Thursday, 28th March 2024 23:31
Home / Uncategorized / Endrit Geci leads final 19 in the PokerStars Festival Marbella Main Event

Play on Day 2 of the PokerStars Festival Marbella Main Event has now concluded and it has been non-stop action here at Casino Marbella.

I54 players returned to the cardroom and every one of them had made it to the money. There was some frantic action at the start, with many short stacks falling shortly after we kicked off. It is quite a different story now, with 19 coming back tomorrow for Day 3. All of those will do their best to take down the €179,000 top prize, the trophy and a Platinum Pass to the PSPC taking place in the Bahamas in January next year.

Of those who are left, some have fared better than others. One name we were expecting to see a lot of today, was Endrit Geci as he finished as the overall chip leader last night and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Geci plugged away all day and maintained the chiplead from start to finish. He will take through a very impressive 4.09 million.

Endrit Geci

The day wasn’t only about Geci though, with a few other names striking big. Ole Rauff Hansen was the second person to exceed the two million mark and he will take 2.35 million through. Romain Feriolo (2.86 million), Tomas Saltonas (2.675 million) and Iñigo Naveiro (2.25 million), will all return tomorrow at the front of the field. Full chip counts of the remaining players can be seen below.

Ole Rauff Hansen

Name COUNTRY CHIPS
Endrit Geci UK 4,090,000
Romain Feriolo France 2,860,000
Tomas Saltonas Lithuania 2,675,000
Ole Rauff Hansen Denmark 2,345,000
Iñigo Naveiro Martin Spain 2,250,000
Paul Van Oort Netherlands 1,885,000
Fernando Suarez Gomez Spain 1,635,000
Omar Del Pino Hanouadi Spain 1,500,000
Alexander Zur Linden Germany 1,470,000
Fernando Curto Spain 1,410,000
Tore Andre Pedersen Norway 1,320,000
Junio Borges Fagundes Portugal 1,310,000
Nicki Dalgaard Denmark 1,305,000
Teunis Kooij Netherlands 1,205,000
Zhong Chen Netherlands 1,105,000
Sérgio Felipe Da silva Veloso Portugal 695,000
Hamish Morjaria UK 695,000
David Perez Spain 480,000
Khalil Chami France 475,000

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to many more players than we can congratulate. Former PokerStars Festival Marbella Champion, Jonathan Schuman (85th), Isabel Boyle (68th), Silviu Baltateanu (48th), Steve Warburton (46th) and Sander Van Wesehael (32nd), won’t live to fight another day.

Make sure you join us again tomorrow from 12pm, for live updates all throughout Day 3 of the Main Event. –LY

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9:20pm: Done for the day
Level 24 – Blinds 15,000/30,000 (BB ante 30,000)

Play has ended for the day and 19 players have advanced to Day 3. Steinar Olafsson, Dalibor Mijic, David Hu and Dominik Ostrowski all busted before the end of play. –NW

8:50pm: Lesniewski out in 24th
Level 24 – Blinds 15,000/30,000 (BB ante 30,000)

Marcin Lesniewski is the first player to bust since the field was reduced to three tables. He shoved for 150,000 with K♦ 8â™  and Steinar Olafsson looked him up with pocket sevens. There was no help for Lesniewski on the 2♥ 3â™  6♥ 10â™  4♣ run out. He picks up €5,000 for his deep run. –NW

8:40pm: Final 24 re-draw
Level 24 – Blinds 15,000/30,000 (BB ante 30,000)

Below is how the final three tables shape up.

Seat Table 1 Table 2 Table 3
1 Tore Andre Pedersen Iñigo Naveiro Martin Khalil Chami
2 Zhong Chen David Hu Steinar Olafsson
3 Dalibor Mijic Omar Del Pino Hanouadi David Perez
4 Romain Feriolo Junio Borges Fagundes Dominik Ostrowski
5 Tomas Saltonas Fernando Suarez Gomez Teunis Kooij
6 Nicki Dalgaard Sérgio Felipe Da silva Veloso Fernando Curto
7 Ole Rauff Hansen Hamish Morjaria Marcin Lesniewski
8 Paul Van Oort Alexander Zur Linden Endrit Geci

8:25pm: A catch up with Cody
Level 24 – Blinds 15,000/30,000 (BB ante 30,000)

There was no joy in the Main Event for Jake Cody, but how does he handle busting tournaments? Find out below.

8:15pm: Trandafr runs out of track
Level 24 – Blinds 15,000/30,000 (BB ante 30,000)

Down to just 235,000 Silviu Costin Trandafir moved all-in from under-the-gun and he picked up a call from Iñigo Naveiro Martin, who was to his immediate left. Everyone else left them to it and the cards were then turned over. Naveiro Martin showed K♣ K♥ and Trandafir opened A♥ 7♠ .

The Jâ™  4♦ 10♦ 6♦ Q♣ run out bought no relief to Trandafir and he was eliminated. We’re now down to 24 players and they’ll now be a complete re-draw of the final 24 players. –NW

8:02pm: Last level of the night
Level 24 – Blinds 15,000/30,000 (BB ante 30,000)

The blinds have ticked up again and level 24 will be the final level of the day. There are 27 players remaining at the moment, the next milestone is 24 players, at that point they’ll be a complete redraw of the remaining players. –NW

8pm: Fancy a bit on the side?
Level 23 – Blinds 10,000/25,000 (BB ante 25,000)

There are three big tournaments running concurrently here in Marbella. Whilst the Main Event is the feature event, we’ve also got the €2,000 High Roller and the €330 Marbella Poker Cup. There are 135 runners so far including: Fatima Moreira de Melo, Henri Kasper, Lawrence Bayley, Marc Radgen, Orpen Kisacikoglu, Piotr Franczak, Tobias Peters, Leo Margets and Sam Grafton.

