We knew after we saw 349 pop out for yesterday's Day 1A -- the primary of 2 Day 1 flights on this €1,100 buy-in France Poker Series Monaco Main Event -- that today was going to be grand (bilingual pun intended). That was well over last year's Day 1A turnout, and finally 993 players took part in that FPS Monaco Main. So we knew this year's total was all but assured to be more.
As anticipated, today's Day 1B was massive, with 907 entrants making for a complete of 1,256 altogether for this year's event. Players filled the large main tournament room, much of the adjacent cash room, and the Americas Room located a promenade away. After 12 fast-paced 45-minute levels just 248 of these players remained, with the boisterous Brazilian Leonardo Pires the biggest-stacked among them after bagging 339,400 to conclude the night.
Leonardo leading again
Leonardo some may remember from the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. There he similarly raced out to a large chip lead, then held it well into the money until the general two tables before busting in 13th. And he'll be the pace-setter again here when 339 players return for Day 2 tomorrow, as his count exceeds that of Day 1A leader Andrey Andreev.
Others doing well for themselves on Day 1B included the following:
Andrei Boghean - 313,000Gleb Tremzin - 284,700Olivier Puche - 251,600Massimiliano Patroncini - 237,200Pedro Oliveira - 235,400Philipp Wenzelburger - 227,500Tarik Kerbouci - 224,600Thomas Djefaflia - 223,000Julian Fernandez - 200,200Romain Matteoli - 200,000
And taking a look at some of those also making it through to tomorrow:
Abraham Serrano - 196,200Maxence Benoulha - 192,200Vicente Delgado - 179,500Niall Farrell - 153,000Steven van Zadelhoff - 135,000Arnaud Mattern - 125,900Faraz Jaka - 123,300Liv Boeree - 118,000Dzmitry Urbanovich - 116,000Gabriel Nassif - 91,300Joseph Carlino - 90,400Joao Vieira - 63,100Yaxi Zhu - 59,200Ivan Soshnikov - 53,400Simon Deadman - 40,100
Meanwhile hundreds of Day 1B were less fortunate today, failing to outlive the night. That group included Max Greenwood, Andrey Zaichenko, Antoine Saout, Joao Simao, Dermot Blain, Sergio Aido, Mayu Roca, William Foxen, Martin Finger, James Akenhead, and Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Chen-An Lin, Jake Cody, and Eugene Katchalov.
Tomorrow they get going at 12 noon once again, with the plan being to play 10 one-hour levels. The money bubble is because of burst tomorrow as well, at which point we'll start to see how the massive prize pool will begin to be divided.
Thanks for following the tale so far, and spot you back here tomorrow for the following chapter as we find together who would be the next France Poker Series Main Event champion. Until we reconvene, bon soir. --MH
FULL DAY 1B COVERAGE:
11:40pm: That's your lot!Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)
It's been a mad day of poker with 907 players in total taking their seats at the second starting flight of the FPS main event. Roughly 280 survived. A wrap of the day's play will appear above shortly. Also keep your eye at the @PokerStarsBlog twitter account and the widget to the best for the overnight seat draw and chip counts.
11:22pm: Four more, says the floorLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)
They've paused the tournament clock and announced there'll be four more hands before play stops tonight. And leader Leonardo Pires seems like he's nearing the 400,000-chip mark. --MH
11:15pm: Buzzer bad beatsLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)
It's tough lines at the following players, who've grinded all day only to fall on the last as: Roman Korenev, Georgics Zisimopoulos, Luc Greenwood, Jelcides Monteiro, Rocco Palumbo, Shola Akindele-Deadman, Louis Salter and Bart Lybaert.
300 of 907 players remain and the common stack is 75,900. --NW
11:05pm: Chip leaders and notablesLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)
With not up to 20 minutes to move here is a list of a few of the large stacks and massive names still in. --NW
Leonardo Pires - 338,000Julian Fernandez - 210,000Maxence Benoulha - 199,000Tarik Kerbouci - 194,000Faraz Jaka - 150,000Niall Farrell - 145,000Liv Boeree - 125,000Joseph Carlino - 90,000Vicente Delgado - 85,000Ami Barer - 62,000Ivan Soshnikov - 46,000Joao Vieira - 39,000Rocco Palumbo - 18,000
10:47pm: One level to goLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)
They've moved into Level 12 which means that there'll be approximately 45 minutes' worth of poker left, then the bagging and tagging will commence. We'll be spending much of that point scouting for giant stacks. Currently nobody appears yet on this field to have moved prior to Andrey Andreev's Day 1A total of 281,300, but several are becoming close.
Incidentally, besides bragging rights and a pleasing spot heading into Day 2, tonight's chip leader -- like Andreev and prefer the player ending tomorrow atop the counts -- will win a couple of tickets to Saturday's football match between French Ligue 1 sides AS Monaco and EA Guingamp. --MH
| 12 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 300 |
10:45pm: Sweet relief for ElkYLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier was eliminated from this tournament during level 10 and he's indulged in some food therapy to assist ease the pain.
