2017 World Series of Poker Europe

They played until nearly sunrise, and by the time Day 1b of The Colossus €550 No-Limit Hold'em at World Series of Poker Europe ended at nearly 5 a.m. local time at King's Casino, just 12 players remained out of 210 entries.

Ozan Guruz leads the way after turning his 10,000 starting stack into 365,500, but the name that will catch everyone's eye on the leaderboard is second-place John Racener, who bagged 334,000 for a wide lead over third-place Karel Kratochvil (214,000).

Racener, who collected his first bracelet in this summer's WSOP, finds himself in the thick of the WSOP Player of the Year race and now has put himself in prime position to rake in a pile of points. He trails only Chris Ferguson and Ryan Hughes, both of whom are busily grinding here — and both of whom busted in this flight — in the standings.

Racener built a big stack in the latter stages of the 18-level grind, and he won a late race with an ace on the river when his ace-king got there against the pocket sevens of Gisle Olsen. Racener also eliminated Rex Clinkscales with just a few tables remaining, ace-nine over ace-six.

Alex Foxen (189,000), Viliyan Petleshkov (165,500) and Ryan Leng (141,000) also made it through.

Meanwhile here's a look at those who made it into the 32 paid places but went bust in advance of bagging time:

Saturday will see two more starting flights go off, once again at noon and 6 p.m., with coverage here on PokerNews.

After being hammered down to just a couple of blinds following his queens taking a brutal beat at the hands of Zurab Ejibia, Gisle Olsen found at least one double and made his way to 55,000. He put those chips in over an under-the-gun open from Alex Foxen, and John Racener cold-called in the cutoff. Foxen tanked a bit and folded.

Olsen:
Racener:

The flop was safe for Olsen's sevens, but he had more cards to dodge after the turn. The river: .

"Ah," he said calmly. "Poker is a nasty game."

Racener nodded silently and took the pot.

Five more hands will be played at each table.

Viliyan Petleshkov shipped it on the button for 72,500. After getting a count, big blind Kevin Spielmann called.

Spielmann:
Petleshkov:

The was a harmless board for Spielmann, but a brutal fell on the river.

"Noooo," he said softly as Petleshkov celebrated his good fortune.

Zurab Ejibia shoved all in under the gun, and action folded to the button, where another player jammed, folding out the blinds.

Ejibia:
Button:

The flop was a good one for the player on the button, but the did bring a straight possibility for Ejibia, though he would need one of just two queens left. The did fall on the river, much to the player on the button's chagrin.

"He makes a straight?" he uttered in disbelief. "F***."

Ejibia collected 103,000, nearly all of his opponent's chips.

Alex Foxen bet what appeared to be 38,500 from the button on a completed board of . Big blind Daniel Granov, who had checked, sighed and tanked a bit before asking the dealer to spread the pot. There appeared to be about 60,000 in there. Granov cut out calling chips and thought another couple of minutes before ultimately folding.

Zurab Ejibia raised to 12,500 in the cutoff and got action from Ozan Guruz on the button. The big blind shoved all in for 59,000, and Ejibia reshipped after getting a count. Guruz tanked a few minutes until Alex Foxen called a clock. When he was told he had 30 seconds, Guruz flicked in a chip, calling off about 160,000.

Big blind:
Ejibia:
Guruz:

The big blind had the best of it, but an flop was a dream for Ejibia as he took the lead for the massive side pot and had outs to scoop the whole thing. The was a brick, but the hit the river and Guruz pumped his fist in celebration.

Daniel Granov opened to 9,000 under the gun and called a three-bet to 19,000 from Ozan Guruz. Granov check-called 25,000 on the flop. The hit the turn and prompted a lead of 41,500 from Granov. Guruz double-checked his holding and called. On the river, Granov announced all in. It was enough to put Guruz at risk for 77,000 and he tanked about two minutes before mucking with a sigh.

Players are on break for 15 minutes.

We found Ryan Leng with open in front of him in late position, and Age Spets at risk in the blinds with for 30,900. The board ran out , no improvement for either player.

"Nice three-bet," Spets said with a chuckle, indicating that Leng had perhaps three-bet a third player in the pot and been priced in.

Leng maintained he was surprised to lose the pot.