The Marbella Poker Cup has just started and that event will award two Platinum Passes, one will go to the winner of the Day 2 flipout, which will take place at the start of play and the other will go to the winner. Both will be awarded on Sunday. –NW

7:55pm: Suarez and Borges tussle once more
Level 23 – Blinds 10,000/25,000 (BB ante 25,000)

Braz Borges and Fernando Suarez certainly have a lot of history together. They have been sat next to each other all day and have gotten tangled up in more pots than we’d dare to try and count.

The last one went to Borges. It all started with an open from Omar Del Pino Hanouadi on the cutoff. Suarez was in the small blind and he three-bet, only for Borges to ask him how much he started the hand with, before four-betting 920,000 all-in.

It was Del Pino Hanouadi who had the toughest decision, he was visibly shifting in his seat. Eventually he opted to fold and Suarez passed pretty sharpish. Borges sent his cards into the muck before collecting the pot. He is now playing about 1.25 million. –LY

7:45pm: Chami survives
Level 23 – Blinds 10,000/25,000 (BB ante 25,000)

Khalil Chami’s fortunes have changed dramatically over the course of the day. Most recently, he has been nursing a short stack but just now he secured a double, breathing some new life into his tournament campaign. He now has around 550,000, which gives him over 20 big blinds to play with going forward. –LY

Khalil Chami

7:40pm: The house of Hansen
Level 23 – Blinds 10,000/25,000 (BB ante 25,000)

Ole Rauff Hansen has had an incredible 45 minutes as he’s turned his stack of 650,000 into over 2 million. The hand that got his upward trajectory started came against Daniel Doroteo. It was pocket tens for Hansen and ace-king for Doroteo, in a pot where Hansen was all-in for 670,000. The board stayed low and Hansen dobuled. –NW

7:30pm: The end of the line for Creutz
Level 23 – Blinds 10,000/25,000 (BB ante 25,000)

Johan Arne Creutz was very short indeed when he shipped all-in with K♦ 9♦ . Unfortunately for him he was behind going into the hand and the dealer couldn’t save him. He will now have to make his way to the payout desk. –LY

7:15pm: Pedersen takes from Casino
Level 23 – Blinds 10,000/25,000 (BB ante 25,000)

We don’t envy Julien Casino, to wake up with a premium hand, get 600,000 chips in preflop and find that you pretty much couldn’t have got it in any worse, is any poker player’s nightmare.

Casino was holding A♣ K♦ when he ran into Pedersen’s Aâ™  A♥ and he needed something really special to get him out of trouble.

J♦ Q♥ 4♦ J♠ K♠

The board ran safe for Pedersen and he is up to 1.3 million now, whilst Casino drops to 270,000. –LY

7:10pm: No change at the top
Level 23 – Blinds 10,000/25,000 (BB ante 25,000)

There’s no change at the top, Endrit Geci still leads the Main Event. 34 players remain, including: Romain Feriolo, Nicki Dalgaard, Paul Berende and Paul van Oort. –NW

NAME COUNTRY CHIPS
Geci, Endrit UK 2,340,000
David Feriolo, Romain Lionel France 1,700,000
Zur Linden, Alexander Johannes Germany 1,460,000
Suarez Gomez, Fernando Spain 1,350,000
Doroteo Moreno, Daniel Spain 1,300,000
Ostrowski, Dominik Poland 1,200,000
Curto Gonzalez, Fernando Spain 1,055,000
Del Pino Hanouadi, Omar Spain 1,030,000
Olafsson, Steinar Ger Iceland 1,000,000
Puras Dieguez, Rubén Spain 960,000
Lesniewski, Marcin Poland 950,000
Naveiro Martin, Iñigo Spain 950,000
Vincent Casino, Julien Sebastien France 930,000
Chen, Zhong Netherlands 900,000
Perez Perez, David Spain 900,000
Trandafir, Silviu Costin Romania 900,000
Da silva Veloso , Sérgio Felipe Portugal 875,000
Mijic, Dalibor Switzerland 850,000
Nicki Dalgaard Denmark 825,000
Saltonas, Tomas Lithuania 820,000
Kooij, Teunis Netherlands 805,000
Van Oort, Paul Ma Netherlands 770,000
Adrianus Berende, Paul Petrus Netherlands 750,000
Pedersen, Tore Andre Norway 655,000
Rauff Hansen, Ole Denmark 650,000
Morjaria, Hamish UK 600,000
Hu, David Netherlands 585,000
Van Wesemael, Sander Netherlands 425,000
Borges Fagundes Junio, Braz Portugal 400,000
Chami, Khalil France 380,000
Arne Creutz, Johan Stig Sweden 255,000
Nuñez Quijada, Jose Maria Spain 250,000
Van Der Stroom, Jan Netherlands 175,000
Morales Calderon, Manuel Spain 130,000

6:40pm: The last break of the day
Level 22 – Blinds 10,000/20,000 (BB ante 20,000)

See you back here in twenty minutes for the final two levels of Day 2 of the Main Event. –LY

6:30pm: Barrel every street
Level 22 – Blinds 10,000/20,000 (BB ante 20,000)

That was what happened just now in a pot involving Fernando Suarez and Braz Borges. We joined the table on the river but Omar Del Pino Hanouadi was able to fill us in on what happened earlier.

It began with an open from Suarez and a call from Borges. The flop came 3♦ 7♣ 4♠ . Suarez continued and Borges came along.

The J♣ 9♣ turn and river saw more of the same, with two further barrels from Suarez, the last being enough to set Borges all in.

Borges went deep into the tank before the clock was called but ultimately he decided not to risk his tournament life and folded.

Suarez now has 1.5 million to play with. –LY

6:20pm: The poker gran!
Level 22 – Blinds 10,000/20,000 (BB ante 20,000)

Earlier today we caught up with Isabel Boyle, a 74-year-old poker player from Scotland who qualified to this event online and runs her own home games on PokerStars. Check it out below.

