backdoor straight and flush draw. He hit the straight draw on the river, which knocked Pantling down to second spot.

The final dozen players soon became nine as Sean Dempsey, Paul Phua and Jason Strasser were eliminated by Elton Tsang, Rick Salomon and Brandon Steven respectively. Just like that the unofficial final table was set. Jack Effel offered the players the chance to play down to six which would mean everyone who would come back on the final day would’ve been in the money, but a couple of players objected and wanted to stop with eight left as planned.

On just the twelfth hand of the unofficial final table, a kings versus queens encounter between Salomon and De Carolis meant the latter bubbled the final table and play was done for the day. Two players will leave empty handed tomorrow, that much we know.

The elite eight will return at 11:45am local time and many of them may will be wearing a tuxedo as there’s a company providing them if they’ve not traveled with one of their own. We’re also promised a theatrical entrance and beginning to what’s shaping up to be a fantastic final table, during which levels will increase to one-hour in length. This is what the final eight will be playing for tomorrow:

PlacePrize
1st€11,111,111
2nd€5,427,781
3rd€3,000,000
4th€2,100,000
5th€1,750,000
6th€1,500,000

Join us from noon local time for what promises to be a thrilling conclusion to this very special tournament.

Tags: Alfred De CarolisAndrew PantlingBob SafaiBrandon StevenCary KatzElton TsangHaralabos VoulgarisJames BordJason StrasserRick Salomon

End of Day Chip Counts (full)

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante
SeatPlayerChipsBig Blinds
1Brandon Steven8,000,00040
2Rick Salomon26,900,000135
3Andrew Pantling31,775,000159
4James Bord18,125,00091
5Haralabos Voulgaris5,375,00027
6Anatoly Gurtovoy16,775,00084
7Elton Tsang23,550,000118
8Cary Katz9,550,00048
Player Chips Progress
Andrew Pantling ca
Andrew Pantling
31,775,000 -1,225,000
Rick Salomon us
Rick Salomon
26,900,000 8,500,000
Elton Tsang hk
Elton Tsang
23,550,000 2,050,000
James Bord gb
James Bord
WSOP 1X Winner
18,125,000 450,000
Anatoly Gurtovoy ru
Anatoly Gurtovoy
16,775,000 8,475,000
Cary Katz us
Cary Katz
9,550,000 -6,625,000
Brandon Steven us
Brandon Steven
8,000,000 -4,850,000
Haralabos Voulgaris ca
Haralabos Voulgaris
5,375,000 -600,000

Alfred De Carolis Eliminated in 9th Place

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante
Alfred De Carolis
Alfred De Carolis

Hand #12: From the hijack, Rick Salomon opened for 750,000. The cutoff folded but Alfred De Carolis on the button moved all in for what appeared to be a little over 7.5 million. Both blinds released instantly.

"How much is that Al?" asked Salomon seconds before he called, "I have kings."

Rick Salomon: {K-Diamonds}{K-Hearts}
Alfred De Carolis: {Q-Diamonds}{Q-Spades}

The start of day chip leader was in trouble, and would find no help from the board: {3-Diamonds}{2-Clubs}{10-Hearts}{J-Hearts}{10-Spades}.

Jack Effel asked how the table was feeling and James Bord was very clear he wanted to quit for the day because he was tired. Salomon agreed, as he hadn't slept yet he said.

And so it was agreed play was done for the day, even though Voulgaris wanted to play on till the bubble was done for.

Player Chips Progress
Alfred De Carolis us
Alfred De Carolis
Busted

Tags: Alfred De CarolisHaralabos VoulgarisJames BordRick Salomon

Hands #6-11: Pantling Wins a Couple Small Ones

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante

Hand #6: Andrew Pantling raised to 650,000 from early position and Elton Tsang called from the button. The flop came {9-Hearts}{8-Clubs}{3-Clubs} and Pantling continued for 1,000,000. Tsang folded.

Hand #7: Haralobos Voulgaris pushed all in from middle position and got no callers.

