Last night as we were recapping the conclusion of Day 1B of the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event -- one of the many tournaments kicking off the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final festival -- we briefly faced a puzzle regarding our end-of-night chip leader, Frederik Treusch of Germany.

As they approached the last few hands, it was clear Treusch was challenging for the top spot, and indeed when it came time to bag he had the most of anyone with 247,500 -- better even than end-of-Day-1A leader Valeriu Coca of Moldova's 212,400.

We'd seen Treusch's name before, but we'd also seen him listed as "Reusch" elsewhere. An online search resolved nothing, showing both names being used with seeming reference to the same player.

Had our leader been riding a Reusch? Or was Treusch true? As you might be able to make out from the photo below, he'd written "Treusch" on his bag -- and sealing that, that sealed it for us.

In the end, though, the identity of a Day 2 leader in a four-day event amounts to an interesting trivia item, all things considered, especially as the money bubble is still a long way from bursting. With 314 left from a starting group fo 993, they're still a long way from reaching the 143-player mark at which point the €963,210 prize pool will begin to be divided, with all continuing to eye the handsome €177,000 prize up top.

Right now Charbel Salloum (226,200), Alexander Poulain (218,000), Giuliano Bendinelli (213,000), and the aforementioned Valeriu Coca are Treusch's nearest challengers.

Arnaud Mattern (158,800), Simon Deadman (133,000), and Kevin MacPhee (116,400) also return to above average stacks, as do Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari (113,900) and Christophe De Meulder (94,400). Their teammates Julien Brecard (62,900), Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (35,400), and Matthias De Meulder (8,000) remain in the hunt as well.

Cards go in the air at 12 noon, with eight one-hour levels on the schedule today (and no dinner break).

Stay close to as we provide updates throughout from Day 2 of the FPS Monaco Main Event -- where we'll be naming names, however they're spelled.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- 314 players remain from the starting field of 993
- Click here for a complete list of chip counts to start Day 2
- The tournament is scheduled to play 8 one-hour levels today, with 15-minute breaks every two levels (there is no dinner break)

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

For a time yesterday, the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event had all but taken over the spacious main tournament room and second room (also large) dedicated primarily to cash games and smaller side events.

Such was necessary with more than 700 here for Day 1B, but with just over 300 returning for Day 2 the tournament occupies just over half of the main tournament area, making today's first walkthrough less arduous than was the case a day ago. And the field is shrinking quickly as just over 50 players busted during the first level today.

John Bizzaro busted, but there wasn't anything strange about it.

Adrien Casanova went out, but we won't overly romanticize that.

And Govert Metaal hit the rail as well, though only figuratively as in truth he just walked right past it.

Amid those knockouts, a scene over at Table 8 halted our progress early during the first level, as Team PokerStars Pro Christophe De Meulder was intently studying what appeared a knotty situation involving himself and two others (as pictured below).

With about 12,000 in the middle and a board showing [Qc][3s][Kc], De Meulder had led for 7,600, watched Simon Deadman call from a few seats over, then saw Rony Halimi, one of many who won his way into the event via a live satellite, set out four blue chips for a raise to 20,000. Looking wary as he did, De Meulder called the raise, and with less hesitation Deadman did as well.

The [Th] on the turn earned a cautious check from the Belgian, and again Deadman responded with a less circumspect version of the same action. This time Halimi pushed his remaining stack of about 40,000 all in, and De Meulder didn't take long to fold. Deadman didn't need much time to make his decision, either, calling right away.

Halimi had flopped a set with [3c][3d], but the turn was right on for Deadman as he held [Ac][Jc] -- his flopped flush draw having become a Broadway straight.

Halimi wasn't a dead man to Deadman yet, but then a jack on the river sent him off as an early Day 2 casualty.

Post-hand table talk suggested it might have been ace-king giving De Meulder fits on the flop, though he avoided trouble on the turn. He fights on with about 85,000, while Deadman is now challenging for the chip lead with more than 230,000.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- At the start of Level 14, 261 players remain from the starting field of 993
- Eliminations during the first hour included Yury Gulyy, Bryan Paris, and Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder (who began the day with 8,000)
- Click here for a complete list of chip counts to start Day 2
- The tournament is scheduled to play 8 one-hour levels today, with 15-minute breaks every two levels (there is no dinner break)

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Of the Team PokerStars Pros making it through to today's Day 2 of the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event, Andre Akkari was returning to the biggest stack of the bunch.

Except he hasn't returned. Not yet.

The explanation for Akkari's absence is simple enough, coming down to the physical impossibility of anyone to be in two places at once -- an unalterable truth of our existence those of us running back and forth from the media room to the tournament area identify with quite well.

"I registered and sat down yesterday," Akkari was explaining earlier, alluding to his having drawn Table 1, Seat 1 on Thursday for FPS Monaco. "And then I remembered... Shark Cage!"

They're shooting new episodes of the popular show this week, and indeed Akkari had been scheduled to play on the show today -- something that had slipped his mind when registering for this event. Such wouldn't have been an issue for him had the day gone less well than it did, as he managed to finish the night with 113,900, comfortably above the average.

Akkari's sitting on the main stage at present, playing the Shark Cage game. Meanwhile his stack has dwindled to less than 90,000, putting him below the average now that another group of players have been eliminated and the total field has been carved down to just over 200 players.

Meanwhile, Giuliano Bendinelli began the day in even better shape than Akkari with a top five stack, but by the day's second level was much worse off than the Brazilian after falling victim to Joao Brito's pocket aces.

That hand catapulted Brito up to around 330,000, making him the chip leader as they are now just over 60 eliminations shy of the cash.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- At the start of Level 15, 207 players remain from the starting field of 993
- The top 143 finishers make the money; a min-cash is €1,790
- Arnaud Mattern (170,000), Richardo Graells (150,000), and Luca Dal Cerro (146,000) are above the average
- Recent eliminations include Paul-Francois Tedeschi, Dermot Blain, Karl Alfredsson, and Kevin Monroe
- Click here for a complete list of chip counts to start Day 2
- The tournament is scheduled to play 8 one-hour levels today, with 15-minute breaks every two levels (there is no dinner break)

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

"He found the only guy in all of Monaco he covers!"

So cried Jacques Guenni with a big grin after watching a short-stacked Anthony Mathieu all in (again) and called by an even shorter Steponas Venckus. All chuckled at the observation -- as indeed each had pushed in what were perhaps the smallest stacks among the 180 or so players remaining.

In the end Mathieu's [Kc][Qs] outdrew Venckus's [7c][7h] by making a straight on the turn, and Venckus wished all good luck amid a relatively jovial scene.

Things should turn a bit more tense here shortly, however, as with the end of Level 15 they are now down to 171 -- just 28 eliminations away from the cash.

Speaking of having things covered, we've got some other notes from the last-completed level here at the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event.

A couple of Team PokerStars Pros -- Christophe De Meulder and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier -- also saw their stacks depleted and then taken away altogether during that level, ending their tourney runs. For de Meulder it was a slow, gradual slide, while ElkY a bit more dramatically charged ace-king into pocket rockets.

Julien Brecard is still in, though, as is Andre Akkari (albeit with even fewer chips than the last time we checked in -- click here for the explanation).

In other France Poker Series news from today in Monte Carlo, the FPS Monaco €2K High Roller event is underway with a whopping 266 players having registered thus far.

Lots of big names have ventured into that one, including Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov and Jake Cody, EPT Malta champion Jean Montury, three-time WSOP bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche, PCA final tablist Shyam Srinivasan, UKIPT Dublin champion Max Silver, and Polish pop star Wojciech Lozowski.

EPT Player of the Year contender Joao Vieira, last season's FPS Monaco champion Yury Nesterenko, EPT founder John Duthie, EPT Warsaw champion Christophe Benzimra, and Imad Derwiche who has jumped in after busting the Super High Roller.

Here's a glimpse at the other local tour High Roller winners from EPT Season 11:

- Eureka in Prague: Louis Salter topped 621 to win €124,560 after a seven-way deal
- Estrellas in Barcelona: Henrik Hecklen bested 802 to win €293,000 
- UKIPT in London: Olivier Busquet outlasted a 276-entry field to win £107,300 
- France Poker Series in Deauville: Vladimir Troyanovskiy won €141,000 as the last of 415
- IPT in Malta: Keith Johnson beat out a field of 473 to win €144,500

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- At the start of Level 16, 171 players remain from the starting field of 993
- Recent eliminations include Christophe De Meulder, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Ami Barer, Daniel Fuchs, Aaron Shunu Zang, and Max Greenwood
- The tournament is scheduled to play 8 one-hour levels today, with 15-minute breaks every two levels (there is no dinner break)

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

There's a word we use when reporting on poker tournaments to describe the period we've just crossed through in the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event.

It's a metaphor. Think soap. Economic crises. Gum. Boiling water. Champagne and soda.

You know what it is. It rhymes with trouble and double, which is convenient as both are relevant words we might employ here.

Especially if we are purposely avoiding using that other one this time, if only to see if we can.

There were 144 left, with only 143 getting paid. Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari had stolen over quickly just moments before, dashing away from his appearance on the currently-shooting Shark Cage in order to play a few hands, win one to increase his stack twofold, and scurry back.

The double took him out of trouble. Helped him avoid finishing one spot shy of the cash -- exactly what happened last month to him at LAPT Chile Main Event, in fact.

Meanwhile with just a couple of minutes left before the end of Level 16 hand-for-hand commenced. Announcements were made explaining the procedure, and soon enough two different players were all in and at risk on adjacent tables.

One was Patrick Nakache, sadly holding [Ah][Qd] versus Michael Brinkenhoff's [Ad][Ac]. With most other tables finished and the break imminent, a deep circle of others formed about the table.

