Day 2 Concludes
After two long Day 1s here at the Main Event of the World Poker Tour at Marrakesh series presented by Chilipoker, just 82 players from a starting field of 222 had returned with hopes of making it to the top 27 and the cash, and perhaps all of the way to the top spot and that €254,745 payday.
A short-stacked Surinder Sunar was the first elimination of the day, beginning a long parade of players to the rail that included Ahmed Debabeche, Alana Pariente, Jean-Jacques Mars, Santiago Terrazas, Manuel Bevand, and Alexia Portal.
As the field continued to shrink, it appeared all but certain that the young German Dominik Nitsche would be joining the procession of players eliminated prior to the cash, especially after he was crippled down to a stack of less than 5,000 chips. But several double-ups later, Nitsche was back up to 200,000. And a couple more big hands saw him suddenly challenging for the chip lead.
Meanwhile Davidi Kitai, Christophe Peuriere, Narendra Banwari, and Andrei One all hit the rail without making the money. Erik Tamm, who had challenged for the chip lead earlier on Day 2, went out in 29th -- busted by Nitsche -- and when Viktor Gerasymenko followed him in 28th, the cash bubble had burst.
Damien Rony went out soon thereafter in 27th place in a huge hand versus Nitsche when after four rounds of betting and calling, Nitsche's pocket aces proved best. Action slowed for a short while, then bustouts came quickly with nine players going out in the space of a single one-hour level. Among those leaving us were local favorites "Big" Roger Hairabedian (in 23rd) and Majid Chaboub (in 20th), and Frenchman Nicolas Levi (in 18th). Over the next couple of hours, eight more players would hit the rail before play concluded, among them French rap star Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes (in 15th).
After making his remarkable comeback, Nitsche led the pack for much of the night, with end of Day 1 chip leader Sebastian Homann of Germany retaking the lead just before play concluded. Here's how they'll stack up when cards go back in the air tomorrow:
1. Sebastian Homann - 1,539,000
2. Dominik Nitsche - 1,479,000
3. Guillaume Cescut - 956,000
4. Johan Williamson - 693,000
5. Sebastian Compte - 529,000
6. Guillaume de la Gorce - 516,000
7.Felix Oberauer - 499,000
8. Patrick Muleta - 244,000
9. Julien Labussiere - 210,000
Those nine will be reconvening at 1 p.m. local time tomorrow, having redrawn for seats to gather around a single final table. See you back here then!