Hand #8: Anatoly Gurtovoy raised to 700,000 from middle position and Andrew Pantling called from the big blind. Both players checked the {a-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{7-Clubs} flop and the {j-Spades} came on the turn. Pantling led out for 1,000,000 and Gurtovoy folded.

Hand #9: Cary Katz limped from middle position. Andrew Pantling limped behind from the button. James Bord completed from the small blind and Haralobos Voulgaris checked his option in the big blind.

The flop fell {9-Spades}{6-Clubs}{5-Hearts} and Bord led out for 500,000. All three other players folded.

Hand #10: From the cutoff, Andrew Pantling raised to 650,000. Haralabos Voulgaris in the small blind counted his stack (3,925,000), thought about it for a bit, and announced all in. The big blind and Pantling both instantly folded.

Hand #10: From middle position, Brandon Steven raised to 800,000. Anatoly Gurtovoy called from the big blind and check-called 800,000 on {3-Spades}{8-Spades}{A-Diamonds} as well. Both checked the {2-Clubs} on the turn and Gurtovoy bet 1.5 million on the {K-Hearts} river. Steven folded.

Tags: Anatoly GurtovoyAndrew PantlingCary KatzElton TsangHaralabos VoulgarisJames Bord

Hands #1-5: Pantling Continues to Chip Up

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante

Hand #1: The button was with Andrew Pantling and he called after Al De Carolis had opened to 1,200,000 from under-the-gun. The two of them saw a {5-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{K-Diamonds} flop and De Carolis check-called a bet of 1,400,000. The {4-Spades} hit the turn and De Carolis check-folded to Pantling's second barrel of 2,600,000.

Hand #2: Andrew Pantling raised to 650,000 and won the blinds and antes.

Hand #3: James Bord raised to 700,000 from the cutoff and met no resistance.

Hand #4: Andrew Pantling raised it up to 650,000 from middle position and called after Anatoly Gurtovoy three-bet to 1,500,000 from the small blind. A bet of 1,500,000 from Gurtovoy on the {6-Diamonds}{3-Spades}{3-Clubs} flop earned him the pot.

Hand #5: The action folded to Al De Carolis and he limped in from the cutoff, Elton Tsang completed from the small blind and Cary Katz checked his option. A {J-Hearts}{J-Clubs}{K-Clubs}{4-Spades}{9-Spades} board rolled off, Tsang bet 450,000 on the river and De Carolis looked him up. Tsang showed {K-Spades}{3-Spades} which was good versus the {10-Clubs}{9-Diamonds} of De Carolis.

Player Chips Progress
Alfred De Carolis us
Alfred De Carolis
7,800,000 -3,400,000

Tags: Alfred De CarolisAnatoly GurtovoyAndrew Pantling

How Late Will Day 2 Go?

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante

The original plan today was to play down to eight players. There are now nine players remaining, and it's still fairly early, so tournament director Jack Effel polled the players about whether they'd like to continue to play until the bubble bursts. Most players didn't express a strong opinion either way, but Alfred De Carolis objected to playing past eight players. So for now, the plan is still to play until they reach eight.

Seat Draw Final Nine Players

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante
SeatPlayer
1Brandon Steven
2Rock Salomon
3Andrew Pantling
4James Bord
5Haralabos Voulgaris
6Alfred De Carolis
7Anatoly Gurtovoy
8Elton Tsang
9Cary Katz

Jason Strasser Eliminated by Brandon Steven

Level 15 : 150,000/300,000, 50,000 ante
Jason Strasser
Jason Strasser

Jason Strasser pushed all in from the button, and Brandon Steven called from the small blind.

Steven tabled {10-Hearts}{10-Clubs}. "I have an overcard," Strasser told him as he turned over {q-Clubs}{4-Clubs}.

The flop came {10-Spades}{4-Hearts}{2-Spades} to give Steven top set and leave Strasser drawing thin. The turn was the {3-Diamonds}. And the river was the {q-Spades} to give Strasser two pair, still not good enough. Steven won with his set and Strasser hit the rail.

With Strasser's elimination, the remaining nine players are redrawing to the unofficial final table.

Player Chips Progress
Jason Strasser us
Jason Strasser
Busted

Tags: Brandon StevenJason Strasser