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Live updates from Day 2, levels 8 & 9 of the $25,000 High Roller brought to you by Howard Swains, Brad Willis, and Simon Young.
Click refresh to see the latest updates below. Click through to the chip count page for the chip counts, updated regularly throughout the day.

Previous coverage: Day 1 wrap

Blinds:
Level 8: 500-1000 (100 ante)
Level 9: 600-1,200 (100 ante)

2:08pm: Break time
After two hours of play, the 36 remaining players are on break. That will give them a few minutes to go over and sweat the World Cup of Poker going on across the room. Join us for level 10 soon.

2.07pm: Naujoks again
Sandra Naujoks makes it 3,200 from the button and only EPT Kyiv winner Max Lykov calls from the small blind. On the J♦ 8♦ 6♣ flop, Lykov check-calls Naujoks’ 4,100. But on the 10♣ turn he checks and then folds when the German Team PokerStars Pro adds 8,000 more to the pot.

2.06pm: Minieri at it again
Greg Raymer bets 3,000, Poorya Nazari makes it 8,200 but Dario Minieri then fires out 23,800. None of them want to play anymore, and they both fold.

2.05pm: Justin Smith busted
Justin Smith is out in a hand that sent Vivek Rajkumar up to more than 200,000. It started with Isaac Baron making it 3,200 from early position. Smith called but Rajkumar bumped it up to 18,000. While Baron got out of the way, Smith called. On the 8♥ 5♦ J♦ flop, Rajkumar bet 15,200, Smith went all in and Rajkumar called.

Smith: Q♣ Q♠
Rajkumar: K♦ K♥

Smith was at risk, and the 6♣ turn and 9♦ river ensured he was out. “I had meant to make it slightly less pre-flop,” said Rajkumar. But ended well enough nonetheless.

2:03pm: Cada caught…again
William Thorson looked down at the board of 3♠ 5♥ 7♣ 10♠ 5♠ and smiled. Joe Cada had put out a bet of 13,500 and it was up to Thorson to act.

“This is so borderline,” he said, and laughed out loud.

Cada said nothing and leaned back in his chair.

“The thing is,” Thorson said, “I don’t think you think I have ace high.”

As we tried to decipher what Thorson was saying, he made the call. Cada nodded and said, “Nice call.” He turned over king-queen, good for…nothing. Thorson held Q♦ 3♦ …good for the pot.

Lichtenberger cooked
Andrew Lichtenberger is out, busted by Michel Brummelhuis. It was a straightforward A-A for Brummelhuis against the K-Q of Lichtenberger, and the board ran an emphatic 6-4-A-9-10

1.57pm: Reynolds takes one off Raymer
With 38,000 in the pot on a 4♦ 4♣ 9â™  10♦ 6â™  board, William Reynolds moves all in for his last 35,000 or so. He’s up against Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer, who clearly has something worth thinking about. Off come the famous Raymer glasses as he scratches his nose and weighs up his options. The one he chose, after a final check of his cards, was to fold.

1:56pm: Cada gives up
On a board of 8♦ 9♥ [3♠ 4♠ , Tobias Reinkemeier checked and then called a bet from 19,400 bet from 2009 WSOP champ Joe Cada. On the river K♥ , Reinkemeier checked again. This time, Cada checked behind.

“Queen high,” Cada said.

Reinkemeier leaned forward and looked at Cada as if to say, “Really?” Then he flipped over 5♥ 5â™  for the win.

1.55pm: And lunacy here too
The official table of lunatics might be the one with Minieri, Veldhuis, et al, but there’s no shortage of action next door where Isaac Baron, Vivek Rajkumar, Max Lykov and Sami Kelopuro sit. A couple of hands from there:

Kelopuro (mid) and Rajkumar (button) went to a flop of A♣ 7♠ 7♥ and Kelopuro bet 5,000. Rajkumar made it 7,200 more, which Kelopuro called. The turn was 7♣ and LarsLuzak checked, Psyduck bet 18,400, call. The river was 3♥ and Kelopuro checked again. Rajkumar announced all in, and reluctantly Kelopuro folded.

