When 81 players returned at the start of Day 2 Dariusz Paszkiewicz was firmly in the middle of the pack. By the time that number had been reduced to the final eight he was the leader of the pack. The Pole’s late surge saw him bag up 1,068,000 overnight to claim the chip lead heading to the final table.
His lead is, in part, due to eliminating Marko Martinkovic in ninth place. The Croatian shoved all-in for his last 260,000 with K♣ Q♥ , Paszkiewicz made the call with pocket queens and the ladies held to burst the final table bubble. Normunds Rumba, who had less than ten big blinds, was a particularly happy spectator.
But Martinkovic was not the only person to bubble today, there were in fact three. The top 32 players would make the money and with 34 left two players busted on the same hand on different tables meaning there was no hand for hand play at all. Ilja Chernogorod and Igor Pihela were the players who just missed out on a payday.
When the bubble burst Sam Macdonald and Zvonimir Zoric were amongst the big stacks and both made the final table. Although perhaps Macdonald (738,000, 2/8) will have more realistic hopes of taking the title than Zoric (293,000, 6/8) when play resumes tomorrow. Zoric was the pacesetter for much of the day but a series of lost pots in the last couple of levels dented his stack and title chances.
Of course for 32 to become eight, some of the players who’ve made this tournament what it is had to hit the rail. Those who cashed but crashed included: Kaspars Renga (23rd), Ingrida Klassen (22nd) and Ghattas Kortas (14th).
The latter had a particularly eventful day, he received a one round penalty for abusive language and then almost got another for being too happy and celebrating excessively (see posts at 6.05pm and 7pm). To see who busted where today click here.
The final table will begin at 1pm local time tomorrow the overnight chip counts and seat draw are posted below.
Seat 1. Zvorimir Zoric, Bosnia and Herzegowina, PokerStars Qualifier, 293,000
Seat 2.Vitalijs Tarhanovs, Latvia, 236,000
Seat 3.Gary Clarke, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 391,000
Seat 4.Valtteri Merikallio, Finland, 579,000
Seat 5.Joni Nenonen, Finland, 716,000
Seat 6.Dariusz Paszkiewicz, Poland, 1,068,000
Seat 7.Sam Macdonald, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 738,000
Seat 8.Normunds Rumba, Latvia, 95,000
To catch up on all of today’s play click the links below
Levels 11-14
Levels 15-18
Levels 19-20
All photos are copyright of Rene Velli. He’s got two earings, a beard and wears a hat. The man’s practically half pirate. Don’t mess.
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