A [Kc][Ts][6h] flop earned an audible response. Then after a [6c] on the turn, the [Jd] popped out on the river, earning a much louder roar. Brinkenhoff (on the left) seemed as glad about the development as Nakache (on the right). Take a look:

It hadn't burst. The thing that shall not be named, that is.

Next door another player made it through as well -- he had aces versus another's pocket sixes -- and the break came and went with all 144 still involved.

Twenty minutes later they were back, gathered eight apiece around 18 tables. Three hands went by with no action. On the next Ugnius Simelionis doubled up with pocket kings, then Alexander Kuzmin faded a straight draw to survive with jacks.

A couple of hands later two more players made it through -- one with kings, the other with queens. Then came another hand with two simultaneous all-ins.

One involved the animated Jacques Guenni who during the long wait to reveal the hands sang, danced, and cried to the field "Everybody give me 10 euros if I bust!" The performance was so pleasing, someone actually did give him a 10€ note even before the hands were shown and board dealt.

Guenni had kings versus John Andress's [Ah][Kd]. "I'm waiting for my king!" cried Guenni. While no king came, no ace did, either, and with a loud "YEA, PAPA!" Guenni kept his seat.

On the next table less drama surrounded Cedric Demore's all-in with [Ac][As] versus Paul Delavache's [Kc][Kd], and a seven-high flop kept things even-keeled. But the king Guenni was shouting for suddenly appeared on the turn in the form of the [Kh] -- disheartening for Demore, who one card later had busted.

Out one spot of the money, was Demore, turning from a player into the word we're not using.

Those who made the cash are earning a minimum of €1,790. All are still eyeing the €177,000 up top. Players can play more freely now, no longer worried of missing the cash.

In a similar spirit, we'll lift all restrictions on our vocabulary hereafter as well.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- Halfway through Level 18, 143 players remain from the starting field of 993 -- all have made the cash
- Gilles Silbernagel (650,000), Dean-Henry Taibi (500,000), Saneh Hanibael (485,000), Cedric Louard (430,000), and Michael Brinkenhoff (420,000) are chip leaders at present.
- Among others busting just shy of the money were Mikka Anttonen, Rocco Palumbo, Lucien Cohen, Mathieu Brun, Jeremy Palvini, and Clement Genon-Catalot
- The tournament is scheduled to play 8 one-hour levels today, with 15-minute breaks every two levels (there is no dinner break)

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Following the slow, lengthy -- though exciting -- period during which the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event field when from 145 to 144, it has swiftly shrunk to less than 90 players now as the march to the cashier has begun in earnest.

Jack Salter was among the first to go following the bubble bursting, earning a min-cash for his 143rd-place finish

Not long after Salter was being eliminated, one of the chip leaders from Day 1B, Abduffatif Attia went out at another table in 140th. A little after that Kevin MacPhee went out in 128th in a hand versus Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari.

After entertaining us considerably on the bubble a little while ago, Jacques Guenni saw his tournament run conclude in 113th. 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure winner Dimitar Danchev followed in 105th, with Ben Warrington (101st) and Timo Pfutzenreuter (94th) on the rail soon after that.

Meanwhile Dean-Henri Taibi has ascended in the counts to grab the top spot, now sitting with more than 800,000. Sonny Franco looks to be his nearest challenger at present with just about a half a million.

With just a level to go the field has swiftly shrunk under 100 players. Stay tuned to see who makes it through to tomorrow's Day 3.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- At the end of Level 19, 79 players remain from the starting field of 993 -- all have made the cash
- Jean Taleb (133rd), Matias Ruzzi (130th), Simon Petit (120th), Amos Ben (117th), and Ben Warrington (101st) have also recently busted. Click here for a full list of payouts for those eliminated in the money
- The tournament is scheduled to play one more one-hour level today (Level 20)

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Much like the night's penultimate level, the last hour of Day 2 of the France Poker Series Main Event at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final festival was fast-paced. Many more cashed, others held steady, and a few built their stacks upwards and upwards like the mountains reaching up into the Monte Carlo sky at night.

At the close of play, the most mountainous pile of chips belonged to Dean-Henri Taibi, who after grabbing the chip lead following the bursting of the bubble continued to climb steadily to end with 1,325,000.

Jose Besalduch also did well for himself today, ending with 1,218,000.

Romain Bier won a big three-way all in during the last level to earn a couple of knockouts and a huge pot, helping him end with 1,198,000.

And Sergio Braga likewise managed to join the seven-figure club, ending with 1,183,000.

The day began with 314 players, with Frederik Treusch returning as the chip leader to start the day. Soon others began to challenge him, however, as the action moved quickly early on, with Simon Deadman winning a big one to jump up near the top of the counts.

Andre Akkari was one of a handful of Team PokerStars Pros returning on Day 2, and in fact he would be one of two to last into the money despite spending much of the afternoon well away from his stack participating in a shoot of a new Shark Cage episode. Akkari would ultimately finish 69th.

Soon the bubble drew near, and as Akkari was being blinded down the field was carved to 144. Then following a protracted hand-for-hand period the bubble finally burst, even though we didn't quite describe it in those terms at the time.

Once Cedric Demore unfortunately fell a spot shy of the cash, the knockouts came rapidly with the final 143 working all of the way down to just 57 by night's end. The cashers included Simon Deadman (59th), Valeriu Coca (73rd), Alexander Kuzmin (74th), Timo Pfutzenreuter (94th), Ben Warrington (101st), Dimitar Danchev (105th), Amos Ben (117th), Kevin MacPhee (128th), Team PokerStars Pro Julien Brecard (131st), Heinz Kamutzki (132nd), Abdullatif Attia (140th), and Jack Salter (142nd). Click here for an up-to-date list of payouts.

Meanwhile EPT4 Prague winner Arnaud Mattern (270,000) and La Maison Du Bluff star Abou Sy (213,000) were among those surviving the night. Click here for a look at the chip counts for all of those who survived Day 2.

They'll reconvene tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. for Day 3, with the plan being to play down to the eight-handed final table. Let's plan to get back together then as well to see who emerges from those remaining to scale to the tournament's mountaintop and claim the €177,000 first prize on Sunday.

Meanwhile, continue to enjoy coverage of other events including the €100,000 Super High Roller via those links on the right. Bon soir!

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

We're in luxurious Monaco, a place where more than a few millionaires dwell. Speaking of, there's an exclusive group in the millionaire-club -- chip-wise, that is -- to start Day 3 of the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event here at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final.

There are 57 players left from a massive starting field of 993, and just four of them have reached seven figures with their stacks thus far: Dean-Henri Taibi (1.325 million), Jose Besalduch (1.218 million), Romain Bier (1.198 million), and Sergio Braga (1.183 million).

But just as is true in among the packed populace here in Monte Carlo, more millionaires will soon be coming in the FPS Monaco Main Event.

Indeed, many are already lurking in the high six-figure range just a hairpin turn away, including Umid Aghazada (960,000), Gilles Silbernagel (913,000), Muhamet Perati (899,000), and Pablo Gordillo (831,000). Meanwhile, further down in the counts sit EPT4 Prague champion Arnaud Mattern (270,000) and Le Maison Du Bluff star Abou Sy (213,000).

Today's plan here at the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Hotel calls for those 57 to race down to just eight to set up tomorrow's final table, due to be streamed on EPT Live with cards-up coverage on a one-hour delay. Meanwhile stick close as we'll be giving detailed updates throughout the day as more players cross the one-million chip mark, with all eyeing the €177,000 prize up top for the winner.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- Play restarts with Level 21 (6,000/12,000/2,000)
- The tournament is scheduled to play down to the eight-handed final table
- Click here for a full list of chip counts among the 57 players starting Day 3
- The top 143 finishers are cashing; click here for an updated list of payouts

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

4:59pm: Break time

Level 24 having concluded, the remaining players are now taking their second break of the day. For continuing updates from Day 3 picking up with Level 25, click here.

4:46pm: Floretin felted; Nakache knocked out

Shortly after the redraw to three tables, Enrico Florentin was eliminated in 24th. Just a moment later Patrick Nakache was all in with [As][3c] versus the [Kd][5d] of Florian Decamps.

Nakache was ahead before the flop, but the cards ran out [Jh][5h][2s][7s][Ks] to give Decamps two pair and knock Nakache out in 23rd.

4:28pm: Redraw to final three tables

They are now down to 24, and are pausing for a short while in order to redraw for new seats around the final three tables.

4:35pm: Gordillo gets more

The Pablo Gordillo train keeps rolling, as he's earned yet another knockout after flopping a set of treys and sending Muhamet Perati railward in 25th place. He's up around 2.5 million now, putting him ahead of Sebastien Supper and Manuel Martinez who have also built considerable stacks during this level. Jose Besalduch is also within close range of the leaders at present.

4:29pm: Treusch out

The start-of-day-2 chip leader Frederik Treusch has been eliminated in 26th.

4:25pm: Down to 26

Charbel Salloum (31st), Paul Delavache (30th), and Luca Dal Cerro (29th) have each hit the rail, followed shortly thereafter by Marius Cazacu (28th) and the last woman in the event, Daniela Parotti (27th).

3:56pm: Level 24 begins (12,000/24,000/3,000)

With 32 players left a new level has begun.

3:54pm: 32 remain

A spate of eliminations has cut the field down to 32, following the knockouts of Sylvain Berthelot (35th), Francis Alfred Klar (34th), and Joao Brito (33rd).

3:43pm: Detournel done; Solosna surges

Xavier Detournel has met his end here during Level 23 following a big hand against Manuel Martinez.

A preflop raising war between the pair ended with a five-bet shove from Martinez and a call from Detournel, the latter putting in nearly 800,000 by the time they were done.

Detournel had [Ad][Qc] and needed to improve against Solosna's [Jd][Js]. But the board came [9d][2c][Ks][4h][2h] and Detournel is out. Meanwhile Martinez jumps to about 1.9 million and the apparent chip lead at present.