10:30pm: Mansouri gets angry, tilts chips to GordilloLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)
Ouassini Mansouri isn't a cheerful man and as it has been TWO DECADES since I studied French I AM NOT sure exactly what it's he's got in this type of fuss about. What I WILL inform you is that over 22,000 of his chips now belong to Pablo Gordillo.
I joined the action to peer of venture of 3,200 in front of Gordillo, a choice of that bet in front of Erick Guedj and Mansouri, who was within the big blind arguing with the dealer. The small blind still had cards in front of him however it perceived to matter to not Mansouri. After the small blind folded the backward and forward between Mansouri - who's French - and the dealer who's also French but speaks perfect English - continued.
What I did pick up was the dealer telling Mansouri that it was English only on the table and Mansouri replying that he didn't speak English. Fair enough. Eventually after some backward and forward Mansouri threw out the decision but wasn't happy. My best guess (and it is only a guess) is that he desired to raise but he'd done it out of turn and in consequence were forced to only call.
The flop fell Q♥4♦Q♣ and action checked to Guedj, who bet 5,000, Mansouri check-raised to 16,000 total and Gordillo then shoved for 20,800. Guedj folded and Mansouri called the extra.
Gordillo: Q♦9♣Mansouri: K♥J♣
The Spaniard had flopped Mansouri all but dead and the running cards Mansouri needed didn't arrive at the J♥ turn or 7♣ river. Mansouri stormed off, but he's got various chips should he need a longer break. He's all the way down to 145,000 after that hand whilst Gordillo is as much as around 59,000. --NW
10:18pm: Matias meets endLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)
Allberto Meran Matias was all-in and in peril with 7♣7♦ versus Slaven Popov's A♣8♣, hoping the medium pair would hold. However the flop brought an ace -- coming A♦K♦K♠ -- and after the 3♣ turn and 6♣ river it was the tip for Matias.
He joins a crowded rail, as now there are not up to 370 players still with chips with a few levels left to move on Day 1B. --MH
10:15pm: Not more chips for Chen-AnLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)
We just spied Team PokerStars Pro Chen-An Lin gathering his belongings to go, another of the knockouts here late on Day 1B. --MH
Chen-An Lin down
10:05pm: Level 10 fallersLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)
Lots of departures in level 10 including: Nicolas Le Floch, David Pourraz, Adrien Delmas, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Gregor Abmayr, Laurent Reboul, Alexander Nemchin, Andrew Hulme, Sandrine Wilhelm, Max Greenwood, and Andrey Zaichenko. -- NW
| 11 | 800 | 1,600 | 200 |
10pm: Set bests two pairLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)
What a crazy hand!
Cherif Zermiche opened to 2,000, a player then moved all-in for just 500 and two more players called the 2,000 and the four players saw a J♥K♠8♥ flop hit the felt.
Zermiche c-bet 4,000, Yan Portal then moved all-in for 26,700 and Maxim Panyak then re-raised all-in to 48,000 total. Zermiche shook his head once or twice and folded. The all-in player knew the jig was up and meekly turned over T♠6♣. Portal showed 8♠8♣ for the flopped set and Panyak showed J♦8♦ for two-pair!
The K♣ turn and 9♠ board rounded out the board and Portal moved as much as over 60,000 whilst Panyak dropped to 48,000. --NW
9:53pm: Half the sphere they used to beLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)
The rate of attrition is high, as a post-dinner level filled with tournament casualties has brought the full collection of Day 1B entrants all the way down to about 440 -- lower than half the 906 who began the day. --MH
9:46pm: Guess Boeree's stackLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)
So what number of chips do you think that Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has on this picture? The blue chips on the front are worth 5,000 a piece.
9:33pm: Leonardo back within the leadLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)
A familiar-sounding laugh came from the far side of the room. Investigation led to the sight of a well-known face, Leonardo Pires, he of the deep run on the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in January where he finished 13th.
Laughing and smiling, Pires yet again appears to have built a decent-sized stack again. Attracted to the table, we watched as his neighbor to the best opened, and he tossed out chips appearing to mean a call, but it surely was a raise. It came back around and the raiser four-bet, Pires shrugged and called, then folded to a small flop continuation bet.
Pires appears to have about 220,000 now. We'll continue to be aware of him because the night develops, not that you can actually easily avoid doing so. --MH
9:30pm: Mad Turk still truckingLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)
Despite telling the PokerStars Blog a couple of hours ago that he'd probably double his 100K-plus stack or lose it Yucel "The Mad Turk" Eminoglu continues to be going strong, he's lost a couple of chips but still has around 105,000. --NW
They're buyin' what Yucel-in'
9:20pm: Play resumes
Cards are back within the air and play has resumed primarily Event. --MH
| 10 | 600 | 1,200 | 200 |
8:00pm: Dinner break
The level has ended and the rest players are actually taking a 75-minute dinner break. --MH
7:57pm: Sol takes a strollLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)
Sander Sol thought he'd been eliminated. It were an all-in situation at the turn between himself and Ibrahim Al Bishri. The board showed 3♣9♠9♣K♣ and Sol had K♠Q♣, but he was drawing all but dead as Bishri had Q♥9♦. The deuce at the river didn't change anything, but once the chips were counted Sol was surprised to be informed he had 400 left -- just four brown chips worth 100 each.