6:20pm: Echevarne joins the millionaire’s club
Level 22 – Blinds 10,000/20,000 (BB ante 20,000)

Jose Echevarne is the latest player to top the 1 million chip mark. He just won a large pot with A♥ Q♥ on a 10â™  5♥ 9♥ 3♥ 9â™  . He is sitting on 1.1 million now. –LY

6:10pm: Lootsma looted by Suarez Gomez
Level 22 – Blinds 10,000/20,000 (BB ante 20,000)

Werner Lootsma was down to just 220,000 and committed his chips whilst holidng K♦ 10♣ . He must’ve known he wasn’t in great shape when Fernando Suarez Gomez called and indeed that was the case as Suarez Gomez revealed pocket queens. The J♥ Q♣ J♣ flop matched Suarez Gomez’s had pretty nicely and not Lootsma was all but drawing dead. The 7♦ 6â™  turn and river bricked off and, after a few words in Dutch with Sander van Wesemael, he was on his way to the payout desk.

After that hand Suarez Gomez is up to 1.15 million. –NW

6pm: Kacar out
Level 22 – Blinds 10,000/20,000 (BB ante 20,000)

It was an opportunity for Mehmet Serhat Kacar to get more than a double up but things didn’t go as planned for the Turk.

He got it all in with the best of it against Ole Rauff Hansen and for a while it looked like Khalil Chami might also get it in too. He decided against it in the end and told the table he had folded pocket tens, as the other two spun their cards on their backs.

Kacar K♥ K♦
Hansen A♦ J♦

2♦ 10♠ 2♠ 9♦ 7♦

By the river, Hansen had hit a flush, which signalled the end for Kacar. Chami looked like he regretted his decision to fold as he would have won the flip against Hansen as well as the main pot. But in this reality, it’s Hansen who gets the chips. –LY

5:50pm: Time please!
Level 22 – Blinds 10,000/20,000 (BB ante 20,000)

Romain Feriolo had been in the tank for quite some time and eventually another player called the clock on him. He was facing big bet and an equally sizeable decision. The hand had started with an early position raise from Mijic Dalibor and Feriolo called from the big blind. On the 4♣ 5♦ 9♦ flop Feriolo checked, Dalibor c-bet 75,000, Feriolo check-raised to 160,000 and Dalibor then shoved all-in.

Feriolo needed a count and it was established that Dalibor was all-in for 645,000 total. It was at this stage that Feriolo began to tank. When the clock was called the TD arrived at the table and let Feriolo know he had 30 seconds to make a decision. His time ran out before he could make up his mind and the pot went to Dalibor. Despite that dent Feriolo still has 900,000. –NW

5:30pm: Six tables left
Level 21 – Blinds 8,000/16,000 (BB ante 16,000)

There are 46 still in contention to win the PokerStars Festival Marbella Main Event. As we come towards the end of Level 21, there are still three more hours of play left to enjoy. Don’t go anywhere! –LY

5:20pm: Van Wesemael takes out Skaalevik
Level 21 – Blinds 8,000/16,000 (BB ante 16,000)

Thomas Skaalevik must have been optimistic to get the last 76,000 chips in with 9♣ 9♥ and even more so when the only caller, Sander Van Wesemael, turned over K♠ 5♠ .

The 2♦ 6♠ 4♣ looked pretty good for the Norwegian, despite Van Wesemael picking up a gutshot.

The 10â™  turn added a flush draw though and now there were a fair number of outs that Skaalevik needed to dodge.

He couldn’t fade the 7â™  river and as Skaalevik headed towards the payouts desk, Van Wesemael was sitting pretty on 1.2 million. –LY

Sander Van Wesemael

5:10pm: A bump in the road for Geci
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)

It’s been a steady upward trend for Endrit Geci and his chip stack so far today, but the chip leader just took a dent to his stack. Fernando Suarez Gomez opened to 34,000 from the hijack, Geci three-bet to 90,000 on the button, Suarez Gomez shoved for 327,000 total and Geci snap called.

Geci: A♠ K♣
Suarez Gomez: K♥ 9♥

The all-in player was in a world of hurt, but it was domination rotation on the Jâ™  7♥ 9â™  flop as Suarez Gomez took the lead. The 6♥ 8♦ turn and river were both blanks and he survived. –NW

5:05pm: Back to back losses sees the end for Canev
Level 21 – Blinds 8,000/16,000 (BB ante 16,000)

J♦ 4♣ Q♣ 8♣

Youlian Canev and Fernando Curto were on the turn when we joined the action. Curto had bet what looked like 180,000 and Canev called behind.

The Aâ™  river saw another bet from Curto, this time to 220,000. Canev didn’t look happy with the situation and mulled things over for a minute or two before grudgingly making the call. He looked even less happy when Curto turned over the nuts with K♣ 9♣ . Curto now has around 900,000 to play with.

The very next hand, Canev jammed the last of it, which was less than 10 big blinds. Nicki Vestergaard liked the price and everyone else moved aside.

Canev A♦ J♦
Vestergaard A♣ 4♣

Vestergaard was surprised to be up against such a strong hand, “how do you have premium there?” he asked. “A four will come,” replied Canev. He wasn’t far off. Though the 8♣ K♥ 5♣ K♣ 7♥ board didn’t feature a four, there were three clubs, giving Vestergaard the flush and that was the end for Canev. –LY

Fernando Curto

5pm: Geci still the man to catch
Level 21 – Blinds 8,000/16,000 (BB ante 16,000)

It’s still Endrit Geci who leads the way, the UK player has a large chip lead and only four players currently have more than 1 million chips. The counts of all the remaining players – as of the start of level 21 – are below. Eveyone has locked up € 2,670, the next pay jump is at 55th place where the payout increases to € 3,150.

