2015 PokerStars EPT Grand Final Main Event Day 2: Schemion Leads as Money Bubble Nears
After Day 2 of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final €10,600 Main Event there are 114 players left. A total of 310 players started today, including those from both Days 1a and 1b and the nine players who registered before the start of play on Day 2 such as Daniel Negreanu, Dzmitry Urbanovich, Max Altergott and Igor Kurganov. Phil Ivey was rumored to play on Day 2, but failed to materialize.
The total number of 564 players in the Main Event this year is down 650 from last year when Antonio Buonanno took home the title, but there's still a nice prize pool of €5,640,000 to be had. A total of 79 players will be paid, with a min-cash worth €19,175 whilst first place is a shade over a million Euros at €1,082,000.
The chip leader is German High Roller and GPI Player of the Year Ole Schemion with 477,700, narrowly beating his compatriot Christopher Frank who is in second place with 465,200. Schemion bust his good friend Igor Kurganov late on Day 2 as his 4♥4♠ beat Kurganov's A♥3♥ on a board reading 5♦4♦7♦5♣2♠.
Notable Day 2 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ole Schemion | 477,700 |
| 2 | Christopher Frank | 465,200 |
| 3 | Jose Carlos Garcia | 461,200 |
| 4 | Thomas Popov | 413,500 |
| 5 | Jason Mercier | 296,400 |
| 6 | Joao Simao | 294,300 |
| 7 | Frederik Pedersen | 292,100 |
| 8 | Anatoly Chen | 291,200 |
| 9 | Vanessa Selbst | 285,000 |
| 10 | Sergio Aido | 276,600 |
Schemion also sniffed out a bluff from Artem Metalidi earlier in the day. On a flop of A♥3♠8♦, Metalidi bet 4,000 and Schemion called. Check-check on the 5♠ turn, and the K♣ completed the board on the river. Metalidi shoved all in for 13,300, and Schemion called fairly fast. Metalidi flipped over Jx2x for bottom pair, and Schemion showed K♠Q♥ to take the pot.
Several big names fell early including Pokerstars Team Pros Joao Nunes, Liv Boeree, Fatima Moreira De Melo, Jake Cody, and the aforementioned Daniel Negreanu.
After registering late at the start of Day 2, "Kid Poker" ended up busting to Belarusian high roller Anton Astapau. On a 10♦6♦2♥ flop, Negreanu bet out 3,700 and Astapau called. Negreanu bet another 7,200 on the J♠ turn and again Astapau called. The A♣ completed the board and Negreanu checked with about 26,500 behind. Astapau announced all in verbally, and slid a stack of 5,000 chips forward.
"Oh no! Anything but that card!" Negreanu exclaimed. "Or maybe you're bluffing; missed flush draw, missed straight draw." Negreanu wasn't so sure of what to do just yet; "I'm gonna need a minute on this guys."
Negreanu leaned over and asked, "You bluff right? Russians bluff right? Good spot to. Or you might have ace eight of diamonds. You wouldn't go all in with that right? Or maybe you would!"
Astapau didn't reply at all, and just sat there motionless while Negreanu tried to make up his mind. All of a sudden Negreanu tossed in some chips to indicate the call. Astapau quickly showed his J♣J♦ for a turned set.
"Oh! Nice, you win," Negreanu said with a smile, "I had kings."
Negreanu showed his K♣K♦ and made his way to the exit. Joining him over the next few levels were Martin Jacobson, Jean-Noel Thorel, and Patrick Bruel, just to name a few.
Despite several big names busting, a whole host of notables made it through to Day 3 including Pokerstars Team Pros Vanessa Selbst (285,000), Isaac Haxton (221,300), Jason Mercier (296,400), Andre Akkari (146,900), Johnny Lodden (109,000), and Eugene Katchalov (71,200). Joining them are players like Dario Sammartino (255,300), who finished fourth in the €100,000 Super High Roller; Mustapha Kanit (146,500), who is fresh off winning the €50,000 Super High Roller last night; and 2014 World Series of Poker runner-up Felix Stephensen (90,000).
These players are part of the remaining 121 who will return tomorrow at Noon local time to play five 90-minute levels. The money bubble is scheduled to burst so be sure to check back tomorrow as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team tracks every bust out and double up in our live blog.
In the meantime, check out this video featuring the EPT Season 12 announcement:
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