In just half an hour, action will resume in the 2016 Unibet Open London Main Event, as the 120 players out of the 418 entrants participating in the first two opening flights are getting ready for battle for a piece of the £313,500 prize pool.
A little less than half the field - or 54 players - will cash in the tournament for at least £1,650. However, players have their eye on the huge top prize of £62,000 that will be awarded at the end of Day 3 to the winner.
Currently it is Day 1A chip leader Jan Riha from Czech Republic sitting on top of the field with a healthy 298,800 chip stack with blinds set to resume at 1,200/2,400 and an ante of 300. Not too far behind him is Norway's Geir Reka Tollerud (second place - 263,500 chips), Germany's Giulio Mascolo (third place - 254,900 chips), France's Erik Le Goff (fourth place - 242,500 chips), and Lithuania's Edgaras Kisielius (fifth place - 239,000 chips).
According to the big board, the average chip stack is currently at 104,500 chips, representing about 43.5 big blinds. The tournament director informed us we will likely try to get down to a final table today. With the stacks still deep and one hour blind levels, it is likely play today will extend beyond the 10 blind levels that took place for the two opening flights. Even if a final table isn't reach, play will end no later than the end of level 22 which should be around 2:00 AM local time.
Stay tuned to our live reporting here at PokerNews for updates throughout the day.
A handful of players have been eliminated during the first half of Level 13 including Unibet Poker pro Quentin Lecomte. Lecomte was hoping for a good run today to put him in position to win his second Unibet Open Main Event, after winning one in his home country taking home the Main Event in Cannes for €100,000.
Lecomte's last hand of the day began when Damien Le Goff raised from the hi-jack with and Lecomte shoved all-in for 70,000 chips with . While the board paired Lecomte's queen, he was eliminated due to the board also pairing Le Goff's king.
Unibet Poker London Main Event Eliminations (75th - 80th Places)
Mate Mecs opened to 15,000 chips, and Bhavin Khatri went over the top for his remaining 155,000 chip stack. Mecs called with and it looked like Khatri might hit the rail as the bubble boy when he turned over .
The crowd ooh'ed and ahh'ed when the flop gave Khatri a set and a lead in the hand. The on the turn gave Mecs some more outs with a potential club flush. Khatri avoided the bubble and won a big hand when the did not improve his opponent's hand.
After over an hour the money bubble finally broke. During hand for hand on table 7, Christian Lohmann got it all in preflop with and his opponent was visibly and audibly delighted that he was actually ahead turning over . Lohmann was unable to improve and had to sit and wait for the action to unfold on table 8.
Denis Malik was all in with on a board. His opponent turned over for the straight.
Both Lohmann and Malik will split the 54th place prize of £1,650 and receive £825 each.
While under the gun, Willem Wesselink pushed all-in for his remaining 41,000 chips with . He was eliminated from the tournament after an opponent called from the cutoff with and was eliminated despite being ahead in the hand on a flop of . Wesselink was drawing dead on the turn when a ending his tournament in 42nd place for £1,800. Also eliminated around the same time was Daniel Chutrov in 43rd place.
Geir Reka Tollerud went all-in from mid-position for approximately 100,000 chips. Jan Riha over-shoved for a little bit more and the players turned over their cards.
Tollerud:
Riha:
Tollerud was just about drawing dead on the flop of giving Riha with a straight. Tollerud was left with no outs when a appeared on the turn despite the fact that he spiked a set on the river.
Tollerud was awarded £1,950 for his 32nd place finish.
Pocket sevens are lucky again for Bhavin Khatri, who you may recall put his tournament life on the line on the stone cold bubble with this hand to come out on top against pocket kings.
This time was less important to the current chip leader, and more important to his opponent Paul Ephremsen. Khatri raised in early position with and called a three-bet shove from Dumea for a little more than 10 big blinds with . Ephremsen was ahead until the river when a appeared sending him to the rails.
Also eliminated shortly before was Razvan Dumea. Both players that were recently eliminated collected £2,225. All players remaining in the field are guaranteed at least a payday of £2,540.
Lithuania's Edgaras Kisielius was in the chip lead earlier in the day, however, his day didn't end that well. Down to ten big blinds, he shoved his stack all-in against Bhavin Khatri.
Kisielius:
Khatri:
Kiselius, who was well ahead in the hand, seemed poised to double-up when Khatri failed to improve his hand on the flop of . However, the rest of the board wasn't as kind when it filled up with a followed by a to give Khatri two pair. Kisielius was eliminated in 19th place for £2,820.
Also eliminated around the same time were Aleksandr Lebedev (20th place - £2,820) and ex-footballer Tony Cascarino (18th place - £3,230).
The tournament recently went through its last redraw before the final table.
Brian Amtrup Sorensen's Unibet Open Main Event is over. From the small blind, Nicolas Cardyn shoved all-in, and Sorensen called for about 250,000 chips.
When the cards were turned over, Cardyn was slightly ahead in what was essentially a coinflip with against Sorensen's . The board was unable to improve Sorensen's hand and he was eliminated in 17th place for £3,230.
On the feature table before the dinner break, Daniel Petersen raised under the gun to 40,000. The action folded over to Julien Rouxel three-bet from the hijack up to 110,000. The remaining players got out of the way and Petersen called.
Flop:
Rouxel made a continuation-bet of 120,000 after Petersen checked the action to him. After a short-time, Petersen declared himself all-in for his remaining 434,000 chip stack. Rouxel snap called, and the players turned over their cards.
Petersen:
Rouxel:
Petersen was unable to get any of the five remaining outs he needed to improve his hand as the appeared on the turn followed by the on the river. Petersen collected £3,230 for finishing in 16th place. All remaining players are now guaranteed a payout of at least £3,755.
and Lecomte shoved all-in for 70,000 chips with 
. While the board paired Lecomte's queen, he was eliminated due to the board also pairing Le Goff's king.
and it looked like Khatri might hit the rail as the bubble boy when he turned over 
.
flop gave Khatri a set and a lead in the hand. The 
on the turn gave Mecs some more outs with a potential club flush. Khatri avoided the bubble and won a big hand when the 
did not improve his opponent's hand.
. Lohmann was unable to improve and had to sit and wait for the action to unfold on table 8.
on a 
board. His opponent turned over 
for the straight.
. He was eliminated from the tournament after an opponent called from the cutoff with 
and was eliminated despite being ahead in the hand on a flop of 
. Wesselink was drawing dead on the turn when a 
ending his tournament in 42nd place for £1,800. Also eliminated around the same time was Daniel Chutrov in 43rd place.
giving Riha with a straight. Tollerud was left with no outs when a 
appeared on the turn despite the fact that he spiked a set on the 
appeared on the turn followed by the 