"Okay that is the last hand," said the tournament director, suddenly appearing over the dealer's shoulder. The table was breaking. Sol needed to laugh. Handed a tray he set his four chips in it, then traveled from one corner of the large tournament room the entire solution to the other, a large grin on his face all of the way,
As he took his seat on the new table, he slowly turned the tray over and let the four chips fall. The table chuckled in response.
"Bring it!" he said.
Sol needed to wait through another hand to play, and now the dinner break is approaching. He would possibly not last that long, but he'll have a narrative either way. --MH
7:50pm: Akkari plodding onLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)
Team PokerStars Pro André Akkari is on one of the vital few tables still in use within the cash game area and he's still just about got starting stack, with 23,000 from his starting stack of 25,000.
He watched on as Fred Weiss opened to 2,100 and received two calls. Danut Chisu then squeezed to 8,500 and one at a time his opponent's folded. --NW
7:35pm: FeltedLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)
The rate of bustouts on this tournament has noticeably ramped up a notch or two for the reason that last break. Those who've recently departed include: Mayu Roca, Walter Treccarichi, Usman Siddique, Sergio Aido, Nikolaus Teichert, Antoine Saout, Joao Simao, Dermot Blain, Ross Loggie, Andrew King, Dean Hutchison and Padraig O'Neill. --NW
7:30pm: Boeree busting a move, Cody sadly bustLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)
If you are a fan of the united kingdom Team PokerStars Pros then I'm afraid we've some excellent news and bad news. First the great stuff, Liv Boeree has run her starting stack of 25,000 all of the way as much as 88,000. That's greater than double the typical stack, that is 39,000 on the moment.
Jake Cody though is out, no details I'm afraid but he's one among over 300 players who've busted up to now on Day 1B. 580 of 906 players remain. --NW
So long, Jake
| 9 | 500 | 1,000 | 100 |
7:13pm: Dzmitry with designs on a distinct titleLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)
Those folks within the media room had spotted Dzmitry Urbanovich slightly earlier, wondering if perhaps he were about to go into the €100K Super High Roller -- i.e., the development by which he finished runner-up a year ago here in Monaco to earn a prize of €1,446,600.
Mais non, not this actual soir. No, tonight the young Polish phenom has opted to enroll in the FPS Monaco Main Event, a tournament he could enter about 1,315 times over with those winnings from last year's SHR.
We just spotted him watch the player two to his right raise the button and the small blind call, then Urbanovich three-bet big to force folds from both. We've no immediate context or cards to assist explain what happened, however the contrast between the proficiency of the reraiser and the unease of the folders was nonetheless discernable.
Having only settled behind his 25,000-chip starting stack late within the afternoon, Urbanovich is now up around 60,000. --MH
7:10pm: Fanego has to goLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)
With a Q♣6♣4♠ flop on display Ludovic Heude (under the gun) bet 2,600, he was called in a single spot, just for Stephane Fanego (big unaware of) check-raise to 7,500 total. After about 20 seconds Heude smooth called and it was heads-up to the 3♣ turn.
Fanego moved all-in for 12,800 and Heude paused a beat before calling. "YOU'VE GOT the flush?" asked Fanego and indeed Heude did, K♣8♣. Fanego showed 7♥5♥ for the straight, a great hand, but one who was drawing dead on this instance. --NW
7:04pm: News from the AmericasLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)
The collection of tables in use within the Americas Room continues to dwindle but there's still quite a lot of action happening down there.
Joao Vieira is an EPT regular but he's struggling today. He three-bet all-in for 14,400 excessive of a 2,000 open and waited for his opponent to make his decision. He got it through though and is as much as the relative safety of 20 big blinds now.
Maria Lampropulos is another in action down there. Since her deep run within the EPT Dublin main event she's had two more big cashes. She came second within the WPT National event in Brussels for € 68,200 after which followed that up with another runner-up finish at Eureka Rozvadov. The person who beat her, was none instead of her boyfriend Ivan Luca.
We saw here get entangled in a hand against Ramin Hajiyev, who opened to 1,800 from the hijack, there has been a flat call and Lampropoulos then raised to 6,000 from the button. Both players called and the flop fell A♥7♥2♠. A c-bet of just 5,000 from the Argentinian was enough to earn her the pot.
Elsewhere Arnaud Mattern has a stack of 82,000 but that isn't up to Marc Manzo Bodrone who's as much as 105,000. --NW
6:59pm: It's late... loosen up!Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)
Hand ranges widen from late position. Even so, sometimes if those hands get to showdown, eyes widen, too.
Andre Akkari (cutoff) and Fred Weiss (button) were just all for a hand that saw Akkari leading postflop with increasingly-sized bets at the flop and turn, then decelerate with a check at the river. Weiss called the primary two streets, then taking a look at the finished board of 6♦J♦Q♥3♦T♠ decided to test behind.
Akkari turned over 7♠3♣ for treys, while Weiss showed his Q♠9♥ for prime pair of queens to say the pot. The pair shared a chuckle afterwards because the next hand was dealt.
