Latz Tops Day 1b of PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event
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It was a packed tournament room here at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event in the Salles des Etoiles room at Le Sporting with numbers considerably exceeding the 214 from Day 1a. The day kicked off with 300 players registered and ready to go, but that grew as the day went on. At the end of four levels of play there were 406 registered, and by close of play that would reach 427.
Last year 531 players entered to compete for a €1,224,000 first place prize. This year’s Grand Final has surpassed that as the 427 from Day 1b added to the 214 we had yesterday makes 641, already 110 players more than last year! Registration is still open and will remain open until the start of play tomorrow, so anticipate that number to grow even more.
After eight 75 minute levels of play on Day 1b it is German PokerStars player Hendrik Latz who leads the way with 191,600. Latz is closely followed by Davidi Kitai from Belgium who has 173,100 and hot on his heels is the Russian Vladimir Troyanovskiy with 172,000.
There was the expected show of force from Team PokerStars Pros who were represented by Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein, Eugene Katchalov, Ivan Demidov , Johnny Lodden, Liv Boeree, Christophe De Meulder, Nacho Barbero, Juan Manuel Pastor , Angel Guillen, Andre Akkari, Humberto Brenes and David Williams.
In addition to that stellar line up some of the other big names in poker turned up to play including Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Sam Trickett, Scott Seiver and online phenom and Full Tilt Professional Viktor “Isildur1” Blom. The Swede ended up sitting to the right of Lodden and Annette Obrestad so it was a tough table draw for the online pro at the Scandi-heavy table, though all three managed to make it through the night.
The appearance of Obrestad stirred a lot of media attention and she and fellow Norwegian Lodden got off to a great start. In Level 2, Obrestad eliminated a player and doubled up, and shortly thereafter by Lodden did the same.
Phil Ivey didn’t seem to get involved in any huge pots but remained active, picking up chips where he could playing the game as only he knows how. PokerNews Senior News Editor Chad Holloway watched the great man play an orbit to see just how he goes about his business. Ivey ended the day with 50,800.
Liv Boeree played some fearless poker but ended up with a disappointing 6,200, though that was still better than some other Team PokerStars Pros. Negreanu went out pretty early in a set-over-set cooler and Jason Mercier was eliminated from the tournament when he found his 
was no good all in on a flop of 
against the 
of Nikolay Baranov. The turn 
and river 
failed to come to his rescue. Other Team Pros who fell today included Leo Fernandez and Christophe de Meulder.
The surviving 241 players return tomorrow along with any last minute hopefuls who decide to buy in. When registration closes and the final entries have been confirmed, the prizepool will be announced and the players will know just how much money they are competing for alongside the fantastic trophy and the title.
Be sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting team from Noon local time tomorrow when we will bring you up-to-the-minute coverage as they begin the second stage of the tournament. Join us then and throughout the week as we make our way to the final table and the crowning of the final champion of the season.
In the meantime check out this video where Scott Seiver, who fell on Day 1b, talks to Jennifer Robles about his win last night at the €5k PLO Tournament.