NAME COUNTRY CHIPS
Geci, Endrit UK 1,850,000
Ostrowski, Dominik Poland 1,320,000
Pedersen, Tore Andre Norway 1,280,000
Kooij, Teunis Netherlands 1,050,000
Van Oort, Pall Ma Netherlands 1,030,000
Lesniewski, Marcin Poland 930,000
Del Pino Hanouadi, Omar Spain 870,000
Da silva Veloso , Sérgio Felipe Portugal 860,000
Zur Linden, Alexander Johannes Germany 830,000
Chami, Khalil France 820,000
Chen, Zhong Netherlands 800,000
Nuñez Quijada, Jose Maria Spain 790,000
Vincent Casino, Julien Sebastien France 770,000
Van Wesemael, Sander Netherlands 750,000
Perez Perez, David Spain 630,000
David Feriolo, Romain Lionel France 625,000
Canev, Youlian Bulgary 620,000
Rauff Hansen, Ole Denmark 610,000
Nicki Dalgaard Denmark 600,000
Mijic, Dalibor Switzerland 590,000
Curto Gonzalez, Fernando Spain 580,000
Baltateanu, Silviu Romania 570,000
Borges Fagundes Junio, Braz Portugal 565,000
Cortes Heredia, Luis Spain 550,000
Lootsma, Werner Netherlands 510,000
Doroteo Moreno, Daniel Spain 485,000
Hu, David Netherlands 480,000
Evgenevich , Ishchenko Alexander Russia 480,000
Suarez Gomez, Fernando Spain 465,000
Panev, Ivalo Bulgary 440,000
Arne Creutz, Johan Stig Sweden 435,000
Olafsson, Steinar Ger Iceland 430,000
Morjaria, Hamish Ukraine 390,000
Martos Exposito, Manuel Spain 379,000
Adrianus Berende, Paul Petrus Netherlands 350,000
Naveiro Martin, Iñigo Spain 300,000
Rumdstrom, Bo Stefan Sweden 300,000
Warburton, Steven Josh UK 285,000
Kobbeltvedt, Alexander Nikola Norway 280,000
Saltonas, Tomas Lithuania 270,000
Kriauciunas, Mindaugas Lithuania 270,000
Puras Dieguez, Rubén Spain 260,000
Hancock, Tyler USA 250,000
Van Der Stroom, Jan Netherlands 230,000
Maurer, Florian Austria 220,000
Semaan Khoury, Elie Canada 220,000
Hissou, Sirzat Germany 220,000
Toth, Bela Hungary 190,000
Putters, Johannes Netherlands 170,000
Morales Calderon, Manuel Spain 166,000
Trandafir, Silviu Costin Romania 158,000
perez sanchez, jose Daniel Spain 150,000
Peñalver Hernandez, Angel Spain 130,000
Serhat Kacar, Mehmet Turkey 105,000
Martin Rocanin, Gonzalo Spain 90,000
Galtos, Nicholas John Australia 63,000
Skaalevik, Thomas Norway 38,000

Endrit Geci

4:45pm: Halfway home
Level 21 – Blinds 8,000/16,000 (BB ante 16,000)

A total of eight levels are planned for today, four down, four to go. Play is back underway. –NW

4:30pm: Time for a breather
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)

The 58 remaining players are now on a 15-minute break. –NW

4:25pm: Planells at the double
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)

From middle position Jose Planells shoved for 264,000 with K♣ K♦ K♥ . The 7♣ 3♣ 6♥ 9â™  2♦ run out kept the cowboys in front and Planells doubled. Skaalevik didn’t have much more and was left with just a handful of big blinds. –NW

4:20pm: Time to gamble
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)

There are only about fifteen minutes left at this level before the blinds go up to 8,000/16,000. That is quite a jump and may be what has prempted a few all-ins in the last 5 minutes.

First off Manuel Morales shipped 94,000 under-the-gun with K♥ J♥ and found a caller in Omar Del Pino Hanouadi who found A♠ J♣ in the big blind.

The 3♥ 4♥ 4♣ 2♦ 7♥ runout gave Morales a flush on the river and he survives with just over 200,000.

Next we had Hotien Cheung move all-in with 142,000. Romain David Feriolo called and once again it was the shortest stack that needed to hit.

David Feriolo A♣ 10♦
Cheung A♠ 5♦

Sadly for Cheung, he couldn’t improve on the K♥ 3♣ J♥ Kâ™  Q♦ board and he has to say goodbye. –LY

4:15pm: A flip
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)

“I’m not flipping good today,” said Florian Maurer as he shipped nearly half of his chips over to Bo Rumdstrom.

Pre-flop Rumdstrom got his final 261,000 in with pocket jacks and Maurer was looking to score the elimination with K♥ Q♥ . The 9♦ 10â™  5♦ A♥ 4â™  run out kept the hooks in front though. Maurer was left with 315,000. –NW

4:10pm: A note on some notables
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)

A few notables have survived the mass cull that has been Day 2 so far. Paul Berende is still in fighting with 385,000, Nick Galtos is nursing a very short stack of just 60,000 and Romain Feriolo has 485,000. The latter may not be familiar to poker fans but he final tabled the EPT Grand Final way back in Season 1 (2005). He’s also now cashed in this event for three years straight! In 2015 he finished ninth, winning € 11,245 and last year he picked up € 2,600 for a 60th place finish.

He looks set to best that as we’re now down to 63 players. –NW

4pm: Van Oort closing in on 1 million chips
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)

There was a large pile of chips in the middle by the time we arrived at the table, though we can’t say for sure, our best guess is that the pot had about 450,000 in it. Pall Van Oort and Iñigo Naveiro had a lot invested and the board was an interesting one.

