2012 World Series of Poker Europe Day 2: Bonnet Leads Event #1; Event #2 Kicks Off
The second day of action at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe had two events spread across the felts in Cannes, France. Event #1: €2,700 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em had moved forward to Day 2 with 50 players remaining, and Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em kicked off with Day 1a. It was a very exciting day of poker action that included the first breaking of a bubble for the series.
Event #1: €2,700 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em: Bonnet Leads Final Eight
Day 2 of Event #1: €2,700 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em finished late Saturday night. Just eight players are left standing at the end of the carnage and they'll return on Sunday for Day 3 to finish things out.
Leading the final eight is Yannick Bonnet with 476,000 in chips. He's the only player to bag up more than 300,000 in chips at the end of the day with Senh Ung (289,000) and Matan Krakow (250,000) rounding out the top three.
When the day began, 50 players returned. Of those still in contention were Greg Merson, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, [Removed:163], McLean Karr, Rémy Biechel and Padraig Parkinson. Unfortunately for those players, they all finished outside of the money.
One other player heading out before the money was Jeff Rossiter, but he earned the worst finishing position of them all as he became the first bubble boy of the 2012 WSOP Europe. Rossiter was all in with A♣Q♣ against Krakow's 9♦9♣ and needed some help. After the board ran out J♥6♣5♦7♣4♥, Rossiter had whiffed and was out the door.
From there, the first player eliminated in the money was 12-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. He lost a flip for his stack holding 10♥10♣ against Roberto Romanello's A♠Q♣. Other notable cashes included Govert Metaal, Brandon Cantu, Jennifer Tilly and David "ODB" Baker.
Event #1 Day 3 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yannick Bonnet | 476,000 |
| 2 | Senh Ung | 289,000 |
| 3 | Matan Krakow | 250,000 |
| 4 | Sylvain Ribes | 212,000 |
| 5 | Roberto Romanello | 200,000 |
| 6 | Imed Ben Mahmoud | 184,000 |
| 7 | Demis Hassabis | 88,000 |
| 8 | Romain Chauvassagne | 7,000 |
The big story heading into the final day will be Krakow — last year's fourth-place finisher. Krakow began the day as the chip leader and worked his way to the end of the night third overall in chips. He's just a few spots shy of topping his finish from last year.
Play will begin Sunday at 1300 CET (0700 EDT) and you can expect either an early elimination or a double up as Romain Chauvassagne will begin the day severely short stacked. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as another bracelet winner of 2012 is crowned.
Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em: Butler Leads; 45 Advance from Day 1a
Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em kicked off on Saturday and 295 players packed the tournament room to take part in the first of two starting flights. The action was quick and by Level 9, the field had been whittled down to 45 players — which is where action was halted for the night. Leading that group is Ashly Butler, who emerged as the Day 1a chip leader with 48,125.
Butler has had a great year, racking up $136,500 in winnings so far in 2012. That includes a third-place finish in Event #8: $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo at this summer's WSOP for $102,373, and nearly winning the Casino Championship at the WSOP Circuit IP Biloxi after winning a ring in a $365 no-limit hold'em event and finishing second in another.
In an early hand, Butler managed to get his stack of 4,500 all in preflop alongside a short-stacked player in Seat 9. Both of them were at risk and covered by a player in the two seat.
Butler: A♣A♥
Seat 2: K♠K♣
Seat 9: A♦Q♠
The board ran out clean 9♠10♠4♦2♦5♥ for Butler, and the pocket aces propelled him on to what would be the Day 1a chip lead.
Although things went Butler’s way on Saturday, not everyone was so lucky. WSOP Player of the Year contender John Monnette was eliminated in the first level when a player in middle position raised to 75, Monnette moved all in for 975 right behind, and Jessica Bian made the call from the button. The original raiser got out of the way and the cards were turned up.
Bian: Q♦Q♥
Monnette: A♠Q♠
Monnette, who won a bracelet this summer, was in bad shape and in need of some help. Unfortunately for him, he found none as the board ran out 2♥10♣3♣7♦6♦. On the bright side, Event #2 is a reentry event, meaning he can try again on Sunday if he so chooses.
Others who fell on Day 1 were Vanessa Selbst, Chance Kornuth, Davidi Kitai, Marvin Rettenmaier, Michael Mizrachi, Joe Kuether, Jeff Lisandro, John Juanda, Andy Frankenberger and Jonathan Aguiar. Whether or not they’ll be back to try again remains to be seen.
Many players fell, but a few notables managed to make the top 45. They include Antonio Esfandiari, Ran Azor, McLean Karr, Antonin Teisseire, Konstantin Puchkov and October Nine member Greg Merson, all of whom will return at 1400 CET (0800 EDT) on Monday for Day 2.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Player | Count |
|---|---|
| Ashly Butler | 48125 |
| Antonio Esfandiari | 47275 |
| Antonin Teisseire | 43750 |
| Jamel Haddad | 41900 |
| Ran Azor | 41150 |
| Duncan Mouche | 33825 |
| Guy Pariente | 31,050 |
| Emil Eriksson | 29,825 |
| Douglas Gray | 29,600 |
| McLean Karr | 29575 |
Be sure to check back Sunday at 1200 CET (0600 ET) for PartyPoker-sponsored live coverage of Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1b.
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