Weiss is as much as about 75,000 now while Akkari is right down to 25,000. --MH
6:48pm: Eights deliver for SahihLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)
After an Ahmed Sahih raise to 2,000 from middle position, it folded to Giancula Speranza who three-bet all-in together with his last 7,200 from the cutoff. Then Daniele Cuomo reraise-pushed himself from the button for approximately 10,000. The blinds got out, Sahih confirmed the counts, and decided to move for the double-knockout.
Speranza: K♣Q♠Cuomo: K♥Q♥Sahih: 8♠8♥
The A♦3♣J♥ brought some added hope to the all-in players, providing Broadway outs. However the turn was the 2♠ and river the 4♦, and both Speranza and Cuomo were eliminated. Sahih is as much as about 60,000 now. --MH
| 8 | 400 | 800 | 100 |
6:12pm: Break it down
Let's regroup, we could? The players are taking 20 minutes to collect their thoughts, and so lets. They'll return for 2 more 45-minute levels, then will come the 75-dinner break. Perhaps it is time to make that reservation. --MH
Ready to play? Click here to get a PokerStars account.6:10pm: Huet flushed awayLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)
With the board showing T♥3♣3♥Q♥ Gilles Huet moved in for his remaining 9,000 with K♠K♣ and got snap called by Alexandre Vanadia. The cause of that soon became clear as he turned over K♥5♥ for the turned flush. The meaningless 9♣ completed the board and Huet was on his way.
Roughly 680 of 906 players remain. --NW
6pm: Mooney risingLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)
Down to simply 8,025 Geoffrey Mooney moved all-in with A♦Q♦ and Mehdi Tafer gave him a spin with A♥9♠. It was a great place for Mooney and his dominating ace held up at the 7♥J♣2♦A♠6♦ board. He's as much as around 17,700 whilst Tafer drops to 39,000. -NW
5:55pm: Don't blame the messengersLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)
If you have been in search of Xia Lin, Jose Pascal Godfroy, Laurent Guyon De Montlivault, Mohamed Fayad, Cedric Massaro, Thierry Navarro, Julien Mariani, Karim Benkhelouf, Thys Vincent, Enrico Mosca, Guillaume Roiron, Marcel Vadella, Thierry Mangot, Sigoli Michele, Ozgur Arda, Tony Jean Rose, Mikael Guenni, Jason Barton, Chris Dowling, Antonio Scalzi, Daniel Tudorie, Leonardo Parmiggiani, David Urban, Yusuke Okada, Maximiliano Gavilan, Emil Lukac, or William Foxen, well, we hate to damage it to you, and really, we had nothing to do with it personally, we're just passing along the news, but they've all busted. --MH
5:45pm: Gordillo getting alongLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)
After another quick tour of the Americas Room, we bring back two pieces of knowledge worth passing along.
For one, Pablo Gordillo has amassed a pleasing stack down there of about 80,000. The Spaniard who finished fourth out of 993 on this same event a year ago is off to a different strong start this time around.
Gordillo at the go
Also worth sharing -- a few the tables have emptied down there, signaling the beginning of what is going to be a lengthy technique of breaking tables back into the principle tournament room. It'll still be some time, though, before the sphere becomes manageable to accommodate under a single roof. --MH
5:37pm: ElkY and KatchLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)
A couple of alternative Team PokerStars Pros are here and playing. Both Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Eugene Katchalov are helping to make up the large FPS Monaco field, with both hovering around 30,000 on the moment.
ElkY and Katch... feels like a '70s television cop-buddy drama series, oui? --MH
Katch me in the event you can
5:30pm: The poker hokey cokeyLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)
Up until level five of this tournament players were doing their level best to get into it, with a slew of alternates lining the tournament room. Now they're all doing their best not to get knocked out it. Unfortunately for Huidong Gu, Danis Budovskis, Mark Baxter, Ivan Deyra, Gregory Vivat, Raymond Santucci, Oliver Weis, Alex Goulder, Sylvain Naets, Sacha Israel, Erwann Pecheux, Herve Regis, Julien Renard, Erich Tedeschi, Alexandra Laudicina, Peter Akery, Mark James, Raffaele Castro, Igor Yaroshevskyy, Mikalai Pobal, Irina Petrova, Damien Luis, Neil Strike, David Even, Mike Hill, David Stocker, Richard Pearsona, and Nick Crozer, they're all out. --NW
| 7 | 300 | 600 | 75 |
5:18pm: More on Farrell, who's not foldingLevel 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)
"I knew you did not have a king," said Giulio Spampinato with a grim-looking grin. It was a Pyrrhic victory he'd earned, having correctly read Niall Farrell's holding, but incorrectly anticipated how the EPT12 Malta Main Event champion would react to his all-in push.
With the board showing 5♥8♣K♥7♦7♣, Farrell had get a hold of a choice against Spampinato. The latter showed but 9♦2♥ for total air, and while Farrell did not have a king, he had an eight with Q♣8♠ to make two pair and score the knockout. "REALLY NICE hand," said Spampinato, tapping the table as he departed.