6♣ 5♥ 3♥ 2♥ 4♠

There was a straight on the board and a flush possibility too, with three hearts down. Naveiro had checked the river and Van Oort moved all in. It was a tough spot for Naveiro who needed a few minutes to think it over. In the end, he passed and holds on to 500,000 chips.

For Van Oort though, that hand propels him up with the top chip stacks, with 981,000. –LY

Pall Van Oort

3:50pm: Kyte cut down
Level 20 – Blinds 6,000/12,000 (BB ante 12,000)
John Kyte couldn’t believe it. He recoiled in anguish as the realisation that his tournament was over sunk in.

His final chips had gone in on the river of a 2♥ J♠ J♦ 4♥ 10♦ board. He had A♠ J♣ , a fine hand, but Tore Pedersen had J♥ 10♥ for an even better holding.

The pot looked to be worth around 700,000 and Pedersen is now up to 1.2 million. –NW

3:35pm: Another chipleader update
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

Following on from a couple of posts ago, we have noticed that Endrit Geci has lost some of his monster stack and now has a little under 1.6 million. Still, we don’t think he has much to worry about just yet as he is the runaway leader at the minute with the rest of the field yet to break the 1 million barrier. –LY

3:30pm: Where in the world?
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

We already know that there were 1,027 entries in this event (668 uniques plus 359 re-entries), however where did these players come from. The behind the scenes crew have crunched the numbers and, unsurprisingly, Spain leads the way with 175 unique entries. Next is ‘others’ with 173, then UK with 50 and France (48), followed by the Netherlands (45). Check the pie-chart below for more info.

3:20pm: Chip leaders
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

Whilst everyone trails Endrit Geci by a distance, there are plenty of players building big stacks.

Endrit Geci – 1.9 million
Sander van Wesemael – 980,000
Julien Casino – 900,000
Youlian Canev – 840,000
I̱igo Naveiro Р780,000
S̩rgio Da silva Veloso Р890,000

68 players remain. –NW

3:10pm: Big flip for Chami and Riechsteiner
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

The chips were in the middle by the time we arrived at the table and Laurin Riechsteiner and Khalil Chami were essentially playing for stacks, with Chami having just a whisker more than his opponent.

Chami Aâ™  Kâ™ 
Riechsteiner J♥ J♣

The dealer placed 8♥ Q♠ K♣ on the flop and Chami took the lead with a pair of kings. This left Riechsteiner with two jacks or running straight outs to stay in the game.

The turn was a 3♦ and only a jack would do for Riechsteiner. The 6â™  river was no good and he will make his way to the payout desk to collect his winnings. Chami now has 725,000 in front, which is well ahead of the 450,000 average stack. –LY

Khalil Chami

3:05pm: Huge pot for Geci
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

Endrit Geci is up to 1.9 million after winning a big pot against, Omar Del Pino Hanouadi. The average stack is only 450,000 and his nearest challenger has 900,000. He’s got a huge chip lead.

I only caught the river action but on a complete 6♦ 7♠ 9♣ A♠ J♣ board Del Pino Hanouadi bet 43,000. Geci, who was in position, raised it up to 119,000 and Del Pino Hanouadi then re-raised to 345,000. This re-raise sent Geci into the tank and you could see the mental cogs whirring as he tried to make sense of it.

Eventually he called and it proved to be a wise choice, Del Pino Hanouadi had Qâ™  10♣ for a bluff and Geci had made the call with A♦ Q♣ . –NW

2:50pm: Lucky break for Curto
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

Fernando Curto was sat in the small blind with 269,500. He moved all in on Luis Cortes who was sat in the big blind, who snap called.

Cortes A♠ K♣
Curto A♦ 4♦

Cortes was the favourite as the pair headed into the flop. It came 6â™  6♦ J♦ , improving Curto’s odds with both a flush draw and increasing his chances of chopping the pot.

The 7♦ turn gave Curto the flush and the 3♦ river seemed a little unnecessary. Cortes did not look happy as he counted out the chips to hand over and no wonder, as it was a 550,000 pot. –LY

2:45pm: In the money
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

The first two levels of play were absolutely manic. We began with 154 players and ended with just 84. Among the players to be eliminated were: Luke Haward, Isidoro Barreña and Jonathan Schuman. You can see the full list of payouts so far here.

Luke Haward

2:30pm: They go again
Level 19 – Blinds 5,000/10,000 (BB ante 10,000)

Play has restarted. The average stack is 38 big blinds. –NW

2:07pm: Time for some fresh air
Level 18 – Blinds 4,000/8,000 (BB ante 8,000)

The 81 remaining players are taking their first break of the day. -NW

2:05pm: Ostrowski climbing
Level 18 – Blinds 4,000/8,000 (BB ante 8,000)

Dominik Ostrowski is up to 650,000 after eliminating Adam Milewski. Down to just 100,000 Milewski shoved with J♦ 10♦ and Ostrowski called with K♥ Qâ™  . The best hand held as the board ran A♦ Q♥ 4♣ 3♥ 4â™  . –NW

2pm: Former champion out
Level 18 – Blinds 4,000/8,000 (BB ante 8,000)

Jonathan Schuman, former PokerStars Festival Marbella winner, has just hit the rail. He was down to less than 50,000 chips and shipped all in with Q♦ J♥ . Youlian Canev was sat on his left and he made the call with A♣ 3♣ . With everyone else moving aside, the pair were heads up.

5♠ 4♠ K♦

The flop didn’t help Schuman, who was still looking to hit a queen or a jack. The turn obliged with the Q♥ and Schuman briefly moved into the lead. That was before a 2♣ river locked the hand up for Canev, making him a wheel straight.

As the 2016 Champion headed to the payout desk, Canev’s stack has grown to 500,000. –LY

1:50pm: Oh boy!
Level 18 – Blinds 4,000/8,000 (BB ante 8,000)

While playing poker there are many things that can distract you and stop you from following the action. It pays to follow the action and if you don’t it can be costly, as Jose Echevarne just found to his cost.

