Should we really be surprised how things went today? Probably not. For this was Day 1B, a day that could easily be summed up using the official EPT textbook*, with a well-worn blueprint that goes something like this.

* Seats are filled
* More seats are filled
* People start saying how big the Day 1B field is compared to Day 1A
* Seats begin to empty
* More seats begin to empty
* Play ends

There’s another thing to factor into all that, the performance of those who leave the RDS tonight with a bounce in their step, having bagged up the lead, or close to it. Tonight that man is Francisco Correia De Oliveira, who closes on 175,100 with 262 remaining from the field of 442 players today.

Day 1B chip leader tonight Francisco Correia de OlivieraDay 1A leader Gilles Bernies remains the overall leader after finishing with 189,600 a night ago.

Amid the crowds – and there were crowds today – there emerged a few players who jostled for the lead. You might say (and have a point) that the chip lead on Day 1A is seldom a guarantee of anything. But it would talk a player with significant chutzpah to turn the offer down, and Correia De Oliveira rightly can be pleased to have steered his way through a day that was a trial for many.

Any of the 180 players who crashed out today might testify to that. They included the likes of Luc Greenwood, Niall Farrell, Lex Veldhuis (playing his first EPT for more than a year), Katerina Malasidou, Johnny Lodden, Ari Engel, Chance Kornuth, Ruben Visser, Sylvain Loosli, Ludovic Geilich and Thomas Butzhammer.

Katerina Malasidou was out two hands after the dinner break……as was Lex VeldhuisBut let’s not dwell on the negatives. Plenty of others bagged up chips tonight and will return at 12 noon tomorrow for Day 2 of the Main Event, joining the 79 players who survived Day 1A.

They include:

Francisco Correia De Oliveira- 175,100
Richard Dubini – 157,300
Bernard Dias – 137,600
Alex Difelice – 136,100
Iliodoros Kamatakis – 125,200
Brian Ganon – 106,400
Slaven Popov – 100,100
Jaime Staples – 89,600
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – 81,400
Steve O’Dwyer – 55,400
Martin Jacobson – 63,200
George Danzer – 69,300
Theo Jorgensen – 16,700
Felipe Ramos – 17,100

Notable among them were the likes of Dubini, Dias, Difelice and Kamatakis, each of whom could easily have snatched the headlines tonight. As it was they did concede that much, but not some serious momentum with which to put to good use on Day 2. Click here for a complete list of Day 1B chip counts for those making it through to tomorrow’s Day 2.

That means coverage resumes right here on the PokerStars Blog from then, with live updates throughout the day.

But if you’re not quite ready to call it a night you can enjoy more High Stakes poker into the small hours, with continued live updates from the Single Day High Roller event, which plays on to a winner tonight. It’s usually a late one, but a thriller nonetheless. So grab a coffee, or the caffeinated beverage of your choice, and follow out Single Day High Roller live updates here.

Today was also the final day of the UKIPT Main Event, won in fine style by Vladas Tamasauskas a few hours ago. Read the full story of his victory.

The end of another textbook day on the EPT. Join us again tomorrow.

* There is no EPT textbook

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Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

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