Side Event Update
With £1,000,000 in the prize-pool and £250,000 up top, no ordinary kind of side event is going on in parallel with the MILLIONS Main Event.
With 24 players remaining, the 8-Max £2,500+200 tournament in getting to the business end of proceedings and there are some very familiar names still involved.
Tony Dunst has 4.5 million and came into play with the chip lead, having crushed the last level of play. We caught up with as he made his way to the tournament area this morning.
"It's a super-fun tournament and £250,000 which is around $320,000 up top for a side event! There are tonnes of regular tournaments that can't provide that. It was a really long, intense day of poker yesterday. With the turbo flight, we played 20 levels of poker. That's a lot, but I feel fresh and I can't wait for the kick-off."
Since sitting down, former WSOP bracelet winner Dunst (pictured, right) has turned 3.6 million into 4.5 million, but he's still just below the lead. Juan Riera (pictured, left) has 4.6 million having burned through the first 30 minutes of play on a real heater.
Will Davies, a very popular player here in the United Kingdom, also has a big following on the rail and is growing a stack to do damage with 2.6 million chips. He's joined in the last three tables by Simon Higgins, who is slightly shorter at 800,000 chips, but is still casting an envious eye over at the Main Event.
"I'd be so nervous on that final table, but it's an amazing tournament." Higgins said of his fellow professionals going for a million up top. If Higgins was to win this incredible side event, he'd take home more than fifth place in the MILLIONS Main Event.