Farrell is up around 80,000 now. --MH
5:18pm: Farrell off to a flyerLevel 6 - Blinds 250/500 (ante 50)
A couple of hours ago we saw Niall Farrell wandering clear of the tournament room with a ticket in his hand. We asked if he was playing the FPS Main Event and he said: "I'M but I'm alternate a million so I'LL get a drink first."
He's got his seat now and is sat to the precise of Team PokerStars Pro Chen-An Lin. The Scotsman has wasted little time in running up a stack as he's got about 70,000. The last time he got off to this kind of start he won EPT12 Malta. You have been warned. --NW
5:12pm: Mad manLevel 6 - Blinds 250/500 (ante 50)
He might've been born Yucel Eminoglu, but to everyone within the poker world he's known simply as "Mad Turk." In reality you'll be able to type just that right into a popular poker database and his profile will pop up. He's got 118,000 nowadays and we haven't seen a larger stack.
"Come back in an hour and they're going to either all be gone, or I'll have doubled it," he told the PokerStars Blog. He is not lying, we have seen him play! --NW
5:05pm: Playing Fitoussi or foldoussiLevel 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)
The famous Frenchmen Bruno Fitoussi is in action here today, although found himself in a tough spot at present in a hand versus Tsveterina Pavlova.
Following a Pavlova open, Fitoussi three-bet from the button, then obliged by showing his remaining stack of about 10,000 when Pavlova asked how much he had behind. At that she reraised all-in, and after a pause Fitoussi thought it best to his hand go. --MH
4:55pm: Some counts from the Americas roomLevel 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)
Below are the counts of a few of the names and notables who're plying their trade within the Americas Room. There are about 200 players down there spread over 21 tables.
| Keith Johnson | 72,000 |
| Yves Kupfermunz | 63,000 |
| Oluwashola Akindele | 55,000 |
| Pablo Gordillo | 39,000 |
| Oliver Price | 39,000 |
| Manig Loeser | 37,000 |
| Marvin Rettenmaier | 35,325 |
| Simon Deadman | 27,800 |
| Chris Dowling | 24,600 |
| Jason Barton | 19,300 |
| Faraz Jaka | 18,200 |
| Andrew Hulme | 18,200 |
| Joao Vieira | 12,300 |
| Maria Lampropulos | 8,000 |
4:44pm: Akkari and Boeree join inLevel 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)
We noted earlier how the tournament had spilled over into the money game area. A FEW people who rode the wave into that a part of the Sporting Club were Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari and Liv Boeree, either one of whom were a number of the relatively late entrants for the event.
Boeree joins the battle
Akkari we forgive for arriving late, as he first needed to check out the Sports Simulator out within the lobby.
It's important to have goals
Both Akkari and Boeree are continuing stacks of around 15,000 at this time. --MH
4:40pm: Leaving the AmericasLevel 6 - Blinds 250/500 (ante 50)
A plethora of departures from the Americas tournament room because the following players have all seen their stack of 25,000 reduced to zero: Remondino Massimo, Paul Hoefer, Aouini Said, Alexandre Pouzet, Christophe Reynaud, Arunas Sapitavicius, Martin Finger, Alexandre Pacharel, William Alvernhes, Maksim Shulga, Jose Jimenez, Jerome Buruil, Richard Dromzee, Jon Garde, Bartholomeus Sol, Laurent Polito, Adrien Casanova and Maxim Colom. --NW
| 6 | 250 | 500 | 50 |
4:27pm: A COUPLE OF for ZhuLevel 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)
With the board showing 5♦A♦5♠A♠7♣ and about 10,000 within the middle, Yaxi Zhu checked to Oliver Weis on her left who thought a fair while before checking behind. He was glad he did, as Zhu showed A♥8♥ for aces full.
The Team PokerStars Pro is up around 45,000 at the present. --MH
Here's taking a look at Zhu
4:14pm: 904!Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)
With late registration closed, the large board shows 904 players having entered just today, which added to the 349 who played yesterday's initial starting flight adds as much as greater than 1,250 FPS Monaco players. We'll await the official word of just what number of took part -- in addition to prize pool information -- and pass along that news when it arrives. --MH
4:05pm: Big stacks from the primary roomLevel 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)
Two players have managed to quadruple their stack through the opening four levels, whilst plenty more have gotten a treble or a double-up.