3:21pm: Parotti perservering

With 35 players remaining, Italy's Daniela Parotti is the last woman among those left. She's survived a couple of situations today after putting her short stack at risk and winning her all-ins. Parotti has a number of cashes in low buy-in events over the last several years, including one in an IPT Main Event at Campione.

3:09pm: Suppa sent off; Monin mowed down

Two more eliminations begin the level, those of Raffaele Suppa (37th) and David Monin (36th).

2:56pm: Level 23 begins (10,000/20,000/3,000)

2:55pm: Updated chip counts (37 remain)

Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 1,800,000
Jose Besalduch (Spain) -- 1,600,000
Dean-Henri Taibi (France) -- 1,600,000
Romain Bier (France) -- 1,500,000
Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 1,300,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 1,150,000
Manuel Martinez (UK) -- 1,105,000
Xavier Detournel (France) -- 1,080,000
Muhamet Perati (Italy) -- 900,000
Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 770,000

Sylvain Berthelot (France) -- 700,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 700,000
Guillaume Branellec (France) -- 650,000
Frederik Treusch (Germany) -- 550,000
Michael Ferrari (USA) -- 545,000
Alessandro Bardaro (Italy) -- 540,000
Enrico Fiorentin (Italy) -- 530,000
Charles Vidal (France) -- 520,000
Alexandre Rivero (Brazil) -- 500,000
Florian Decamps (France) -- 490,000

Joao Brito (Portugal) -- 475,000
Julien Valentin (France) -- 470,000
Evangelos Kokkalis (Greece) -- 460,000
Luca Dal Cerro (Italy) -- 400,000
Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 400,000
Charbel Salloum (Lebanon) -- 380,000
Marius Cazacu (Romania) -- 380,000
Lionel Lacolas (Italy) -- 330,000
Daniela Parotti (Italy) -- 315,000
Amerigo Santoro (Italy) -- 280,000

Sergio Castelluccio (Italy) -- 270,000
Pierre Malfay (France) -- 245,000
Patrick Nakache (France) -- 230,000
David Monin (France) -- 225,000
Francis Alfred Klar (Germany) -- 200,000
Paul Delavache (France) -- 200,000
Raffaele Suppa (Italy) -- 115,000

2:32pm: Break time

They've reached the first break of the day with 37 players now remaining. Back soon with updated chip counts on those who are left.

2:28pm: Hung-Tu Wang out

Hung-Tu Wang has been knocked out in 38th.

2:23pm: Schaeffer sunk, Aghazada gone

Wilfried Schaeffer has gone out in 40th, followed thereafter by Umid Aghazada in 39th.

After a fast start early, Aghazada's fortunes swiftly turned. His day is now done after having bluffed big on a six-high flop with [Jd][8h] only to run into Xavier Detournel's pocket sixes for a set. Aghazada is out while Detournel is up to 1.4 million.

2:04pm: Nanev knocked out

Rumen Nanev has been eliminated after putting the last of his chips at risk with [Qd][7d] versus Marius Cazacu's [Kc][Qs]. A [5h][Js][3h][3d][Jd] board ended Nanev's day in 41st place, while Cazacu is still below the average with about 425,000.

1:54pm: Sigh for Sy -- Abou runs ace-queen into ace-king, is eliminated

La Maison Du Bluff star Abou Sy's impressive run has come to an end early in today's second level after losing the last of his chips to Pablo Gordillo.

Sy's fall came shortly after Quentin Pasdelou went out in 43rd. Following a Gordillo open, Sy shoved all in from the cutoff for his last 180,000 and when it folded back around Gordillo called. Sy had [Ad][Qd], but had run into Gordillo's [Ah][Ks]. The flop came [2s][7d][Kc] to pair Gordillo, and by the [9h] turn Sy was already drawing dead to finish in 42nd.

1:44pm: Franco falls, Besalduch bounds up to 2 million

Sonny Franco just lost a huge hand versus Jose Besalduch that began as a three-way affair, then saw Franco all in on the flop with top pair of queens versus the two pair (queens and jacks) of Besalduch.

The latter's hand held, and as Franco goes out in 44th place Besalduch is now up around 2 million to grab the current chip lead.

1:32pm: Level 22 begins (8,000/16,000/2,000)

There are 44 players remaining. Start-of-day leader Dean-Henri Taibi now sits with about 1.45 million, although it looks like Umid Aghazada has moved past him into first position at present with about 1.5 million.

1:27pm: Kurdin cut down, Brinkenhoff busts

Vasily Kurdin has been ousted in 46th.

Shortly after Kurdin's bust, Michael Brinkenhoff fell in 45th in a hand versus Dean-Henri Taibi.

After opening from late position, Brinkenhoff watched Taibi reraise from the blinds, then after thinking a short while pushed all in over the top for his last 270,000 or so.

Taibi thought about a half-minute then called, turning over [9s][9c]. Brinkenhoff had two overs with [Kh][Tc], but a [Jc][6c][8d][3h][5d] board brought no help for him and the Californian departs in 45th.

1:21pm: Mattern moves on

EPT4 Prague champion Arnaud Mattern has been eliminated after falling in a hand versus Hung-Tu Wang. Mattern started the day with a short stack, then finally found a hand worthy of risking it with ace-king. He needed to improve against Wang's pocket queens, but the board brought no help and Mattern is out in 47th place near the end of the day's first level.

Wang moves up to about 900,000 after that hand.

1:20pm: More eliminations

Several more have fallen in rapid order: Cedric Louard (54th), Sergey Kudryavtsev (53rd), Jean-Michel Ploch (52nd), Emmanuel Murgia (51st), Anthony Mathieu (50th), Faustus Korn (49th), and Aleksandr Denisov (48th).

1:07pm: Short stacks surviving

The last few all-ins have produced several double-ups.

Alexasandr Denisov has doubled through Umid Aghazada after his pocket sevens held versus the latter's [As][Ks].

Sylvain Berthelot managed to survive with [Kh][Tc] against Vasily Kurdin's [Ad][Qs] when a king came among the community cards, pushing Berthelot back up close to 300,000 and knocking Kurdin down under 100,000.

And Wilfried Schaeffer has doubled through Frederik Treusch. Schaeffer's [Ad][Jd] proved best against Treusch's two black kings when an ace flopped and the hand held.

12:53pm: Early knockouts

Three short stacks have already been eliminated during the first couple of orbits today -- Reynald Trunsard (57th), Fadi El Hany (56th), and Chrisophe Malaurie (55th).

Malaurie fell in a hand versus Sonny Franco after shoving his last 200,000 or so with pocket nines and running into Franco's pocket tens. Now 54 players remain.

12:32pm: Level 21 begins (6,000/12,000/2,000)

Cards are in the air!

12.29pm: Shuffle up and deal

The 57 remaining players have taken their seats around eight tables in the far corner of the main tournament room, with Dean-Henri Taibi the chip leader (1.325 million). Jose Besalduch (1.218 million), Romain Bier (1.198 million), and Sergio Braga (1.183 million) are Taibi's nearest challengers to start the day.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- The tournament is scheduled to play down to the eight-handed final table
- Click here for a full list of chip counts among the 57 players starting Day 3
- The top 143 finishers are cashing; click here for an updated list of payouts

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

For Level 21-24 updates, please click here.

11:08pm: Gordillo grabs night's last pot

In the last hand of the level -- and of Day 3 -- a hand arose in which it folded to the often-active Pablo Gordillo who opened with a raise to 150,000 and only Joseph Mouawad called from the big blind.

The flop came [4d][Jh][Kd]. Mouawad led with a bet of 225,000 and Gordillo called right away. The turn brought the [5h], and this time both players checked. The river was the [10c], bringing two quick checks again.

Mouawad tossed his [As][2c] forward face up, and Gordillo tabled [Js][9d] to claim the last hand of the night.

Back in a short while with a recap of Day 3, during which 57 players played down to just seven.

11:01pm: Gordillo moves back in front

Since the final table began, Pablo Gordillo has been the most active player and after suffering that setback versus Gilles Silbernagel a short while ago has now reclaimed the chip lead, having built his stack back up over 6 million.

10:54pm: Solosna takes from Gordillo

Pablo Gordillo raised to 150,000 from under the gun and got one caller in Manuel Martinez from a couple of seats over.

The flop came [9s][4s][Ts], and Gordillo continued for 155,000, and Solosna called. The turn brought the [2h] and a check from Gordillo, and Solosna pushed a bet of 375,000 out into that opening. Gordillo looked Solosna over for a minute, then let his hand go.

10:38pm: Gordillo gets away after Silbernagel shove

Gilles Silbernagel opened with a raise from middle position, then Pablo Gordillo three-bet from a couple of seats over. It folded back to Silbernagel who called, and the pair saw the flop come [As][Ts][Ah].

Silbernagel checked, and Gordillo continued with a bet of 480,000. Silbernagel called. The turn then brought the [2h] and another check from Silbernagel. This time Gordillo fired 815,000, and without much hesitation Silbernagel said he was pushing all in.

Gordillo thought just a beat before letting his hand go. He still has about 4.2 million, but Silbernagel has edged ahead of him for the lead and is now up around 5 million after taking that big pot.

10:24pm: Ferrari run down in eighth

After Joseph Mouawad opened for 150,000 from the hijack seat, it folded to Michael Ferrari in the big blind who shoved all in for about 700,000 and Mouawad called.

Ferrari: [Qd][Qh]
Mouawad: [Ad][Qc]

The flop came [Tc][Kc][Ac], pairing Moawoud's ace and giving him a flush draw as well, then when the [9c] fell on the turn Ferrari was drawing dead to finish in eighth. Mouawad now has about 3.8 million.

