The penultimate day at 888poker LIVE Bucharest is in the books, as the field has been trimmed down to the final 17 players in the €560 Main Event.
After four opening flights, a total of 138 survivors combined for the first time to battle into the money and beyond. They were joined by 25 entrants prior to the start of Day 2, bringing the field to 406. Leading the way is a familiar face at 888poker Room Bucharest, as Konstantinos Vatseris is aiming to improve on a seventh-place finish at this very event last August.
Vatseris made a strong surge as the tournament reached the final three tables, bagging up 2,700,000 chips of the 20,300,000 in play. He will bring 68 big blinds into action at 3 p.m. local time on Sunday, but a strong group of Romanians is hot on his tail.
Alexandru Varninschi sits just behind Vatseris in second, followed by Florin Elisei as the only players above the 2,000,000 chip mark.
Full Field Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konstantinos Vatseris | Greece | 2,700,000 | 68 |
| 2 | Alexandru Varninschi | Romania | 2,600,000 | 65 |
| 3 | Florin Elisei | Romania | 2,500,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Alexandru Brumaru | Romania | 1,700,000 | 43 |
| 5 | Dumitrel Postu | Romania | 1,500,000 | 38 |
| 6 | Alexandru Lupuleac | Romania | 1,300,000 | 33 |
| 7 | Andrei Miron | Romania | 1,300,000 | 33 |
| 8 | Ionut Zanfirache | Romania | 1,200,000 | 30 |
| 9 | Alexandru Mitracu | Romania | 1,125,000 | 28 |
| 10 | Dumitru Barta | Romania | 730,000 | 18 |
| 11 | Denis Iaschevici | Moldova | 580,000 | 15 |
| 12 | Corneliu Popescu | Romania | 510,000 | 13 |
| 13 | Razvan Morar | Romania | 490,000 | 12 |
| 14 | Jack Sharpe | United Kingdom | 485,000 | 12 |
| 15 | Ioan Asultani | Romania | 470,000 | 12 |
| 16 | Dan Galinschi | Romania | 415,000 | 10 |
| 17 | Adrian Ionescu | Romania | 325,000 | 8 |
There were plenty of fireworks right from the start of play on Day 2, as the late entries were looking to mix it up after buying in with 25 big blinds.
Among the names that joined the field at the end of late registration was 888poker Stream Team member Andrei Cosmin, who bought in but was unable to build up a stack. He was eventually joined on the rail by 888poker Ambassadors Ian Simpson, Vivian Saliba and Lucia Navarro, all of whom saw their tournament run cut short prior to the money.
The closest member of the team was 888poker streamer Nick Eastwood, who began the day with just over four starting stacks but could not find any momentum as the day wore on.
In all, only 51 players survived the money bubble when Aron Balazs found himself on the wrong end of a cooler against Alexandru Lupuleac. That pot helped propel Lupuleac to a top ten stack heading to the final day.
One notable trend was the success of the chip leaders from each opening flights, all four of them found the money with Day 1c leader Dan Galinschi still in contention for the title. Galinschi sits among the short stacks entering Day 2, sitting on just 10 big blinds.
Day 1a and overall leader Ran Shahar finished in 34th place, just behind Day 1b leader Stefan Toderita who finished 32nd. Mihail Cuza, the leader from the turbo Day 1d also cashed out in 41st spot. Among the other notable names to make the money was WSOP bracelet winner Sergiu Covrig, who earned €1,110 with a 39th-place finish.
All 17 remaining players have locked up €2,275, with two more eliminations until next pay jump. Everyone is eyeing the top prize of €37,000, along with the 888poker LIVE trophy.
€560 Main Event Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €37,000 | 8 | €4,900 |
| 2 | €24,000 | 9 | €4,200 |
| 3 | €18,400 | 10-11 | €3,600 |
| 4 | €15,000 | 12-13 | €3,100 |
| 5 | €12,000 | 14-15 | €2,600 |
| 6 | €9,000 | 16-17 | €2,275 |
| 7 | €6,500 |
Play will resume at 3 p.m. local time on Level 25, with blinds of 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante. You can catch all of the exciting action on the 888poker Twitch and YouTube channels, on a delay of half an hour starting at 3:30 p.m. local time.
Be sure to check back on Sunday, as the PokerNews live reporting team will have every moment covered on the way to unveiling a new champion in Bucharest.