| Fabio Freitas | 107,000 |
| Nicolaj D Antoni | 104,000 |
| Erick Levy Guedj | 94,000 |
| Abdelkrim El Kandoussi | 84,000 |
| Patrick Muleta | 79,000 |
| Leonardo Pires | 77,250 |
| Mike Said | 68,500 |
| Pierre Merlin | 66,800 |
| Stephane Dossetto | 65,000 |
| Gregory Caubet | 63,000 |
| Francisco Rodrigues | 57,500 |
| Giuseppe Zarbo | 56,600 |
| Makram Saber | 55,500 |
| Raphael Parisi | 53,200 |
3:55pm: Play resumesLevel 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)
They're back and at it again, with late registration now closed. We'll inform you soon just how énorme this FPS Monaco Main Event field has turned out to be. --MH
| 5 | 200 | 400 | 50 |
3:32pm: Break it up
They've reached the tip of Level 4 and the second one 20-minute break of the day. This marks the last chance for late entries, as that door will close at the beginning of the following level. --MH
You could win your solution to Monaco and elsewhere. Click here to get a PokerStars account.3:29pm: Gone, but not forgottenLevel 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
Forgive us if we do not inform you about every player who busts Day 1B today, as there'll like be something like 500-600 of them who do. But we feel we owe it to you to tell you Tiberiu Zanfirache, Igor Salomasov, Peter Jaksland, Valerii Lubenets, Xavier Detournel, Alexandre Moreau, Franck Putinier, Laurent Villard, Riccardo D'Urso, Ronald Tasse, Ismail Tas, Hicham Zebidi, Srdjan Patkovic, Nils Maibaum, Nadim Hage Ali, Samuele Grassi, Oleksii Liashenko, Raffaele L'abate, Mehdi Bidi, and Fabrice Maltez have all been eliminated previous to the day's second break.
Vlad Darie also lost his stack within the early going, as did James Akenhead. --MH
Akenhead out
3:27pm: Hey, I see an open table at the deck over thereLevel 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
With about QUARTER-HOUR left to move in Level 4, they've seated some FPS Monaco Main Event players within the cash room to boot now, meaning the tournament is taking on on the subject of every available area within the Sporting Club. Greater than 850 players have pop out for Day 1B thus far.
No word yet whether they'll attempt to get permission to establish any tables at the luxury yachts parked within the Mediterranean nearby. --MH
3:25pm: Chip countsLevel 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
Below are some counts of a few of the names and notables basically tournament room. Nicolaj D'Antoni has accumulated a six-figure stack over the primary four levels, whilst Jake Cody has arrived (see 3pm post) in truth Cody almost missed his flight as it left on time! "I'd been told it was delayed by 90 minutes after which HALF-HOUR before the scheduled take-off time I checked out the board and it said 'boarding now'."
Cody's one in all 852 players who're playing today and there is still a listing of alternates waiting to get in, EPT12 Malta champion Niall Farrell is amongst them.
| Nicolaj D'Antoni | 100,500 |
| Andrey Zaichenko | 33,200 |
| Vicente Delgado | 29,000 |
| Naoya Kihara | 28,800 |
| Dimitar Danchev | 28,075 |
| Rocco Palumbo | 27,000 |
| Ami Barer | 23,800 |
| Benjamin Winsor | 23,700 |
| Steven van Zadelhoff | 22,800 |
| Jake Cody | 21,100 |
| Jelcides Monteiro | 21,000 |
| Chen-An Lin | 19,900 |
| Padraig O`Neill | 19,800 |
| Anatoly Filatov | 17,800 |
| Mike HIll | 8,900 |
3:21pm: The garden of forking paths a dead end for BorgesLevel 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
With about 10,000 within the middle and 4 players still in, Manuel Leal Borges fired all in from the small blind along with his last 15,000 following a 9♣4♥3♥ and only Alexandre Vanadia, sitting to his left within the BB, chose to seem him up. Borges had 9♦2♠ for nines but Vanadia had K♠K♣, and after the turn and river brought a few sevens Borges was done.
Vanadia chips up around 60,000 with that pot. --MH
3:09pm: Over and outLevel 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
More knockouts to share, among them Yeray Mesa De Armas, Damien Combe, Chaoiki Raaisat, Vebjorn Monstad, Steve Roedsens, Shakhabiddin Muradov, Charlo Azzopardi, Axel Colin, Olivier Boyer, Alfie Adam, Francois Lafleur, Yunhsiang Fan, and Jullian Feriolo. --MH
3pm: Now that's a foul beatLevel 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
Jake Cody's not had the most efficient begin to the day...
| 4 | 150 | 300 | 25 |
2:45pm: Villard's day takes a foul turnLevel 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)
They started with 25,000. But after just over two hours of poker Laurent Villard's stack had dwindled right down to just 3,450. Picking up A♦Q♠ in middle position, the Frenchmen decided it was time to show things around and put his stack within the middle. The table folded to Alessandro De Iaco of Italy within the big blind who once you have a count called with A♥T♥, and after a flop of 8♥8♠2♦ it seemed like Villard was in decent shape to maintain his seat.
Alas for Villard the turn brought the T♦, earning a weary exhalation from him. The K♦ sealed it and he moves on, opening up a seat for one of the crucial alternates in line to take his place. De Iaco meanwhile chips as much as around 45,000. --MH
Plenty are able to fill seats after they empty
2:38pm: It's getting historic in hereLevel 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)
More than 800 have joined the Day 1B fun now, which carries the total total selection of entrants above 1,150. Our amis from the France Poker Series have begun to appear back over the FPS's six-season history, finding only one other FPS Main Event with a larger field.