There was a raise to 16,000 from Sirzat Hissou but Echevarme, who was in the small blind, didn’t see this. With the big blind having just 65,000 back, Echevarme moved all-in. He thought that he was only risking a portion of his stack, but in fact his entire 180,000 was on the line as Hissou had him covered. The latter knew that Echevarme hadn’t seen his raise, but nonetheless he had a tough decision. Ultimately he elected to call with A♣ Qâ™  and Echevarme sheepishly revealed Kâ™  6♦ .

The 2♥ Q♦ 9â™  3♦ J♦ board bought no reprieve for Echevarme and he was visibly gutted to have made such an error. –NW

1:45pm: Warburton takes out Ten Haven
Level 18 – Blinds 4,000/8,000 (BB ante 8,000)

Steve Warburton started off the betting with an under-the-gun open to 20,000. It folded round to Duco Ten Haven and the Dutchman decided to get his last twenty big blinds in. When everyone else got out of the way, Warburton snapped and when the cards went over, it was pair vs pair.

Warburton K♦ K♠
Ten Haven 10♦ 10♥

The 2â™  Q♦ 6♦ 3♥ A♥ board was a safe runout for Warburton’s kings and sees the Brit move past the 500,000 mark, whilst Ten Haven hits the rail. –LY

Steven Warburton

1:35pm: Cruas out
Level 18 – Blinds 4,000/8,000 (BB ante 8,000)

David Cruas has just made his last action in the Main Event. He was down to only 43,500 and opted to get it in from under-the-gun. Braz Borges was the only player who wanted to get involved and they flipped their cards on their backs.

Borges A♦ 10♦
Cruas K♠ 10♣

Cruas looked understandably disappointed when he saw he was the underdog as the dealer laid out the community cards.

8♦ 6♥ 8♠ A♣ 9♦

While we say goodbye to Cruas, Borges has built his stack up to 440,000. –LY

1:20pm: Perez chips up
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

David Perez has doubled his stack in the first hour of play today. The most recent pot that he won was against Hubert Baran Osinski.

Arriving in time to see the action on the river, players were facing a A♠ 9♥ 3♦ 9♠ Q♥ board. Perez bet 48,000 into a pot that looked to be 140,000. Baran Osinski thought about it and raised it up to 105,000, which was around half of his remaining stack. With the action back on Perez, he set Baran Osinski all-in.

Baran Osinski went deep into the tank before folding and Perez showed the almost nuts with A♥ A♣ . He has chipped up to around 700,000, which is one of the larger stacks at this point. –LY

1:05pm: Barreña busts
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

Isidoro Barreña won the 2015 edition of this tournament, collecting €150,800. He’s picked up another payday this year, but a much smaller one as he’s just busted out of this event in unfortunate circumstances.

He shoved from under-the-gun for 70,000 with pocket kings and Armen Khacahtryan called with ace-queen. An ace on the flop was bad news for Barreña and he didn’t hit the turn or river. –NW

Isidoro Barrena

12:50pm: Geci takes from Martin
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

Endrit Geci stands out in the room. The reason? Because he has a huge pile of chips in front of him. Finishing as overall chipleader across all three flights, he was most recently seen applying pressure to Manuel Martin.

We arrived in time to see the action from the turn, with the board reading Q♦ 9♠ 3♣ 4♥ .

Geci had position and bet 30,500 at this point, which Martin called. The river was the J♣ and after Martin checked again, Geci upped his sizing to 87,000. After some consideration Martin folded, showing the 9♣ as he did.

Geci is now closing in fast on the 1 million chip mark, with 985,000 in play. –LY

Endrit Geci

12:45pm: Another one gone
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

The queue at the payouts desk has been at least two to three deep for the entire level as players continue to exit at a rapid rate. Elias Youssef Chakkour is the latest bust out, he ran pocket tens into the pocket kings of Hamish Morjaria and that was that. Morjaria is up to 260,000 and is sat to the left of Luke Haward, who is grinding a short stack. Iker Aranzegi Ortiz is at the same table and he has around 860,000. –NW

12:35pm: King-queen bad, pair good
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

Two hands, two all-ins and twice king-queen lost to a medium pair. The first encounter was between Christianus Boelens from the Netherlands and, Francisco Parra from Spain. Boelens was all-in for roughly 125,000 with K♣ Q♥ and Parra held pocket eights. The snowmen held up on a 10♦ 6♠ 10♣ A♣ 2♦ run out.

Then a huge pot played out between Werner Lootsma and Asgeir Mogens Lund. I didn’t see any of the action but by the river of a 8♥ K♦ 7♣ 2♣ K♣ board Loostma had got his entire stack of 298,000 in and Lund – who had just over 300,000 – had called. It soon became clear why. Lund had K♥ Q♦ for trips, but Loostma had flopped a set of sevens and rivered a full house.

That pot boost Loostma up to 600,000 and he’s one of the chip leaders. –NW

Werner Lootsma

12:30pm: Ups and downs
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

Chips continue to change hands pretty fast during the first twenty minutes of the level. Some players have risen up the ranks, whilst some have dropped.

Petro Vyshynskyy was one player to take an early exit. He made the right call in a blind on blind situation, when his neighbour Adam Milewski set him all-in from the small blind and he called in the big.

Milewski Q♦ 2♠
Vyshynskyy A♣ J♠

The first card out was a queen and Vyshynskyy couldn’t claw it back after that.

On an adjacent table, Fernando Pons Garcia was the short stack, he got it in with Q♣ Q♥ and held against Raphael Rojano’s 9♦ 9♥ . –LY

12:25pm: Busting right, left and centre
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

A clash of two short stacks left one on the rail and one with a medium stack. Rui Alexandre Imaginario Vieira shoved for just under 50,000 with A♠ 9♣ and Jan Van Der Stroom, who only had him covered by a couple of antes, made the call with J♥ J♠ .