10:15pm: Level 28 begins (30,000/60,000/10,000)

They've finished with the picture-taking and after finishing the last minute of Level 27 have moved on with an increase in blinds and antes.

They'll play one more hour before stopping for the night.

10:01pm: Updated chip counts to start the official final table

Seat 1: Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 3,080,000
Seat 2: Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 3,985,000
Seat 3: Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 1,380,000
Seat 4: Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 5,915,000
Seat 5: Michael Ferrari (USA) -- 1,005,000
Seat 6: Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 1,300,000
Seat 7: Manuel Martinez (UK) -- 3,515,000
Seat 8: Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 4,445,000

9:49pm: Taibi taken out in ninth; official final table set

Dean-Henri Taibi opened the action with a raise to 110,000 from UTG, and it folded around to Pablo Gordillo in the cutoff who reraised to 380,000.

The others in between stepped aside, and after confirming the amount of the raise Taibi sat quietly for two minutes before sliding out a tall stack of chips as a reraise. Gordillo instantly announced he was all in, and without much hesitation Taibi called to put the rest of his chips at risk.

Gordillo: [Ac][Kh]
Taibi: [Tc][Td]

The [2d][5d][9h] flop was fine for Taibi, but the [Ks] spiked on the turn to put him way behind. The river brought the [Ad] and a second pair for Gordillo, and start-of-day-2 leader Taibi goes out in ninth.

They are almost at the end of Level 27. Play will be continuing tonight, but a short break is being taken to shoot official final table photos.

9:28pm: Updated chip counts (9 remain)

The final nine players have redrawn and been reseated, with Pablo Gordillo the current chip leader.

Here's where they are sitting, in terms of both chairs and chips:

Seat 1: Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 3,070,000
Seat 2: Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 4,135,000
Seat 3: Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 1,495,000
Seat 4: Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 4,680,000
Seat 5: Michael Ferrari (USA) -- 1,195,000
Seat 6: Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 1,465,000
Seat 7: Manuel Martinez (UK) -- 2,960,000
Seat 8: Dean-Henri Taibi (France) -- 1,730,000
Seat 9: Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,935,000

9:11pm: Decamps done in 10th

After an open-shove by Dean-Henri Taibi from the small blind, Florian Decamps squeezed his cards in the big blind and made the call for his last 650,000 or so.

Decamps had [6c][6d] and was hoping the small pair would hold against Taibi's [Ah][8c]. But the flop came [Ac][Qd][2h] to put Taibi in front, and after the [Jc] turn and [8d] river Decamps was done.

There will be a short pause as the final nine players redraw to seat around a single table. Word is they may not actually stop at eight tonight, but rather play this level and the next before concluding play.

9:02pm: Supper pushes Braga off hand

Following an opening raise by Luca Moschitta from UTG, Sergio Braga three-bet to 275,000, then it folded to Sebastian Supper in the big blind who four-bet to 600,000. Moschitta folded, but Braga called the reraise.

The flop came [4d][4h][Qs], prompting a leading bet of 500,000 from Supper. Braga thought just a moment, then while continuing to hold his jacket up over his mouth called the bet.

The turn was the [5h], and without hesitating Supper pushed all in. That sent Braga deep into the tank, as the bet well covered the 1.2 million he had left behind.

Finally after several minutes Braga rapped the table and released his hand. Supper collected the pot, pushing his stack up over 4 million.

8:48pm: Valentin falls in 11th

Julien Valentin has exited in 11th after having picked up [Ks][Kc] and run into the [As][Ad] of Gilles Silbernagel.

The board came [Qh][8h][2d][4h][5c], sending Valentin to the rail and Silbernagel to the top of the leaderboard with a hefty stack of 4.5 million.

8:39pm: Level 27 begins (25,000/50,000/5,000)

Players are back from dinner and cards are back in the air.

7:20pm: Dinner break; updated counts (11 remain)

The remaining 11 players are on a 75-minute break.

That last knockout helped put Pablo Gordillo in first position currently. Here's a look at the updated counts:

Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 3,820,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 3,430,000
Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 3,350,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,005,000
Manuel Martinez (UK) -- 2,415,000
Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 2,045,000
Michael Ferrari (USA) -- 2,045,000
Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 1,815,000
Julien Valentin (France) -- 1,180,000
Dean-Henri Taibi (France) -- 1,035,000
Florian Decamps (France) -- 485,000

7:11pm: Vidal vanquished in 12th

All in for his last 522,000 with [Tc][Th], Charles Vidal was unfortunately up against the [Kd][Kc] of Pablo Gordillo. The board came [2h][3s][Ah][3c][Ks], and Vidal is out in 12th.

6:55pm: Barbaro busts in 13th

Alessandro Bardaro is the latest to fall as the dinner break approaches.

Catching up with the action on the river with the board showing [6h][Ah][Ts][Kd][4c], Bardero called all in following a Gilles Silbernagel bet to show [As][Qc], but his top pair was no good versus Silbernagel's [Kc][Tc].

6:45pm: Branellec loses to Supper before dinner

Sebastian Supper has just sent out Guillaume Branellec in 14th as the move into the latter part of Level 26. Branellec was all in with [As][Qd] versus Supper's [6c][6h].

A queen came on the turn, but not until after a six had flopped to give Supper a set. Thirteen remain.

6:42pm: Decamps doubles through Taibi

Following an opening raise by Dean-Henri Taibi from the button, Florian Decamps reraise-shoved for about 380,000 from the small blind, and Taibi made the call.

Taibi had [5d][5c] while Decamps had [As][Qs]. Things looked bleak for Decamps after the [9s][Jc][4c] flop and [Kh] turn, but the [Ac] came on the end to save him, and he's back up around 775,000. Taibi still has about 1.6 million.

6:35pm: Kings fail Kokkalis; 14 remain

Evangelos Kokkalis just met his end in 15th following a hard-luck situation versus Luca Moschitta.

As though drawing the cards from the middle of his name, Kokkalis was all in with [Kh][Ks], but he'd run smack into Moschitta's [Ac][Ad]. The community cards came [Jd][6d][4d][7h][3c], and just like that they're down to 14 players.

6:32pm: Mouawad knocks out Rivero in 16th

Players will be taking a 75-minute dinner break once they reach the end of Level 26 today. That is unless Joseph Mouawad keeps knocking out players and they reach an eight-handed final table first.

Just now Mouawad opened from middle position, and it folded to Alexandre Rivero on the button who pushed all in for about half a million. When it got back to Mouawad he called.

Mouawad: [Jd][Jc]
Rivero: [As][Ks]

The board ran out [5c][5d][3d][4d][Qs], and Rivero was out while Mouawad now appears up around 3 million and in the lead.

6:26pm: Level 26 begins (20,000/40,000/5,000)

6:25pm: Two more fall; 16 remain

Sergio Castelluccio has been eliminated in 18th, with Jose Besalduch -- one of the day's big stacks early on -- following him to the rail in 17th.

6:16pm: Mouawad mows over Santoro

Following the elimination of Pierre Malfay (21st), Roman Bier's run finally reached the finish line as he went out in 20th. Then came a big three-way all in involving EPT4 London champion Joseph Mouawad, Sergio Braga, and Amerigo Santoro.

Braga had the other two covered and tabled [Jc][Js]. Mouawad was standing as he turned over his [Ah][Qh]. And Santoro -- all in just a while ago with aces -- had picked up rockets again with [As][Ac].

The flop came a benign [Kd][6c][2h], but the [4h] caused Mouawad to start calling for a third heart to appear. The dealer burned a card and turned over the river -- the [Th]!

"Yes!" said Mouawad, with enthusiasm. "No," said Santoro, with none.

Santoro has no chips now, too, and thus walked to the cashier to collect 19th-place prize money. Meanwhile Mouawad is up to about 2.4 million, while Braga is at a still very healthy 1.9 million.

5:55pm: Timely rockets for Santoro

Following an opening raise by Florian Decamps, Amerigo Santoro reraised all in for 187,000 from the button, and after it folded back to Decamps he called.

Decamps tabled [Ac][6h], and the table then shared a collective chuckle at the sight of Santoro's [Ad][As]. The board ran clean for Santoro, and with that double both he and Decamps have roughly similar stacks of about 375,000.

5:51pm: Lacolas loses chips, out in 22nd

In what has been a slow-moving level, Lionel Lacolas is the only elimination thus far in 22nd.

5:41pm: Bier hanging on

A short-stacked Romain Bier -- 22nd of 22 to start the level -- has survived all-ins a couple of times thus far, thereby keeping his seat. The 20-year-old Bier actually won his way into this event via a club tournament and so is on a freeroll of sorts, and clearly is enjoying making the trip last even longer into Day 3.

5:28pm: Updated chip counts (22 remain)

France's Gilles Silbernagel rose to the top of the leaderboard near the end of the last level. Here are updated counts for all 22 of the remaining players:

Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 2,750,000
Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 2,400,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 2,200,000
Manuel Martinez (UK) -- 2,065,000
Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 2,000,000
Michael Ferrari (USA) -- 1,700,000
Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 1,570,000
Guillaume Branellec -- 1,015,000
Dean-Henri Taibi (France) -- 980,000
Jose Besalduch (Spain) -- 900,000

Alessandro Bardaro (Italy) -- 850,000
Charles Vidal (France) -- 800,000
Evangelos Kokkalis (Greece) -- 760,000
Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 700,000
Florian Decamps (France) -- 520,000
Sergio Castellucio (Italy) -- 415,000
Alexandre Rivero (Brazil) -- 415,000
Amerigo Santoro (Italy) -- 395,000
Julien Valentin (France) -- 380,000
Piere Malfay (France) -- 350,000

Lionel Lacolas (Italy) -- 340,000
Romain Bier (France) -- 220,000

5:25pm: Level 25 begins (15,000/30,000/4,000)

The 22 remaining players are back in their seats and play has resumed once more. For updates from the day's first four levels during which they raced down from 57 to 22, click here.