There were 1,355 jouers at FPS Deauville during Season 4 to set the all time high for the tour. Late registration here's open until the beginning of Level 5, remember, so there's still time for this FPS Monaco event to near the space much more. --MH
2:36pm: Castro cannot be movedLevel 3 - Blinds 100/200 (ante 25)
I joined the action at the turn of a 4♠J♣4♦Q♥ board to look Raffaele Castro firing out of venture of 3,800. Action was on Jonathan Sironval and he check-raised to 9,100 total. Castro gave it a think after which called.
The 3♠ completed the board and Sironval continued his aggressive line, firing out a corpulent river bet totaling 11,600. Castro, who's every inch the fashionable poker player with heavily tattooed arms, three blingy rings and massive headphones leaned forward and did his best Daniel Negreanu impression by running in the course of the hand out loud.
Eventually he decided that because the flop had checked through that he likely had the most efficient hand and so he called. Sironval showed 8♥8♠ and Castro showed A♠Q♣ to take the pot. --NW
2:23pm: Call the ground!Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (ante 25)
Usually when the floor is known as to a table to rule on a choice no less than one player argues/kicks up a fuss. However, in a hand I just witnessed between Mehdi Tafer and Alex Goulder there has been none of that, in reality its probably the smoothest acceptance of a floor decision I've ever seen.
In the hand in question Goulder and Tafer were heads-up to a 5♠2♦4♦ flop. Goulder had the betting lead and fired out a 2,000 chip bet. Call from Tafer. At the A♥ turn Goulder checked the action to Tafer and the Frenchman threw out a single blue 5K chip and said: "Three," as he did so. Goulder asked the dealer if this was a chance of 300 or 3,000 and the ground was called. The floorman ruled that as 300 was still legal bet that Tafer's bet was for 300. There has been no histrionics on Tafer's part and Goulder made the call.
The K♥ fell at the river and Goulder check-folded to of venture of 5,000. "SHOULD YOU bet 2,000 I call," he said to Tafer after the hand. With that dent Goulder drops to 19,000. --NW
2:16pm: Rockets surviveLevel 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)
That post title obviously doesn't allude to the Houston Rockets, bounced as they were from the primary round of this year's NBA playoffs. We're talking cards, here, natch.
"Five players," said the dealer. Not necessarily what preflop raiser Josy Laurent Benhayoun would have preferred. See, he had A♦A♣, but a preflop raise had didn't encourage exactly half his eight opponents from coming along.
The flop came 3♣J♥4♥. "Check, bet, fold, fold," said the dealer. That sounded a bit of better to Benhayoun, who raised Gordon Nord's thousand-chip bet to 2,500. Nord called. The turn was the K♠, and Nord checked, Benhayoun bet 3,000, and Nord called over again. Both then checked the 4♠ river, and when Nord showed J♠T♠, Benhayoun knew his aces were good. --MH
2:09pm: Tough tableLevel 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)
It's an enormous field with a comparatively)( low buy-in, but that does not mean there aren't some tough tables, dependent on your seat draw.
Let's say you landed at Table 14 by and large tournament room. You'd find the Italian Rocco Palumbo there, winner of over $1.7 million in tournament earnings and both a WSOP bracelet and a WPT title. Ami Barer of Canada is there as well, who has won greater than $3.2 million in tournaments with an Aussie Millions his crowning achievement. That isn't even counting the $7.5 million or so Barer has won online, most of which while playing as "UhhMee" on PokerStars.
Oh, and the German Adrian Apmann is at Table 14, too. He only has a WSOP bracelet besides. --MH
| 3 | 100 | 200 | 25 |
1:40pm: And relaxLevel 2 - Blinds 75/150
Well that was a whirlwind begin to the second one of the 2 opening flights of the FPS Main Event. Time to take a 20-minute break. --NW
Next year, it usually is you. Click here to get a PokerStars account.1:35pm: Over a thousandLevel 2 - Blinds 75/150
Last year this tournament attracted a complete of 993 runners, well that figure is being well and actually obliterated in 2016. Already there are 1,029 players on this tournament and that number will rise significantly. There's still a queue of players waiting to get in and late registration is open until the beginning of level five. The question now could be could the Day 1B figure eclipse the entire selection of runners from last season. There is a chance.
The ever-expanding field
Another whip around the tournament unearthed a number of the players who've taken this tournament over the 1,000 runner mark. Anatoly Filatov, wearing trademark braces, was busy chatting away to his table in his usual jovial manner.
Spanish sensation Vicente Delgado is playing too, he's on the same table as Jelcides Monteiro, who finished seventh within the UKIPT5 Dublin main event. And Antoine Saout is another megastar we've spotted. --NW
1:28pm: Exits before the antes' entranceLevel 2 - Blinds 75/150
You wouldn't guess it by the appearance of things, but because the field grows additionally it is being reduced... well, technically. That may be to say, before we've even gotten through two 45-minute levels, a handful of parents have managed already to be separated entirely from their 25,000-chip starting stacks.
Evgenii Sboev, Jacques Der Megreditchian, Drice Hamza, Jean Napiot, Mustafa Biz, Antoine Contreras, Bernd Vogelhuber, Samir Chriraa, Morad Ahabbad, and Sardor Shagulyamov are all a part of the unlucky group sent railward before even the antes came in today. --MH
1:10pm: How high are you able to go?Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
There are somewhere within the region of 670 players now with bums on seats here on Day 1B. It's impossible to understand needless to say because the players carry on coming.