A 5â™  5♥ 10♦ K♥ 9♥ board kept Ven Der Stroom in front. Imaginario Vieira meanwhile was off to join the queue at the payouts deks. Almost 20 players have been eliminated in the opening 25 minutes, just 136 remain. –NW

12:10pm: Some early busts
Level 17 – Blinds 3,000/6,000 (BB ante 6,000)

As we head into Level 17, we have already lost six players. Given that there were three bubbles leading up to the end of each Day 1 flight, many had held on as long as possible in order to make the cash. With this in mind, we expect the numbers to continue to drop sharply during this Level at least. –LY

12:05pm: Play has started
Level 16 – Blinds 2,500/5,000 (BB ante 5,000)

Cards are in the air, there were roughly three minutes left in level 16 when Day 1A finished. They’ll play that out before moving into level 17. –NW

11:25am: Moving day is here

Usually the start of Day 2 is all about making the money as the bubble often bursts about four levels into the day. However, the 154 players who return at noon today are safe in the comfort that they’ve already made a return on their investment. Each Day 1 flight of the Main Event played down to the money (15% of the field) and eveyone has locked up a min-cash of €1,730. First prize is €179,000, whilst making the final table of eight guarantees a return of €17,000. The full prize pool breakdown can be seen here.

If Day 1 was about securing that return, today is about building a stack to take a shot at the big money. Day 2 is traditionally ‘moving day’ the day when huge stacks emerge, often from players who started the day with not too much in the way of chips.

One man who doesn’t have that issue is Endrit Geci, he bagged up 941,000 and is the biggest stack in the tournamnet. All Day 1 flights finished at a different blind level and when that happens play restarts at the lowest blind level at which the action finished. That was level 16 here (2,500/5,000 (big blind ante 5,000) so Geci has almost 200 big blinds to start the day. The full seat draw is below, cards are in the air at noon.