A couple of hands later, Max Lykov raised to 2,300 on the button and Isaac Baron made it 7,900 from the small blind. Lykov called. The flop was Q♥ 9♣ 6♥ and Baron bet 13,500, which Lykov called, for a 2♥ turn. Baron didn’t let up, betting 25,000. That was enough to get Lykov out the way.

1.43pm: Naujoks aggression
Sami Kelopuro makes it 3,000, Vivek Rajkumar makes it 9,600 from the small blind and then Sandra Naujoks makes it 22,700 from the big blind. That’s enough to frighten both of them off.

1.40pm: Raymer again
Andre Akkari makes it makes it 3,000 and it’s raised to 8,000 by Raymer. Akkari thinks for a while before folding tens faced up, and Raymer obliges by showing him A♦ K♦ .

1.38pm: Raymer v Minieri
On a 3â™  Jâ™  5♥ flop, Dario Minieri makes it 5,000 but Greg Raymer raises to 12,000. Call. Both check the 7â™  turn, and on the K♣ river Raymer checks then calls Minieri’s 17,000. Raymer tables 5♣ 5♦ for the set. It is good.

1.35pm: Lady Hamilton up some more
Andrew Lichtenberger re-raises Lisa Hamilton from the big blind to 8,500 and she calls from the button. The flop is 7♦ 3â™  4♦ and Hamilton calls Lichtenberger’s 10,500 bet. On the 5â™  turn Lichtenberger checks then folds when Hamilton fires out 21,000. She’s up to more than 150,000 now.

1.34pm: Kleijnen downed
Ton Kleijnene is out after running his Q♥ K♦ into Nick Shulman’s A♥ K♥ on a 3♦ 6♣ K♣ flop. The 9♥ turn and 7♣ river made no difference, and the Dutchman departs.

1.32pm: Lex bests Dario
The table that threw our two overnight chip leaders Lex Veldhuis and Dario Minieri together, as well as Greg Raymer, Mike Matusow, continues to be busy busy. With 70,000 already in the pot on a 4♠ J♦ A♥ flop they saw the 8♣ on the turn. Now Veldhuis made it a hefty 47,000, forcing Minieri to fold.

1.30pm: Champ downs champ
Carter Phillips (EPT Barcelona champion) has just accounted for Christophe Benzimra (EPT Warsaw champion). All the money went in on a board of J-3-3-Q and Benzimra’s king-jack lost to Phillips’ ace-three.

1:20pm: Saul gets Boosted
On a board of Qâ™  8♥ Aâ™  Q♦ 3♣ with more than 40,000 in the pot, Kevin Saul checked to Justin “Boosted J” Smith. Smith thought for a couple of minutes before moving all-in for 34,200. Saul tanked, but eventually made the call to see Smith’s Q♥ J♥ . Saul mucked, sent the chips across the table, and looked down at his remaining chips…somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000.

1.15pm: Max Lykov, blind defender
Max Lykov won’t give up his blinds to just anyone, although you can prise them away from him if you try hard enough. Sami Kelopuro raised to 2,600 from mid position and Lykov called in the big blind. The flop was 3â™  10♣ K♥ and after Lykov checked, Kelopuro bet 4,000 and took it.

It wasn’t so easy for Sandra Naujoks, however. She raised from the button on the next hand, making it 2,600. Lykov called from the small blind. The flop was ace high, with a jack out there too, and Lykov checked. Naujoks bet 4,100 and now Lykov got interested. He raised to 13,200 and that persuaded Naujoks to give up.

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Sandra Naujoks

1.10pm: Further research reveals…
A bit of research after the fact has revealed the circumstances of Daniel Negreanu’s departure. Michiel Brummelhuis opened to 2,500 and Negreanu made it 12,500. Brummelhuis moved all-in and Negreanu called. Kid Poker’s tens were not good against Brummelhuis’ jacks. And THAT is how Negreanu went bust.