We've been furnished with a player list and will let you know that in addition to the large names we've already spotted, that: Dimitar Danchev, James Akenhead, John Gale, Quan Zhou, Salvatore Bonavena, Slaven Popov, Nicolas Cardyn, David Susigan, Bart Lybaert, Andrew Hulme, David Urban and Padraig O'Neill are prepared to make an appearance today. We've yet to set eyes on them, but with this sort of large field spread over two areas that isn't a surprise! --NW
12:59pm: Understanding the tightnessLevel 2 - Blinds 75/150
There are such a lot of playing today's Day 1B of the FPS Monaco Main Event, every available inch of space is taken up with players. We just told you in regards to the Americas Room having been called into service. Back over commonly tournament area, several tables has been arrange within the upper tier (near the continuing high rollers), and the distance in between them is comparatively tight.
Massimo Mauri is seated in a single of these tables, and he at present called one of the vital massage therapists over to assist him relax here within the early going. Finding himself in Seat 3 at his table and back-to-back with Seats 7 and eight on the neighboring one, space needed to be negotiated for the massage so to occur. All were accommodating, though, and Mauri is now on two clocks -- the tournament one and the only for his massage.
Much like a tense player's muscles, the tightness throughout have to be relieved as we go today. But not for a while, as players continue to stream in to fill every empty seat. --MH
| 2 | 75 | 150 | 0 |
12:45pm: Meanwhile within the Americas room...Level 1 - Blinds 50/100
This tournament is bursting on the seams and there is still a protracted line of players waiting to get into this behemoth of an afternoon 1B. There is a ton of players currently playing in a tournament area called the Americas Room, that's a brief walk from the Sporting Club. The likes of Pablo Gordillo, Simon Deadman, Shola Akindele Deadman, Eureka champion Keith Johnson, former Aussie Roller Hockey player Nick Galtos, ex-snooker pro Jason Barton, Joao Vieira and Chris Dowling are all looking to increase a stack down there. --NW
The FPS conquers the Americas Room
12:26pm: The day's first face cardsLevel 1 - Blinds 50/100
Players continue to reach here through the first couple of orbits of Day 1B. Upon arrival, each player shows a registration ticket to the dealer at the side of an image ID -- the primary "face card" everyone must play before beginning.
Among the faces within the crowd up to now are three red-spade sporters, including two relatively new members of Team PokerStars Pro, Chen-An Lin of Taiwan and Yaxi Zhu of China. Also this is WSOP bracelet holder Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara of Team PokerStars Pro Online who hails from Japan. --MH
Chen-An Lin has checked in
12:17pm: SpottedLevel 1 - Blinds 50/100
As mentioned below, there are lots of players here already -- over 500 of them now, including a variety of notables.
On a primary pass we've spotted the likes of WSOP bracelet winner Adrian Apmann, APPT champion Dermot Blain, and UK pros Alex Goulder, Neil Strike, Mike Hill, and Ben Winsor. --NW
12:08pm: Shuffle up and dealLevel 1 - Blinds 50/100
The first hands of Day 1B are being dealt, and there are already more players of their seats than played Day 1A.
There were 349 entrants yesterday all told. Here the number is already nearing 500, and with late registration lasting until the beginning of Level 5, it's certain to increase significantly. --MH
| 1 | 50 | 100 | 0 |
11:45am: B is for bigger
Let's cut to the chase today goes to be big. It is going to be gros, grande and большой all rolled into one. Within the language of poker that suggests play may be spread across three rooms initially. The primary tournament room, the money game area and the Americas room will all be pressed into service today.
Yesterday 349 players entered the fray, up from 265 in 2015. If we get the similar percentage increase year on year today we're 953 players today alone! Play is because of start at noon and they're going to be a dozen 45-minute levels today. Add within the various break and play should wrap around 23:30 CET. Stay here for exclusive live coverage. --NW
Key FPS Monaco Facts:
- 25,000 starting stack- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds- Levels are 45 minutes on Day 1 and they're going to be 12 of them. From Day 2 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes. - Late registration remains open until the beginning of Level 5- Day 1B is today, the sector will then combine for the primary time on Friday. We'll reach the money through the 10 levels of play on Day 2 (approximately 15% of the sector might be paid) after which play all the way down to a last table on Saturday. On Sunday the general table will play out at the TV table on EPTLive with cards-up coverage. Cue mad celebrations and swigging of champagne from the trophy (possibly). - Full FPS Monaco schedule here.- There is a boat load of alternative events today including the €100,000 super high roller. You'll be able to follow live updates of that event here.- It is not all concerning the poker here in Moncao. There are plenty of #StarsFun activities including the player party at Jimmy'z Nightclub on April 29 a Sports Simulator Challenge and Live Spin and Gos. Full details on that available here.
PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at FPS Monaco: Martin Harris and Nick Wright. Photos by Jules Pochy. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: France Poker Series]
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