Key FPS Monaco Main Event Facts:
- The tournament is scheduled to play down to the eight-handed final table
- The top 143 finishers are cashing; click here for an updated list of payouts

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Another long day in the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final has come to a close, and after eight full one-hour levels the 57 players who had survived from the 993-player starting field have now played all of the way down to a final table and then some.

Pablo Gordillo began the official final table with the chip lead -- a point hit with about an hour left to play -- and he had it again at night's end. In fact, the Spaniard's stack of 7,005,000 will put him a little over 3 million clear of anyone else when cards go back in the air for Sunday's final day.

Those 57 returned with the Frenchman Dean-Henri Taibi leading, and within a couple of hours they were already less 20 players. EPT4 Prague champion Arnaud Mattern (47th) and La Maison Du Bluff star Abou Sy (42nd) among those hitting the rail.

Gordillo had already pushed into the chip lead by then, and would remain at or near the top of the counts for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Meanwhile the pace slowed somewhat, the field shrinking from 37 to 22 over the next two one-hour levels. That stretch saw both the tournament's last woman, Daniela Parotti, and start-of-day-2 chip leader Frederik Treusch being eliminated in 27th and 26th, respectively.

Gilles Silbernagel of France had risen to challenge Gordillo by that point, taking over the chip lead briefly as the field was whittled down further. Freeroll winner Romain Bier went out in 20th, and a little later Amerigo Santoro had his aces cracked by EPT4 London champion Joseph Mouawad to go out in 19th.

Mouawad earned another knockout soon thereafter, taking out Alexandre Rivero in 16th, and enjoyed the chip lead for part of the pre-dinner period. Evangelos Kokkalis (15th) and Guillaume Branellec (14th) next fell, with Alessandro Bardaro (13th) and Charles Vidal (12th) following before those remaining took time out for dinner.

After their return, Julien Valentin unfortunately ran kings into Silbernagel's aces to finish 11th. Florian Decamps finally lost the last of his short stack to Taibi to finish 10th. Then start-of-day-3 leader Taibi fell in ninth in a hand against Gordillo.

That one put Gordillo back in front, and other than a brief period when Silbernagel jumped ahead of him again Gordillo would continue to stay active and accumulate until play concluded. Michael Ferrari would be the only one to fall during that final hour, finishing eighth after his pocket queens failed to hold against Mouawad's ace-queen.

Here's how the stacks look and where they'll be seated to start play tomorrow:

Seat 1: Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 3,220,000
Seat 2: Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 3,890,000
Seat 3: Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 840,000
Seat 4: Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 7,005,000
Seat 5: empty
Seat 6: Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 1,655,000
Seat 7: Manuel Martinez (UK) -- 3,950,000
Seat 8: Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,520,000

The next player out will earn €23,500 while a big prize of €177,000 awaits the winner.

Play resumes at 12:30 p.m. local time tomorrow, with cards-up coverage starting on a one-hour delay at 1:30 p.m. over at EPT Live. Come back then to find out with us who will succeed Yury Nesterenko to become the next France Poker Series Monaco Main Event champion.

Level 21-24 updates (from 57 to 22)
Level 25-28 updates (from 22 to 7)
Prize pool and payouts

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

From a whopping field of 993, they reached the final eight-handed table with about an hour left to play last night in the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event that has helped kick off the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final festival.

Before play concluded we lost one -- Michael Ferrari -- in eighth, meaning seven will return to decide who will become the next FPS Monaco Main Event champion. Here's a little more about each of the final tablists:

Seat 1: Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 3,220,000

Married with three children, Joseph Mouawad is a real estate developer originally from Beirut who first began playing poker nearly 15 years ago.

He currently plays about three EPT festivals per year, and brings to the final table the most impressive résumé of tour success highlighted by his win in the EPT London Main Event back in Season 4, earning him a handsome £611,520 first prize. His most recent cash on the tour saw him final table a €2,200 NLHE event at EPT10 Barcelona where he finished eighth.

Seat 2: Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 3,890,000

The lone Frenchman making the final table, 43-year-old Gilles Silbernagel is also a father a three and a businessman who has enjoyed success playing tournament poker.

Considering himself an amateur, he nonetheless has collected several cashes in various events in Europe over the last several years, the biggest coming from winning a €330 NLHE Estrellas event at EPT10 Barcelona where he topped a field of 469 to earn a €30,780 first prize. After two levels he was down to just 2,000 from the starting stack of 25,000, and now Silbernagel sits in third position among the final seven.

Seat 3: Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 840,000

A live cash game specialist, the 49-year-old Sergio Braga's prefered games are pot-limit Omaha and seven-card stud. In fact, he's already tasted success this week in Monaco by winning Event #15, the €500 limit seven-card stud event.

The Brazilian has earned numerous cashes and made many final tables on both the LAPT and BSOP, with a runner-up finish in a BSOP event in 2013 earning him his biggest career score equivalent to just over $60,000. He has hopes of spinning what is currently the short stack up today, perhaps to win as a birthday present to himself as he turns 50 in two days.

Seat 4: Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 7,005,000

At age 20 and sitting with just over 7 million chips, Pablo Gordillo is both the youngest of the remaining players and the one with the most chips to start the final day of play. A finance student from León, Spain, Gordillo has put his studies on hold for now as he pursues what is fast becoming a successful career in poker.

Gordillo won his way into this event via a $215 satellite on PokerStars, where he can often be found playing NLHE tournaments and PLO cash games. Despite his young age, he's already notched some significant tournament cashes, including a fourth-place finish in the EPT10 Vienna Main Event earning him €262,150. He made another EPT Main Event final table in London earlier this season as well, ultimately finishing eighth.

Seat 5: Michael Ferrari (USA) -- finished 8th

Michael Ferrari entered the official final table as the short stack with eight left, and ultimately was knocked out for a €16,750 cash. A commercial real estate developer from San Francisco, California, Ferrari was here playing his first overseas tournament.

Ferrari had notched just a couple of tournament cashes previously, the best coming for winning a $400 Deep Stack Extravaganza event at the Venetian in 2012 where he topped 661 to earn $50,268. It was a tournament he hadn't even necessarily planned to play, but had been in Las Vegas for a wedding and not being able to play a WSOP event decided to take a shot. Besides poker, Ferrari's hobbies include motorcycles.

Seat 6: Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 1,655,000

The 25-year-old Luca Moschitta has the distinction of having back in 2009 become the youngest SuperNova Elite at age 19. He continues to play a high volume of high-stakes sit-n-gos on PokerStars.it as a member of Team PokerStars Online, and following the path of his fellow countryman Dario Minieri has bought a couple of Porsches with his FPPs.

Moschitta has become a regular on the live circuit as well where he plays along with his girlfriend, Sofia Lovgren. His largest previous live result was for winning the IPT Main Event in Saint Vincent in 2013, a €180,000 score.

Seat 7: Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 3,950,000

Manuel Martinez is a 27-year-old Spanish poker pro currently residing in London. A cash game specialist for the last five years, he enjoys tournaments as well occasionally.

Martinez final tabled the Estrellas Main Event in Madrid in 2012, finishing fifth for his largest live score of €24,300. He'll exceed that amount should he manage to outlast one other player and make it into the top six today.

Seat 8: Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,520,000

A 29-year-old student from Munich, Sebastian Supper is an amateur who has been playing poker for six years. He qualified online for just €30 to play this event.

Supper has collected a few cashes in Europe previously, the largest coming after finishing third in a 188-player event in Pardubice in the Czech Republic, good for the equivalent of almost $8,500. Supper studies chemistry and geography, with plans eventually to become a professor.

When the final seven return today, here is what they'll be playing for:

1st: €177,000
2nd: €107,500
3rd: €75,400
4th: €56,600
5th: €43,800
6th: €32,700
7th: €23,500

Play begins at 12:30 p.m. Central European Time -- that's six hours ahead of Eastern time, and three hours ahead of GMT. They'll be on the feature table in the main tournament room here at the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Hotel, with cards-up coverage starting on a one hour delay at 1:30 p.m. locally. That's when we'll pick up our start-to-finish coverage here as well. Join us then to see who beomes the next FPS Monaco Main Event champion.

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Watch cards-up coverage of the FPS Monaco Main Event final table on EPT Live by clicking here. Time stamps of the updates below reflect the one-hour delay.

6:06pm: Break time; updated chip counts

The last three are taking another 20-minute break. Click here for continuing updates starting with Level 33. Here are the counts at the break:

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 14,645,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 7,875,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 2,105,000

6:02pm: Martinez collects after Silbernagel mucks

With just a couple of minutes left in the level, Gilles Silbernagel opened with a raise to 375,000 from the small blind with one of his two cards showing -- the [Td]. Manuel Martinez called from the big blind, and neither of his cards were picked up.

Both checked the [2h][Qh][Jc] flop, then Silbernagel bet 375,000 on the [7d] turn. The river was the [Kc]. Silbernagel stacked plaques and pushed out a bet of 700,000, and Martinez called. Silbernagel tapped the table and said "good call," and in fact mucked his hand, meaning no one got to see Martinez's hand.

5:51pm: Pablo Gordillo eliminated in 4th (€56,600)

After Gilles Silbernagel opened with a raise from the small blind with [Jh][Js], Pablo Gordillo pushed all in for 2.15 million from the big blind with [Kd][Qd] and Silbernagel called.

The flop came [6s][Ad][8h], then the [Ts] turn provided a couple more outs to Gordillo in the form of the two remaining jacks. But the turn was the [Tc], and after Silbernagel shook his hand and gave him a hug, Gordillo hit the rail in fourth.

5:42pm: Updated chip counts

Manuel Martinez is back on top, while Pablo Gordillo is now the short stack.

