The second starting day of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event drew a crowd of 205 players, bringing the total for this event to 420. Just 115 players survived the day with none other than Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier on top. These players will meet with the 115 that survived Day 1a, and a total of 230 will see poker action on Day 2.
Like in every tournament here in Cannes during the WSOPE, the tables were filled with top poker professionals. Two of those from France had very short days as both Guillaume Darcourt and Roger Hairabedian were eliminated quickly. Hairabedian has no reason to complain though, as he won the €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha and finished third in the €10,000 Mix Max earlier this week.
Marvin Rettenmaier, John Tabatabai and Marc Convey also didn't last long. The latter made his WSOPE debut, but could not get anything going. A turned set ran into Bruno Fitoussi's turned flush, and Kristijonas Andrulis hit a gut shot straight against Convey's flopped set. Jon Aguiar and Brandon Cantu played till late last night in the finals of the €10,000 Mix Max, and both players entered the Main Event today. It didn't work out for either of them, however, and they will get back at it tomorrow in their heads-up match. You can follow all that action here.
Arnaud Mattern is a feature a the WSOPE every year, and once again he showed off his skills. The former EPT Prague winner has cashed in the Main Event in the previous three years, but he's not going to add a fourth. Timothy Adams won the $2,500 4-Max during the 2012 WSOP, and he had a great starting day. He finished the day with 134,475, and that was a lot more than what his buddy and WSOPE bracelet winner Tristan Wade (33,075) finished with.
Daniel Negreanu was singing and winning on Day 1B as his stack kept rising. After getting Ilan Boujenah to fold a set he seemed in full control. Later he busted Brandon Adams with a flush versus a set of eights, and Negreanu ended the day with 137,500. You can have a good day like Negreanu, but that doesn't mean you're going to beat Betrand 'ElkY' Grospellier on the leader board. The French superstar closed out the day with 190,400 and is the tournament chip leader. Daniel Weinman is in second with 169,000 and also Phil Hellmuth cracked the top 10 with 116,150.
Play will resume tomorrow at 12:00 PM GMT, make sure to tune back into PokerNews as we bring ou all the action from the Majestic Barrieré in Cannes, France.
We're not quite sure of the preflop action, but we do know that both Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and each put in 3,500 preflop to see a flop of . Wang, who was in the big blind, put out a bet of 4,500, Grospellier called, and the was put out on the turn.
Wang kept the pressure on with a big bet of 14,000, but he couldn't shake "ElkY". Wang then slowed down on the river and it was Grospellier's turn to come out firing to the tune of 17,775. Wang gave it a little thought before making the call, but mucked when Grospellier rolled over .
Well-known poker blogger Marc Convey had the opportunity to play in today's event, but unfortunately for him and all his supporters, he was never able to get anything going.
In what would be his last hand, Fabien Quoss opened for 600 on the button and Convey moved all in for right around 4,800 from the big blind. Quoss made the call and was behind.
Showdown
Convey:
Quoss:
The seemed harmless enough, even giving Convey a pair of fives, but the dealer burned and turned the to give Quoss a pair of kings and the lead. The river failed to provide deliverance, and Convey made an early exit.
"Everything that could go wrong today did," Convey told us after the elimination. "It was a rough one."
On the flop, Sergey Baburin checked over to Guillaume Darcourt. Darcourt fired a bet of 3,500, and Mattern raised to 7,200. Baburin folded, then Darcourt moved all in for around 10,000. Mattern quickly called with the . Darcourt held the .
The turn was the and river the . Mattern made a pair of fives, although he did hold the best of it when the money went in anyway. He eliminated Darcourt and moved to over 40,000 in chips.
Mattern has been one of the best performers year after year in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. In 2009, he took 23rd for £25,918, and then he bested that performance the following year with a 12th-place finish for £54,114. Those were the last two years the event was held in London.
When the event moved a bit south to Mattern's home country of France, the home court advantage must have ignited a bit of fire under Mattern as he went on to record his best-ever result in the WSOP Europe Main Event. That year he took 10th for €90,000, but it wasn't without a sick beat delivered by the eventual champion Elio Fox.
On Mattern's final hand, he got it all in three ways with Fox and Alexander Dovzhenko. Mattern had the , Fox the and Dovzhenko the . Fox had both covered.
A ten peeled on the flop as the board ran out to give Fox the win. As you can see, Mattern also turned a flush draw that didn't pan out.
If Mattern is able to work his way into the top 25 once again in this event and continue his success in bettering his finish each year, it should surely be considered as one of the best overall performances in one event by any player in poker history. He's done well to start off right here today, and we'll keep an eye on his progress throughout play.
Welcome back to the PokerNews coverage of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. Today is Day 1b of the prestigious event, and if it's anything like Day 1a, things won't disappoint.
The event kicked off yesterday, and it was three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi storming to the top of the leader board. Mizrachi finished on 234,850 and seemed at times like he was out to win the tournament on the first day. Coming in behind Mizrachi are JC Alvarado, Stephane Girault, Sergii Baranov and Martial Blangenwitsch to round out the top five.
With 215 players coming out for the first flight, expectations of an overall field size of 500 runners is well within grasp. In the field expected to be greater than that of Day 1a, there are plenty of notables who will be competing. You can plan on seeing the names of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Eugene Katchalov, Marvin Rettenmaier, Tristan Wade, Roberto Romanello and even Tony G, who made a late trip down to the South of France for the event. That's just a handful of the names, so be sure to stay tuned to the coverage all day long to find out even more.
Play is scheduled the same as yesterday, with six 90-minute levels on the slate kicking off at 12:00 PM local time. Breaks of 20 minutes are scheduled following the completion of each level, and dinner break will last 90 minutes and come after the fourth level.
Next time you hear from us, the cards will be in the air. Stay tuned.
. Wang, who was in the big blind, put out a bet of 4,500, Grospellier called, and the 
was put out on the turn.
river and it was Grospellier's turn to come out firing to the tune of 17,775. Wang gave it a little thought before making the call, but mucked when Grospellier rolled over 
.
seemed harmless enough, even giving Convey a pair of fives, but the dealer burned and turned the 
river failed to provide deliverance, and Convey made an early exit.
.
and Dovzhenko the 
. Fox had both covered.
