The Player of the Year race is a heated affair here in Cannes, and we actually have two players in the top three still alive in this event: Antonio Esfandiari and John Monnette.
Esfandiari currently sits in third place with 513.10 points, while Monnette is in second with 524.25 point. Both men trail Phil Ivey (568.70 points), but it's important to remember that Greg Merson, who is amongst the finalists of the WSOP Main Event, has 481.13 points and will earn an additional 100-500 points depending on where he finishes in Las Vegas. In other words, Merson is unofficially in first.
The winner of this event will receive 170 WSOP POY points, while second and third will get 119 and 85 points respectively. No matter what these two men will add points to their total, but they have the opportunity to vault into first place with a deep run.
The current WSOP Player of the Year standings can be found here.
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Just prior to the break, Tristan Wade moved all in from early position for 11,300 with and received a call from start-of-the-day chip leader Marvin Rettenmaier, who held offsuit in the cutoff. French pro Antonin Teisseire then moved all in over the top from the big blind with what turned out to be , and Rettenmaier opted to call off for over 30,000.
Both Wade and Rettenmaier were at risk, but the former would be spared as the board ran out and he tripled with a full house; meanwhile, Rettenmaier was eliminated from the tournament in 47th place for €2,133.
William Esmingeaud was all in preflop holding and racing against the of Gil George. The flop was no help to Esmingeaud, but the turn did give him a flush draw. Much to George's delight, the blanked on the river and he sent Esmingeaud home in 49th place.
Meanwhile, a short-stacked Jasper Vanvlasselaer was eliminated in 48th place.
We didn't see the preflop action, but we do know Vic Gupta got his stack of 12,500 all in with and was in bad shape against the of Jasper Vanvlasselaer. Fortunately for Gupta, who is supporting a New England Patriots hat despite that teams loss yesterday, the flop paired his seven and gave him the lead. Neither the turn nor river harmed Gupta, and he received a much-welcomed double to 26,000.
offsuit in the cutoff. French pro Antonin Teisseire then moved all in over the top from the big blind with what turned out to be 
and he tripled with a full house; meanwhile, Rettenmaier was eliminated from the tournament in 47th place for €2,133.
and racing against the 
of Gil George. The 
flop was no help to Esmingeaud, but the 
turn did give him a flush draw. Much to George's delight, the 
blanked on the river and he sent Esmingeaud home in 49th place.
and was in bad shape against the 
flop paired his seven and gave him the lead. Neither the 
turn nor 
river harmed Gupta, and he received a much-welcomed double to 26,000.