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 11,040,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 8,305,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 3,410,000
Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 1,870,000

5:41pm: Martinez retakes lead from Supper

On next hand after being bluffed by Gilles Silbernagel, Sebastian Supper opened for 325,000 with [Ac][8s] from UTG and Manuel Martinez called from the big blind with [6d][3c]. The [3h][5c][9h] hit Martinez's hand, and he led with a bet which Supper called. Both checked the [6c] turn that gave Martinez a second pair.

The river was the [Ts] and Martinez bet 575,000. Supper thought a while then called with his ace-high, and Martinez collected the pot. Martinez pushes ahead of Supper on that hand to retake the lead.

5:37pm: Silbernagel bluffs Supper

Sebastian Supper raised to 325,000 from the button with the [Td] and an unseen second card, and Gilles Silbernagel called from the small blind with [Jh][8h]. The flop came [Qh][Qc][Ah], Silbernagel checked, Supper bet 350,000, and Silbernagel called. The turn was the [4c] and both checked.

The river was the [Ks]. Silbernagel carved out 600,000, and after Supper let his hand go, Silbernagel showed his bluff as he was shipped the chips.

5:28pm: Updated chip counts

Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 10,450,000
Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 9,450,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 2,555,000
Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 2,170,000

5:19pm: Joseph Mouawad eliminated in 5th (€43,800)

It folded around to Sebastian Supper in the small blind who raised to 400,000 with [9c][9d], then Joseph Mouawad reraised all in for 3,755,000 total with [Ah][Qd]. Supper hemmed and hawed a little, then made the call to create a 7.6 million pot and put Mouawad at risk.

The flop came [2s][4c][Qc], giving Mouwad a pair and the lead, but the [Jc] brought a club flush draw for Supper. Then came the river... the [9h]! A set for Supper, and Mouwad is out in fifth. Meanwhile, that pot appears to have carried Supper ahead of Martinez into the chip lead.

5:07pm: Some for Silbernagel

In the first hand of the new level, Gilles Silbernagel raised the minimum to 320,000 from UTG with [Qc][Js] and it folded to Joseph Mouawad in the big blind who called (his hand not being shown). Both checked the [Td][5c][9d] flop, then after the [Jc] turn Mouawad check-folded to a bet of 300,000 from Silbernagel.

5:06pm: Level 32 begins (80,000/160,000/20,000)

5:05pm: Mouawad wins last hand of level

In the last hand of Level 31, Joseph Mouawad raised to 275,000 from UTG with [Ad][4s], and it folded to Manuel Martinez in the small blind with [9c][8c]. He thought a moment, then slid out a three-bet to 900,000. It folded back to Mouawad who immediately shoved all in, and Martinez folded.

4:57pm: Silbernagel flops flush, shoves turn

Pablo Gordillo raised to 250,000 from UTG with [Ad][2h] and Gilles Silbernagel defended his big blind by calling with [Qs][6s]. The flop came [3s][As][Ts] -- a flush for Silbernagel, and a pair of aces for Gordillo -- and Silbernagel led for 375,000. Gordillo called.

The turn then brought the [Th] to pair the board, and Silbernagel shoved all in for 2,955,000 or about twice what was in the pot.

Gordillo thought for over a minute, then finally let his hand go to. Silbernagel is up close to 4.4 million after that one.

4:52pm: Updated chip counts

Manuel Martinez is currently enjoying a huge lead with more than twice the chips of his nearest challenger, Sebastian Supper.

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 10,205,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 4,430,00
Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 3,675,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 3,360,000
Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 2,955,000

4:50pm: Silbernagel makes straight, survives

It folded around to Gilles Silbernagel on the button who looked at his hand -- [Qc][Tc] -- then raised all in for 1.6 million. The action reached Manuel Martinez in the big blind with [Kd][Jc], and he called to put .

The flop came [Kh][3h][Jd] to give Martinez two pair and Silbernagel an open-ender, then the [9c] fell on the turn to fill Silbernagel's straight. The river was the [9s], and Silbernagel survives.

4:46pm: Jacks work for Mouawad

Joseph Mouawad raised to 265,000 from the button with [Jc][Td], then Gilles Silbernagel three-bet from the small blind to 385,000 with [8c][8h]. It got back to Mouawad who called, then the flop came [Jh][Qh][Js] to give Mouawad trip jacks. Both checked. The turn was the [9d]. Silbernagel checked, Mouawad bet, and Silbernagel called. The [Qc] river bought two checks, and Mouawad won the pot with jacks full of queens.

4:38pm: Fives provide a feast for Supper

Joseph Mouawad raised to 275,000 from under the gun with [Ah][Qd] and it folded around to Sebastian Supper in the big blind who shoved all in for 2,205,000 with [5d][5h]. Taking his time deciding, Mouawad at last made the call.

The flop came [9d][9s][5s], giving Supper a full house and causing Mouawad to grimace. A jack on the turn sealed it, and Supper now has about 4.6 million while Mouawad slips to 2.3 million.

4:34pm: More for Martinez

Pablo Gordillo completed from the small blind with [Qs][7d] and Manuel Martinez checked the BB with [6s][3c]. The flop came an interesting [5c][6d][3h] -- a gutshot for Gordillo and two pair for Martinez -- and both players checked. The [9d] fell on the turn, giving Gordillo a double belly-buster draw, and he led for 385,000. Martinez called.

The river was the [9c], pairing the board. Gordillo thought a bit then checked, and Martinez checked behind, collecting the pot.

4:29pm: Martinez over Mouawad

Contrasting somewhat with the first two hours of Day 4, we're seeing a lot of raise-and-takes and relatively small pots so far during Level 31. We just had an exception to that, however, in a hand between Manuel Martinez and Joseph Mouawad.

Martinez raised to 250,000 from the button with [Ac][3s] and Mouawad decided to defend his big blind by reraising to 380,000 with [7c][5s]. Martinez then four-bet to 750,000, and after a brief pause Mouawad called.

The flop came [4c][5c][As]. Mouawad led for 600,000 with his pair of fives, and Martinez called with top pair of aces. The turn brought the [4d], and this time both checked. The river was the [8c]. Mouawad fired 800,000 this time, and after thinking a while Martinez called to win the pot.

Leader Martinez is up to 10.2 million now while Mouawad is just under 4.6 million.

4:19pm: Mouawad grabs a few

Manuel Martinez raised to 250,000 from under the gun with [Ad][Qd] and got one caller in Joseph Mouawad with [Kd][Qc] on the button. The flop came [8s][Ks][6h] and Martinez led wiht a bet of 225,000. Mouawad raised to 500,000, and Martinez pitched his cards away.

4:10pm: Stacks of plaques

With the increase in stakes, they've now brought out the 100,000-chip plaques.

Pablo Gordillo raised to 250,000 from under the gun with [Ks][9d], and Manuel Martinez pushed out some of those plaques, reraising to 650,000 from the cutoff with [Qd][Td]. It folded back to Gordillo, and he let his hand go.

4:04pm: Level 31 begins (60,000/120,000/20,000)

Players are back in their seats and Level 31 is underway. Both the blinds and the antes have now increased as play resumes.

3:39pm: Break time

The remaining five players are now on a 20-minute break.

3:38pm: Level 30 ends; updated chip counts

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 8,010,000
Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 5,915,000
Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 4,680,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,355,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 2,665,000

3:29pm: Martinez doubles through Gordillo

Pablo Gordillo raised to 200,000 with [Kd][Qs] from the cutoff, then Manuel Martinez reraised to 450,000 from the button holding [Qh][Qc]. The blinds stepped aside, and Gordillo called.

The flop came [Th][Jh][8d], giving Gordillo an open-ended straight draw while Martinez's queens were still ahead. Gordillo checked, and Martinez bet 550,000 -- about half the pot. The usually fast-acting Gordillo took his time responding, eyeing Martinez a few times while riffling his chips slowly. Then after two minutes Gordillo announced he was all in, and Martinez called right away.

The turn brought the [7h] and the river the [3s], and Martinez earned the big double-up. With the day's first break approaching, Martinez is the chip leader with almost 7.3 million while Gordillo falls down around 4 million.

3:20pm: Some for Martinez

Martinez raised from under the gun with one of his hole cards showing -- the [Qd] -- and Pablo Gordillo defended his big blind by calling with [4d][3d]. The flop came [7h][8d][4h], and Gordillo check-called a bet from Martinez, making the pot 960,000. The turn was the [2s] and Gordillo checked again. Martinez bet 415,000 this time, and Gordillo folded.

3:08pm: Mouawad shoves flop, collects

Sebastian Supper raised to 200,000 from UTG with the [Ac] among his two hole cards, Joseph Mouawad called from the cutoff with [4c][4s], then Pablo Gordillo three-bet to 805,000 from the small blind after picking up [As][Kh]. Supper folded, but Mouawad called and the pair saw a flop come [2c][6d][7h].

After Gordillo checked, Mouawad shoved all in for 3.745 million and Gordillo didn't take too long to fold.

3:02pm: Aggro Gordillo

Joseph Mouawad raised to 225,000 from the button with [Kd][Js], Gilles Silbernagel called from the small blind with [As][7d], and Pablo Gordillo called as well from the big blind with [Th][2h].

The flop came [2c][8s][7s], and all three checked. The turn was the [Jh], and upon being checked to Mouawad bet 300,000 with his top pair. Silbernagel called with his pair of sevens, then Gordillo -- with a pair of deuces and a gutshot draw -- check-raised to 1.1 million.

Mouawad took a sip from his bottle of water as he studied the situation, then pushed his cards away. Silbernagel folded as well, and Gordillo picked up the pot.

Gordillo is up over 8.2 million now, comfortably in the lead.