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The game is up for Daniel Negreanu

There’s no doubt Negreanu is one of the biggest draws at this huge PCA festival. Here, players and fans tell our video team what makes the Team PokerStars Pro so special…


Watch PCA 2010: Pokerpinions: Daniel Negreanu on PokerStars.tv

1.05pm: That’s the end of the level
It is, you know. We’re going straight on into the level known popularly as “nine”. The blinds are 600-1,200 (with a 100 ante).

1.05pm: Chips for Nazari
On a flop of 6♥ Q♣ Aâ™  , Justin Smith check-calls Poorya Nazari’s 5,400 bet. The pattern is repeated on a 8♥ turn, this time after Nazari made it 7,500. On the 4♦ river Smith checks and Nazari moves all in for his last 19,000. Smith eyes him up suspiciously as he goes into the tank for a good four minutes. When he came back out, he mucked.

1.02pm: Neuville doubles
Andrew Lichtenberger doubles up the short-stacked Pierre Neuville. On the 10♠ A♠ 7♣ flop Neuville moves all in for around 25,000. Call.

Neuville: A♣ 5♣
Lichtenberger: 6â™  9â™ 

The 4♥ turn and 4♣ river keeps Neuville ahead, and he’s up to over 50,000 once more.

1pm: Rajkumar style
Philip Gruissem raised to 2,400 from the button and Vivek Rajkumar called in the big blind. The flop came 2♦ 4♥ J♣ and a pattern began: check from Rajkumar, bet from Gruissem, call from Rajkumar. They saw a turn of 5â™  and went through the routine. The bet was 6,300. The river was K♥ and this time Rajkumar checked, possibly expecting a bet from Gruissem. Gruissem checked behind and Rajkumar opened K♦ 5♦ . “He was drawing to two-pair on the flop and got there,” was how a member of the press corps described it.

12.50pm: Old friends and lunatics
A table has just been broken and it sent Mike Matusow into the empty chair where Veldhuis, Minieri, Smith, Raymer, Akkari are gathered. “Oh God,” said Matusow. “This is the dreeeeam table.” Matusow then pointed in turn at Veldhuis, Smith and Minieri with the words: “He’s a (expletive removed) lunatic. He’s a (expletive removed) lunatic. And he’s a (expletive removed) lunatic!”

Raymer piped up: “Mike, did you ever think there would come a day when you considered me one of the solid players?”
“Never,” Matusow said.

With old grudges long-since healed, Matusow and Raymer will be only two of the most talkative on what really is a spectacular line-up of players.

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The lunatics

12.45pm: Kid Poker gone
Michiel Brummelhuis has just done Daniel Negreanu dirty. That is to say, Brummelhuis is still sitting in his seat and Daniel Negreanu is not.

12.40pm: For Richey, for poorer
Brett Richey doubles up against Sorel Mizzi. They were all in pre-flop, and these are the cards they were holding:

Richey: 7♦ 7♣
Mizzi: A♠ K♦

The board ran 5♥ J♣ 8♣ J♦ 3♦ and Mizzi is down to 28,000.

12.38pm: Another gone
The flurry of eliminations continues, with Ben Tollerene the latest to pack his bags. All in pre-flop, he had J♣ J♦ but was outrun by Shawn Buchanan’s A♦ K♦ on a 8♥ 9♥ Q♥ Aâ™  5♥ board.

12.35pm: “Confused” Negreanu takes a hit
Jacob Rasmussen opens for 2,500, Lisa Hamilton calls but the Daniel Negreanu re-pops to 10,500. “This is called a squeeze play,” he explained to Andrew Lichtenberger sitting on his right. Squeeze or not, Rasmussen chose to re-raise all in. Hamilton got out of the way but Negreanu called quickly.

