2012 World Series of Poker Europe

The WSOP Europe kicked off Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em on Saturday as 295 players packed the tournament room to take part in the first of two starting flights. The action was quick and by Level 9, the field had been whittled down to just 45 players—which is where action was halted. Leading that group is Ashly Butler, who emerged as the Day 1a chip leader with 48,125.

The tournament drew a plethora of pros, but many of them failed to get anything going. One such player was WSOP Player of the Year contender John Monnette, who was eliminated in the first level. It happened when a player in middle position raised to 75, Monnette moved all in for 975 right behind, and Jessica Bian made the call from the button. The original raiser got out of the way and the cards were turned up.

Showdown

Bian:

Monnette:

Monnette, who won a bracelet this, was in bad shape and in need of some help. Unfortunately for him, he would find none as the board ran out . On the bright side, Event #2 is a re-entry event, meaning he can try again tomorrow if he so chooses.

Others who fell on Day 1 were Vanessa Selbst, Chance Kornuth, Davidi Kitai, Marvin Rettenmaier, Michael Mizrachi, Joe Kuether, Jeff Lisandro, John Juanda, Andy Frankenberger and Jonathan Aguiar. Whether or not they’ll be back to try again remains to be seen.

While many fell, a few notables managed to make the top 45. They include Antonio Esfandiari, Ran Azor, McLean Karr, Antonin Teisseire, Konstantin Puchkov and October Nine member Greg Merson, all of whom will return at 14:00 CET for Day 2.

Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Be sure to check back at 1200 CET (0600 ET) for PartyPoker-sponsored live coverage of Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1b.

We didn't catch the hand, but we do know that a short-stacked Oliver Speidel moved all in under for around 6,000 with and was called by the of Antonio Esfandiari. There would be no trickery on the board and Speidel took his leave right at the tail end of Day 1a.

We are now down to 45 players, which means they'll bag and tag before calling it a night.

We're not sure how it happened, but we can confirm that Margaux Duplantier has been eliminated from the tournament. She was the last woman remaining, which means no ladies will be advancing to Day 2 from Day 1a.

Players are now on a 20-minute break.

William Esmingeaud raised to 1,100 under the gun and received a call from Konstantin Puchkov. Both players checked the flop, prompting Esmingeaud to lead out for 1,500 on the turn. Puchkov made the call and then both players returned to checking on the river. Esmingeaud tabled , and Puchkov shook his head and showed . Round 1 to Esmingeaud.

In the very next hand, Puchkov was the one opening for 1,100, which cleared the field all the way to Esmingeaud in the big blind. The latter opted for a three-bet to 2,600, Puchkov called, and the flop fell . Esmingeaud wasted little time in betting 4,000, and Puchkov shook his head and asked, "Aces?"

The Russian eventually folded and Esmingeaud tabled . Round 2 to Esmingeaud.