2:56pm: A morsel for Supper

Pablo Gordillo raised to 200,000 from the button with [Qc][4s], Sebastian Supper three-bet to 550,000 from the big blind with [Ah][Kh], and Gordillo let his hand go. Supper has about 4.2 million now, Gordillo 7.1 million.

2:52pm: Martinez plays one

Manuel Martinez -- currently fifth of five -- raised from under the gun with [Ac][Qs] and only Pablo Gordillo called from the big blind with [9s][5s]. Both checked down the [4h][Td][4d][Kh][9h] board, and that river nine gave Gordillo the small pot.

Gordillo is up to about 7.3 million now while Martinez has 3.5 million.

2:41pm: Mouawad moves Silbernagel off hand

Joseph Mouawad raised holding [5h][5d] in the cutoff, Gilles Silbernagel three-bet with [Ac][2c] from the button, and when it folded back to Mouawad he called, making the pot 1.1 million. The flop came [6s][7s][3s] and Mouawad bet 350,000. Silbernagel made it 850,000 to go, then Mouawad reraised all in. Silbernagel pretended to think a short while, then folded.

2:36pm: Level 30 begins (50,000/100,000/10,000)

2:32pm: Gordillo living right

Gordillo just now managed to flop yet another flush in a three-way hand, but unfortuantely for him couldn't get any action from his two opponents.

2:26pm: Kings for Silbernagel; updated chip counts

Following a hand in which Gilles Silbernagel four-bet with pocket kings to push Pablo Gordillo off his ace-seven, Silbernagel is the new chip leader.

Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 6,915,000
Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 6,355,000
Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 4,615,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,515,000
Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 3,180,000

2:24pm: Gordillo flops flush, loses

From the small blind, Gilles Silbernagel raised the minimum to 160,000 with [Kd][Jh] and Pablo Gordillo called in the BB with [9h][3h]. The flop came all hearts -- [2h][Qh][7h] -- to give Gordillo a flush, and Silbernagel led with a bet of 305,000. Gordillo called.

The turn was the [7c], and Silbernagel again bet -- 500,000 this time -- and Gordillo just called once more.

The river then brought the [4h] to give Silbernagel the better flush. He checked, and Gordillo checked back. Silbernagel showed his winning hand and Gordillo mucked.

2:19pm: Gordillo flops straight, wins

Pablo Gordillo raised to 200,000 from under the gun and got callers in Joseph Mouawad (SB) with [Kc][Jd] and Gilles Silbernagel (BB) with [Ts][8s]. The flop came [5h][9h][8d], giving Gordillo a straight, and when checked to he bet 375,000. Only Silbernagel called. Both remaining players then checked the [6c] turn.

The river brought the [Qh]. Silbernagel checked, Gordillo bet 1.015 million, and Silbernagel folded, giving Gordillo the pot.

2:13pm: Gordillo back over 7 million

Pablo Gordillo raised to 160,000 from the cutoff with [Qs][8h] and Sebastian Supper called from the small blind with [Jh][Th]. Both checked the [7h][Qd][Jc] flop, then the [Qh] fell on the turn to give Gordillo trips. Supper led with a bet of 200,000, and Gordillo just called.

The river was the [3d] and when Supper bet 500,000, Gordillo called immediately to win the pot.

Gordillo is back up to 7.15 million after that one.

2:05pm: Luca Moschitta eliminated in 6th (€32,700)

Luca Moschitta open-pushed from under the gun for 1,635,000 with [8h][8d] and got one caller in Joseph Mouawad from the button with [9s][9d].

Moschitta needed help to survive, but the flop came [Js][4c][9h] to give Mouawad a set, and after the [2c] turn Moschitta was drawing dead to finish in sixth.

1:59pm: Silbernagel shoves, collects; updated chip counts

Gilles Silbernagel just earned a big pot versus Manuel Martinez with [Ah][7h] versus Martinez's [Ad][Qd] after turning trip sevens and pushing all in on fourth street to get a fold from Martinez.

Halfway through the day's first level, here are the updated counts:

Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 6,330,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 6,205,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 4,535,000
Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 3,030,000
Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 2,825,000
Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 1,655,000

1:52pm: Supper pushes Gordillo off hand with river check-raise

Pablo Gordillo raised to 160,000 from the cutoff with [9s][9d], Sebastian Supper three-bet to 460,000 from the big blind with [Ah][Qh], and Gordillo called. Both checked the [Kc][Ts][4s] flop and [As] turn, then the [Ks] fell on the river to make a flush for Gordillo.

When checked to Gordillo made a small bet of 375,000 into the pot of just over 1 million, then Supper made a bold check-raise to 1 million total -- and Gordillo folded right away.

Gordillo - 6.34 million
Supper - 4.5 million

1:48pm: Sergio Braga eliminated in 7th (€23,500)

Sergio Braga shoved all in again, this time from the cutoff with [Ad][9s], and got a caller in Martinez in the big blind with [As][Jd].

The board came [7h][8d][Qs][Qh][4d], and Braga exited in seventh.

1:46pm: Playing pocket pairs

Team PokerStars Online member Luca Moschitta picked up [8c][8d] sitting UTG, and after raising to 175,000 everyone else folded.

Then it was Manuel Martinez's turn to be dealt a pocket pair UTG with [5d][5c], and after he raised to 160,000 he watched Sebastian Supper three-bet to 400,000 from a seat over with [Qs][Js]. That was enough to push Martinez off his hand.

1:40pm: Gordillo gets one

On the day's second hand, Pablo Gordillo opened for 160,000 from under the gun with [Ks][Qh] and gets one caller in Sebastian Supper playing from the cutoff with [5d][5s]. Everyone else folded, and the pair watched the flop come [8s][Ad][Tc]. With his gutshot to Broadway, Gordillo led for 180,000 and won the pot.

1:37pm: Braga pushes right away

With only one of his hole cards -- the [Ks] -- being picked up by sensor, the short stack Sergio Braga shoved all in on the day's first hand and received no action.

1:36pm: Level 29 begins (40,000/80,000/10,000)

N.B. -- Gilles Silbernagel in fact begins Day 4 with a little more than what had been reported at the end of play last night. He begins today with 4,390,000.

1:34pm: Cards in the air

They're off! The first hand of the final day of the FPS Monaco Main Event is being dealt.

1:20pm: Coverage about to begin

We're close to the beginning of our coverage, which begins with seven players left. Read profiles of the final tablists here. Spain's Pablo Gordillo leads the way to start today, his stack of just over 7 million putting him more than 3 million clear of the chase pack at present.

Here's a reminder of where they are seated and what the stacks are to start play today:

Seat 1: Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- 3,220,000
Seat 2: Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 3,890,000
Seat 3: Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- 840,000
Seat 4: Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- 7,005,000
Seat 5: empty
Seat 6: Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- 1,655,000
Seat 7: Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 3,950,000
Seat 8: Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,520,000

And another reminder... what they are playing for:

1st: €177,000
2nd: €107,500
3rd: €75,400
4th: €56,600
5th: €43,800
6th: €32,700
7th: €23,500

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

Watch cards-up coverage of the FPS Monaco Main Event final table on EPT Live by clicking here. Time stamps of the updates below reflect the one-hour delay.

Click here for live updates from Levels 29-32, during which they played down from seven players to three.

9:58pm: Sebastian Supper wins (€177,000); Manuel Martinez runner-up (€107,500)

The third hand of heads-up play saw Manuel Martinez toss away [8s][4h] from the button. Then on the next one Supper once more announced he was pushing all in, with only the [4s] tantalizing showing on the card graphics.

Again Martinez looked at his cards, and without much hesitation called the shove.

Martinez: [Ac][9h]
Supper: [4s][4d]

Supper had a made hand this time, but after the [7d][9c][2d] came on the flop Martinez had made a better one for the moment with a pair of nines.

The [Qd] then came on the turn, causing both players to grin -- for different reasons -- as Supper had picked up the diamond flush draw and many more outs.

Then came the river... the [Jd]!

Just like that it was over! Martinez finished second for a nice prize of €107,500, while Supper wins the €177,000 first prize and FPS Monaco Main Event trophy.

Back shortly to recap today's exciting final day.

9:52pm: Martinez earns a quick double-up

Manuel Martinez folded the first heads-up hand from the button after picking up [8h][7d]. On the next Sebastian Supper announced he was raising all in, and Martinez called.

Supper: [6s][4s]
Martinez: [Kd][Qs]

The flop came [3s][3h][9s], giving Supper a flush draw, then the turn brought the [Jd]. With a ton of outs still available for Supper, the [Kc] wasn't one of them and Martinez doubled up to 5.89 million. Supper still has 18.335 million.

9:48pm: Play resumes

The winner's trophy has been brought out and placed between Sebastian Supper and Manuel Martinez, and their heads-up battle has commenced.

9:42 pm: Updated chip counts to start heads-up play

Players are taking a short break before heads-up play will begin. Sebastian Supper will have about a 7-to-1 chip advantage when play resumes.

Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 21,090,000
Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 3,135,000

9:40 pm: Gilles Silbernagel eliminated in 3rd place (€75,400)

Gilles Silbernagel had the button, and after checking his cards -- [As][Kc] -- paused a couple of beats before moving all in for 1,895,000. It folded to Sebastian Supper in the big blind who had [Qc][9c], and after thinking a moment he made the call.

The flop came [2c][2s][Qd] to hit Supper's hand, and Silbernagel immediately stood from his chair. The turn was the [5s] and Silbernagel hung his head for a moment before looking up to see the river -- the [9s].

Silbernagel shook the other two players' hands and departed with a third-place finish.

9:33pm: Supper draws better straight, takes lead

Sebastian Supper raised to 750,000 from the small blind holding [9d][5h], and Gilles Silbernagel -- his hole cards unknown -- called from the big blind.

The flop came [3c][6h][4s], and Supper fired a continuation bet of 1 million. Silbernagel thought a moment, then called the bet. The turn then brought the [7c], making a straight for Supper. Supper again acted quickly, betting 2 million. Silbernagel suddenly announced he was all in, and Supper called immediately.