Negreanu: A♠ K♣
Rasmussen: 6♥ 6♠

“Wow, now I am completely confused. I will be confused for the rest of my life. I was not expecting that!”

The board ran 5♣ 8♠ 4♠ 8♦ Q♣ , and Rasmussen doubled up. Negreanu down to 45,000.

12:31pm: In the breeze
Please say goodbye to Fabrizio Gonzalez. He is no longer with us.

12.25pm: New Old chip leader
Lex Veldhuis came back this morning, opened his bag of chips and began stacking them up. That’s when he realised he had miscounted them overnight and instead of the 214,500 he declared, he actually had 219,000, which made him the chip leader. Veldhuis therefore missed out on all the overnight acclaim that went to Dario Minieri instead. Count better, Lex.

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Greg Raymer and Lex Veldhuis

12.20pm: Saving us the trouble
It’s tempting in the early stages of high roller tournaments just to stand and stare and then write: “Wow, there’s a really stacked table here… blah is on it, as is blah blah.” I’ve done it myself plenty of times. For instance down there on the 12.15pm update.

But in order to save us the bother of writing that over and over again – and to save you the trouble of reading it – here’s the full table draw for this event. Just look at some of those groupings:

Bertrand Grospellier
Isaac Baron
Adolfo Vaeza
Sami Kelopuro
Philip Gruissem
Bijan Zahmat
Vivek Rajkumar
Sandra Naujoks

Fabrizio Gonzalez
Will Molson
Lisa Hamilton
Andre Akkari
Greg Raymer
Lex Veldhuis
Daniel Smith
Dario Minieri

Andrew Lichtenberger
Daniel Negreanu
Michiel Brummelhuis
Pierre Neuville
Jacob Rasmussen
Shawn Buchanan
Benjamin Tollerene

William Thorson
Koen Berendsen
Tobias Reinkemeier
Chad Brown
Joe Cada
Bryn Kenney
James Calderaro

Jan Peterson
William Reynolds
Mike Matusow
Alex Brenes
Alexander Kostritsyn
Antoon Kleijnen
Bill Edler

Dmitry Stelmark
Christian Kruel
Nick Schulman
Sorrel Mizzi
Brett Richey
Paul Berende
Peter Eastgate
Max Lykov

Kevin Saul
Justin Smith
Poorya Nazari
Carter Phillips
Matt Marafioiti
Govert Metaal
Christophe Benzimra

12:17pm: Champion eliminated
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier has just been eliminated when his pocket kings fell to Sami Kelopouro’s Aâ™  2♦ , all-in pre-flop for ElkY’s last 5,400. An ace fell on the flop and ElkY never caught up.

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ElkY eliminated

12.15pm: Have you won an EPT?
High roller events attract high rollers. The clue is in the name. And winning a European Poker Tour even tends to elevate oneself into that category. Play is under way here today and there’s a table stacked with EPT-winning talent. Each of Poorya Nazari, Carter Phillips and Christophe Benzimra won an EPT Main Event in 2009. And now they’re all around the same felt.

Also there is Kevin Saul, and his recent small pot with Nazari reminded us of about this time last year. Those two were on the final table of the PCA Main Event last January. Today’s early skirmish was nowhere near as dramatic as anything from that previous encounter. Nazari raised to 2,500 from early position, Saul called in the small blind. The flop came 2♦ 3♦ 7♥ and they both checked. They also checked the K♥ on the turn and the J♥ on the river.

“Fours,” said Saul. Nazari opened 6♣ 6♦ and won.

11:56pm: Who is coming back?
The rich folk, that’s who. See Howard Swains’ intro: Back among the millionaires.

11:38am: Back soon
The 52 remaining players in the 2010 PCA High Roller event will be back in about 20 minutes to fight down to the final 24 people. This man (who will almost certainly be referred to as ‘diminutive’ once today), leads the pack.

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Dario Minieri

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