Endrit Geci

TABLE SEAT NAME COUNTRY CHIPS
1 1 Doroteo Moreno, Daniel Spain 202,500
1 2 Capucho, Nuno Portugal 160,000
1 3 Soltani, Michael France 60,500
1 4 Juste Menchaca, Jorge Antonio Spain 107,000
1 5 Hilbert, Raymond Luxembourg 119,000
1 6 Ducheine, Amand Francis Netherlands 37,500
1 7 Chami, Khalil France 107,000
1 8 Serhat Kacar, Mehmet Turkey 219,500
2 1 Echevarne Gomez, Jose Maria Spain 264,500
2 2 Privitera, Fabrizio Italy 156,000
2 3 Curto Gonzalez, Fernando Spain 198,500
2 4 Cortes Heredia, Luis Spain 338,000
2 5 Lenoir, Eric Antonio Belgium 90,000
2 6 Schuman, Jonathan Floyd UK 105,000
2 7 Canev, Youlian Bulgary 217,000
2 8 Martinez Perez, Javier Spain 58,000
3 1 Fernandez Gutierrez, Juan Francisco Spain 47,500
3 2 Macho Morcillo, Ezequiel Spain 290,000
3 3 Letellier, Alexandre France 33,000
3 4 Saltonas, Tomas Lithuania 149,000
3 5 Imaginario Vieira, Rui Alexandre Portugal 56,500
3 6 Van Der Stroom, Jan Netherlands 75,500
3 7 Milewski, Adam Poland 208,000
3 8 Vyshynskyy, Petro Ukraine 60,500
4 1 Conde Pequeño, Mario Spain 83,500
4 2 Trandafir, Silviu Costin Romania 248,000
4 3 Berg , Tobias Germany 208,000
4 4 Van Wesemael, Sander Netherlands 322,500
4 6 Martini, Prizmic Gregor Netherlands 64,000
4 7 Skaalevik, Thomas Norway 398,000
4 8 Martin, Loic Luxemburg 185,000
5 1 Gabriel, Carlo Italy 99,500
5 2 Ten Haven, duco Netherlands 121,500
5 3 Galtos, Nicholas John Australia 77,000
5 4 Boyle, Isabel UK 189,500
5 5 Suarez Suarez, Javier Spain 71,000
5 6 Warburton, Steven Josh UK 202,000
5 7 Parra Soler, Francisco Javier Spain 223,500
5 8 Boelens, Christianus Netherlands 135,000
6 1 Fox, Anthony John Ireland 181,500
6 3 Rodriguez Torre, Leonardo Spain 92,000
6 4 perez sanchez, jose Daniel Spain 129,000
6 5 Lopez Martin, Juan Jesus Spain 179,500
6 6 Hu, David Netherlands 312,500
6 7 Mijic, Dalibor Switzerland 273,500
6 8 Naveiro Martin, Iñigo Spain 165,000
7 1 Morales Calderon, Manuel Spain 191,000
7 2 Suarez Gomez, Fernando Spain 148,000
7 3 Borges Fagundes Junio, Braz Portugal 227,000
7 4 Blanco Gonzalez, Alvaro Spain 40,000
7 5 Nebezhev, Khazret Russia 160,000
7 6 Toth, Bela Hungary 339,000
7 7 Wiecek, Piotr Poland 20,500
7 8 Cruas Leon, David Spain 43,000
8 1 Mejias Llopis, Julio Spain 93,500
8 2 Khacahtryan, Armen Russia 305,000
8 3 Lesniewski, Marcin Poland 358,000
8 4 Barreña Diaz, Isidoro Spain 132,500
8 5 Ionescu, Adrian-Ioan Romania 135,500
8 6 Evgenevich , Ishchenko Alexander Russia 137,500
8 7 Petrica, Cosmin Mihai Romania 72,000
8 8 Jalonen, Tuomas Mikael Finland 85,500
9 1 Braco, Pasquale Italy 313,500
9 2 Olafsson, Steinar Ger Iceland 427,500
9 3 Adrianus Berende, Paul Petrus Netherlands 183,000
9 4 Dascenzo, Antonio Italy 250,000
9 5 Maurer, Florian Austria 224,500
9 6 Ciancanelli, Teresio Italy 43,000
9 7 Kooij, Teunis Netherlands 18,000
9 8 Rumdstrom, Bo Stefan Sweden 84,500
10 1 Da silva Veloso , Sérgio Felipe Portugal 437,000
10 2 Lootsma, Werner Netherlands 350,000
10 3 Moller, Lars Michael Denmark 22,000
10 4 Pons Garcia, Fernando Spain 90,000
10 5 Kambez Nadjem, Said Germany 147,000
10 6 Pantelidis, Georgios Cyprus 141,500
10 7 Rojano Ramos, Rafael Spain 305,500
10 8 Lund, Asgeir Mogens Norway 316,000
11 1 Carballada Lopez, Xavier Spain 193,000
11 2 Panev, Ivalo Bulgary 569,000
11 3 Laurinaitis , Vytautas Lithuania 337,000
11 4 Riechsteiner, Laurin Viturin Switzerland 266,000
11 5 Winski, Lukasz Poland 147,500
11 6 Del Pino Hanouadi, Omar Spain 378,000
11 7 Kyte Jon Kristian Norway 600,500
12 1 Ibañez Muñoz, Antonio Damian Spain 70,500
12 2 Berglin, Dennis Sweden 185,500
12 3 Zur Linden, Alexander Johannes Germany 200,500
12 4 Cobo Garcia, Angel Spain 364,500
12 5 Pedersen, Tore Andre Norway 406,000
12 6 Perez Perez, David Spain 345,500
12 7 Soderstrom, Per Jonatan Sweden 325,000
12 8 Martin Rocanin, Gonzalo Spain 236,500
13 1 Mendia Murua, Haritz Spain 132,000
13 2 Kuszczak, Piotr Poland 153,000
13 3 Fernandez Muñoz, Ramon Spain 111,000
13 4 Cools, Pieter Belgium 455,000
13 5 Garcia Rivera, Benjamin Spain 173,000
13 6 Salewski, Philipp Germany 44,000
13 7 Rauff Hansen, Ole Denmark 447,500
13 8 Martos Exposito, Manuel Spain 171,000
14 1 Garcia Navarro, Antonio Spain 132,000
14 2 Osuna Ayala, Pablo Spain 72,500
14 3 Hancock, Tyler USA 224,000
14 4 Semaan Khoury, Elie Canada 143,000
14 5 Peñalver Hernandez, Angel Spain 77,000
14 6 Geci, Endrit UK 941,000
14 7 Arne Creutz, Johan Stig Sweden 73,000
14 8 Vazquez Gomez, Alejandro Spain 142,000
15 1 Baran Osinski, Hubert Poland 335,000
15 2 Lattrez, Oliver Vyilly Belgium 137,000
15 3 Alexander Haward, Luke Alexander UK 73,000
15 4 Morjaria, Hamish Ukraine 127,000
15 5 Cheung, Hotien Netherlands 229,000
15 6 Mazerolle, Huges Denis France 68,000
15 7 Chakkour, Elias Youssef Germany 156,000
15 8 Aranzegi Ortiz, Iker Spain 450,000
16 1 Kriauciunas, Mindaugas Lithuania 468,500
16 2 Lee, Thomas Canada 146,000
16 3 Papantoniou, Stylianos Greece 47,000
16 4 Virtanen, Aki Oskari Finland 96,000
16 5 Ripoll Sala, Miguel Spain 83,000
16 7 David Feriolo, Romain Lionel France 176,000
16 8 Lazauninkas, Gytis Lithuania 231,000
17 1 Jocelyn Didier, Loic France 41,000
17 2 Chen, Zhong Netherlands 361,500
17 4 Kobbeltvedt, Alexander Nikola Norway 345,500
17 5 Soloev, Konstantin Russia 123,500
17 6 Saar , Siiri Estonia 62,500
17 7 Van Oort, Pall Ma Netherlands 498,000
17 8 Nicki Dalgaard Denmark 420,000
18 1 Puras Dieguez, Rubén Spain 442,000
18 2 Roman Galvez, Aitor Spain 121,500
18 3 Putters, Johannes Netherlands 116,000
18 4 Wieland, Niko Daniel Germany 240,000
18 5 Sivaka, Anastasija Latvia 85,500
18 6 Martin Ballesteros, Manuel Ignacio Spain 180,000
18 7 Hoihilder Heiene, Marius Norway 290,500
18 8 Gavrilov, Victor Russia 169,000
19 1 Berg, Thomas Andre Norway 152,000
19 2 Nuñez Quijada, Jose Maria Spain 219,000
19 3 Hissou, Sirzat Germany 629,000
19 4 Gutierrez Bernal, Abel Spain 47,000
19 5 Ostrowski, Dominik Poland 310,500
19 6 Arnason Olsen, Gisle Denmark 128,000
19 7 fonseca De sImon, julio Spain 112,500
19 8 Holmes, Ian Richard UK 109,000
20 1 Vincent Casino, Julien Sebastien France 446,500
20 2 Harvey Gill, Thomas UK 23,000
20 3 Stephane Saint-Louis, Sten France 96,000
20 4 Zapateria Miranda, Maria Isabel Spain 66,300
20 5 Koukouras, Antonios Greece 23,000
20 6 Planells Castillo, Jose Manuel Spain 376,500
20 8 Baltateanu, Silviu Romania 631,500

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Marbella: Nick Wright and Lisa Yiasemides. Photography by Rene Velli.


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