This relatively new format for the World Series of Poker - Europe (second outing) returns for Day 2 here in the Casino Barriere, Cannes. A total of 52 players from the 96 starters made it through to today.
As the event title suggests this is a No-Limit Hold'em Event played in a mixture of ways. Yesterday was played nine-handed and today will play out six-handed until we reach the final 16 players. From there the remaining players will be bracketed and Heads UP will take over to decide the fifth bracelet winner of the series.
Favourite to make it to the next stage is Jennifer Tilly. She destroyed her table yesterday to bag up 218,500, almost 100,000 ahead of Brandon Cantu in second place. There will be no money for those who finish outside of the top 16 so today promises to be exciting and tense.
Play is due to get under way at 2pm (CET) time so join us back here then.
We caught up to see the remnants of a hand where Konstantin Puchkov doubled through Antonio Esfandiari. We're not sure when the money went in, but in front of Esfandiari sat while Puchkov held .
The board was and Puchkov's kings were able to hold.
A short-stacked Esfandiari then moved all in for his last 7,700 on the next hand. Michael Mizrachi called and the hands were shown:
Esfandiari:
Mizrachi:
The flop came down but Mizrachi took the lead when the paired him on the turn. The completed the board on fifth street and Esfandiari was forced to the rail.
We expected fireworks at this table and it did not disappoint, as the reigning champion in this event was able to eliminate two power players in both Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari within the first twenty minutes of play. Mizrachi is now sporting a stack of about 130,000.
Brandon Cantu opened to 3,500 from under the gun and was three-bet to 9,000 from Ognjen Sekularac. Andy Frankenberger was on the button and took his time before he shoved for 43,000 chips. Cantu and Sekularac both snap committed their stacks and the cards were on their backs and everyone was in disbelief.
Cantu:
Sekularac:
Frankenberger:
The board ran to see Cantu scoop the lot. That put him up to 340,000 chips!
The €10,450 Mixed Max - No-Limit Hold'em event will have a new champion after Jennifer Tilly eliminated Michael Mizrachi.
Mizrachi opened and then four-bet to 21,000 after Tilly three-bet. Tilly called and then set Mizrachi all in for his remaining 80,000 after he c-bet for 20,000 on a rainbow flop. Call.
Mizrachi needed help as his was behind to Tilly's . Tilly made trips as the turn came and she needed it as the river fell a .
The six-handed portion of the €10,450 Mixed Max - No-Limit Hold'em event has come to an end. A total of 52 players returned today from a starting field of 96. Now only 16 remain which means that winning four heads up matches will secure a World Series of Poker Europe bracelet. Brandon Cantu emerged as the clear chip leader by holding over 25% of the total chips in play by the end of the night.
Cantu ran incredibly hot all day and began his hot streak during a massive preflop three-way all in where two players were coolered. Cantu held pocket aces and managed to eliminate Ognjen Sekularac who held pocket kings and Andy Frankenberger who held pocket queens. Cantu continued his domination throughout the day, even after Phil Hellmuth was moved next to him. Hellmuth and Cantu went to war throughout the evening and were seemingly constantly bickering as play went on. Hellmuth vowed revenge on Cantu and he will get that chance as the two will play heads up together in Round 1. Hellmuth will have his work cut out for him as he is sporting a stack of 127,400 to Cantu's 738,100
Jennifer Tilly began play today as the chip leader and she has indeed progressed onto the heads up portion of this tournament. Tilly held her spot among the leaders in the tournament until the last few levels of play. Tilly lost several chips to recent World Series of Poker Europe bracelet winner Roger Hairabedian during the hand-for-hand portion of the evening. Despite the rocky patch at the evening's end, Tilly will be moving on to Day 3 with a stack of 163,300.
The day began with some interesting table draws that promised for heavy action early and these tables did not disappoint. Within the first twenty minutes of play both Phil Ivey and Antonio Esfandiari were sent to the rail by the hands of Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. Mizrachi, who is the reigning champion of this event, will not be repeating his victory as he was also eliminated before play ended for the evening. Other players to leave empty handed today include: Justin Bonomo, Roberto Romanello, John Juanda, Brian Park, JC Alvarado, Chance Kornuth, and Jonathan Duhamel.
Players were finding the rail at a rapid pace up until the bubble hit. Hand-for-hand play lasted for several hours and everyone was anxiously awaiting the last person to be eliminated. Finally, Mori Eskandani fell by the hand of Marvin Rettenmaier, and each of the 16 remaining players were guaranteed a payday of at least €20,443.
After a random seeding, the heads up bracket is as follows:
Match
Player
Chips
1
Paul Tedeschi
278,600
vs.
Roger Hairabedian
225,600
2
Kristijonas Andrulis
142,000
vs.
Mike Watson
50,700
3
Martin Jacobson
164,900
vs.
Joe Keuther
37,100
4
Brandon Cantu
738,100
vs.
Phil Hellmuth
127,400
5
Faraz Jaka
258,100
vs.
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
66,300
6
Konstantin Puchkov
183,700
vs.
Bertrand Grospellier
18,000
7
Jennifer Tilly
163,300
vs.
Marvin Rettenmaier
191,100
8
Jason Mercier
16,800
vs.
Jonathan Aguiar
212,200
We will play two matches tomorrow which will leave us with the top four players. Be sure to tune at 2:00 PM CET for all of the heads up updates!