Silbernagel: [Ks][5s]
Supper: [9d][5h]

Both players had turned straights, as it turned out. The dealer then produced the river...

The [8h]!

"I didn't even know...!" said Supper with a big smile, noting he hadn't even realized he was freerolling to the better straight. Meanwhile Silbernagel looked somewhat shaken, having suddenly gone from the leader to the short stack.

Supper is now the overwhelming chip leader.

Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 18,260,000
Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 4,240,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 2,125,000

9:27pm: A few small ones

After Sebastian Supper won another couple of small pots, a hand arose that saw Manuel Martinez limp in from the small blind with [Kc][7d] and Supper check from the big blind with a [3s] and an obscured second card.

The flop came [Qd][Kh][7h] and both checked, then after the [3c] turn Supper checked, Martinez bet 400,000, and Supper folded.

9:21pm: Supper shoves, collects

In the first hand back, Gilles Silbernagel raised to 625,000 from the button with a [Ks] and one unknown hole card, and it folded to Sebastian Supper who shoved all in from the big blind with [6h][6c], earning a fold from Silbernagel and the first post-dinner pot.

9:20pm: Level 35 begins (150,000/300,000/40,000)

Players are back in their seats and play has resumed with yet another hefty increase of both the blinds and the antes. Leader Gilles Silbernagel begins this level with almost 42 big blinds, Sebastian Supper has just under 23 big blinds, and Manuel Martinez has just under 15 big blinds.

8:29pm: Dinner break

They've reached the end of Level 34, and the three remaining players are now taking a 45-minute dinner break. Or Supper break, if you prefer.

Here are the current counts, with Silbernagel having gone from being down to a half-dozen big blinds to the leader after that sequence of big hands:

Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 12,470,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 6,865,000
Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 4,470,000

8:16pm: Silbernagel increases lead

Following a Manuel Martinez raise from the button with a [6h] and an unknown second card, Silbernagel called from the big blind with [5h][4d].

The flop came [4h][4s][Ad] and Silbernagel checked. Martinez fired 400,000, and Silbernagel quickly check-raised to 1 million. Martinez called. The turn was the [3c] and within an instant Silbernagel said he was all in.

Martinez -- his stack of about 5.4 million about half what Silbernagel had -- thought a beat then let his hand go.

8:10pm: Updated chip counts

Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 12,200,000
Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 7,225,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 5,200,000

8:08pm: Silbernagel doubles through Martinez

Gilles Silbernagel raised to 620,000 from the small blind with [Jh][Jd], and Manuel Martinez looked down to see [4h][4s] in the big blind. He thought a moment, then announced he was reraising all in, and Silbernagel called instantly.

Silbernagel was the one at risk for 6,055,000 total, but after the [2d][Td][5h][Qd][Ts] board he was the new leader with about 12.2 million while Martinez slipped back to about 7.2 million.

8:02pm: Limp-shove from Silbernagel

Gilles Silbernagel limped in from the small blind with [7h][7d], and Manuel Martinez raised to 600,000 with [Ad][6d] from the big blind. Silbernagel then instantly shoved all in for 5,095,000 total, and Martinez thought about a half-minute before folding.

7:46pm: Supper triples up with pocket tens

Manuel Martinez limped in from the button with [Ah][5h], and Sebastian Supper raised all in for his last 1.12 million from the small blind with [Th][Tc]. Gilles Silbernagel then just called the reraise from the big blind with [6d][6c].

Martinez and Silbernagel checked down the [4c][Ks][7d][5s][Jd] board, and that meant a triple-up for Supper.

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 14,715,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 6,460,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 3,450,000

7:32pm: Level 34 begins (120,000/240,000/30,000)

7:28pm: Another straight sends Silbernagel near lead

Manuel Martinez raised to 400,000 from the button with [9c][5c] and Gilles Silbernagel called with [8h][7h] from the big blind.

The flop came [9d][Tc][5d], giving Silbernagel a straight draw and Martinez two pair, and after checking Silbernagel quickly called a bet of 500,000 from Martinez.

The turn was the [Jh], giving Silbernagel his straight, and he checked once more. Martinez bet 1.3 million this time, and Silbernagel check-raised all in for 4.475 million total. Martinez got a count, and thought for a while as Silbernagel held his scarf up over his mouth.

Finally Martinez called, and wasn't pleased when the cards were revealed. The river was the [Kc], and Silbernagel won the hand.

Gilbernagel is nearly even with Martinez for the chip lead:

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 11,785,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 10,940,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 1,900,000

7:14pm: Straight for Silbernagel pays off versus Supper

Sebastian Supper limped in from the small blind with [Ts][6s] and Gilles Silbernagel checked from the big blind with [4c][3h], then the [6d][7d][5c] flop hit the latter's hand hard, giving Silbernagel a straght. When checked to Silbernagel chose to bet 400,000, and Supper called. The turn was the [Jc] and Supper checked again. Silbernagel bet all in this time -- for 2.36 million -- and Supper called immediately.

The river [Kd] was no matter as Silbernagel already had the hand locked up, and he's suddenly up to 6 million while Supper is down to about 2.7 million.

7:00pm: Silbernagel doubles

Gilles Silbernagel open-raised all in for 1,265,000 -- just over six big blinds -- from the small blind with [Ks][9h] and Manuel Martinez called from the big blind with [Jh][5h].

The board came okay for Silbernagel -- [7d][Qd][Ts][Kh][3d] -- and he doubled through.

Martinez still leads comfortably with 15.6 million, while Silbernagel is up to 2.6 million and Supper is in between with about 6.4 million.

6:57pm: Updated chip counts

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 16,680,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 6,390,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 1,555,000

6:56pm: Martinez three-bets, collects

Sebastian Supper raised to 400,000 from the button with [Kc][8c], Gilles Silbernagel called from the small blind with [Jc][9d], then Manuel Martinez three-bet to 1.5 million with [Ah][6h]. Both of the others folded.

6:54pm: Silbernagel treads softly with treys

Manuel Martinez raised to 400,000 with [Qd][6s] from the button and Gilles Silbernagel just called with [3c][3d] in the big blind, leaving himself just 2 million behind. The pair then checked down the [Jh][Ac][Qs] flop and [9h] turn. The river was the [7d], Silbernagel checked, Martinez tossed out 300,000, and Silbernagel folded his pair.

6:49pm: Silbernagel stops and goes

From the big blind Gilles Silbernagel just called a preflop open by Sebastian Supper from the small blind, with Supper's cards unknown and Silbernagel holding [8s][6s]. The flop came [Tc][Jh][9d], and when checked to Silbernagel shoved and Supper stepped aside.

6:45pm: Kings versus kings

Sebastian Supper picked up [Kd][Kc] on the button and raised to 400,000, then it folded to Manuel Martinez in the big blind who looked down to see... [Kh][Ks]! He three-bet to 1.1 million, then Supper pushed all in for just over 7 million and Martinez called.

The short-stacked Gilles Silbernagel had to like the situation a lot before the cards were tabled, and he was surely still hoping for something unusual to happen after they were. But the board came [9h][9s][Ac][Ts][Td], and the pot was split.

6:35pm: Silbernagel in shove-mode

Not long after play resumed, Gilles Silbernagel open-raised all in for 2,075,000 from the button with [Ac][Jd], and after thinking a short while Sebastian Supper folded from the big blind with [Ad][5h].

Just a few hands later, Silbernagel picked up [8s][8c] in the small blind and pushed in again, and got no action.

6:29pm: Level 33 begins (100,000/200,000/30,000)

Players are back and Level 33 is underway, with both the blinds and antes increasing once again. Here are the stacks to begin the level:

Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- 14,645,000
Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- 7,875,000
Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- 2,105,000

And here's what's left up top for these three:

1st: €177,000
2nd: €107,500
3rd: €75,400

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

From the 993 who entered this year's France Poker Series Monaco Main Event PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final, just seven were left for today's final day of play. Its ups and downs seemed fitting amid all of the mountainous terrain here in Monte Carlo. So, too, did all of the rapid twists and hairpin turns of Day 4 remind us of the roads surrounding the Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Hotel. In the end it was a student -- one for whom geography is a favorite subject -- who negotiated the path to victory, 29-year-old German Sebastian Supper.

The American Michael Ferrari had made the official final table late last night before falling in eighth, which left seven to start today.

The young Spaniard, Pablo Gordillo, brought the biggest stack by far to the start of play today, chips earned via an aggressive style he continued to employ early on while pressuring the other six.

Meanwhile two short stacks met their ends in short order. First to go was the Brazilian Sergio Braga, who couldn't last through the day's initial orbit to fall in seventh.

And soon after the Italian, Luca Moschitta, followed Braga to the rail in sixth.

Eventually the others closed the gap with Gordillo, with the Frenchman Gilles Silbernagel claiming the lead for a short while, then Gordillo's fellow countryman Manuel Martinez grabbing the lead away as Gordillo's fortunes began to slide.

Martinez would build his lead further, then Supper would finally kickstart his day by knocking out EPT4 London champion Joseph Mouawad in fifth when Supper's pocket nines held against Mouawad's ace-queen.

Relegated to short-stacked status thereafter, Gordillo would ultimately fall in fourth when his king-queen couldn't outrun Silbernagel's pocket jacks.

Like a driver taking one of those Monte Carlo turns just a little too quickly for comfort, it was then the tournament started to veer somewhat wildly.

Down to just a half-dozen big blinds at one point, Silbernagel doubled up once, then doubled again after making a straight versus Supper. He soon made another straight versus Martinez's two pair to double again, then after falling back would double through Martinez yet again to grab the chip lead.

Meanwhile Supper fell down to even fewer BBs -- less than five -- before managing to triple up versus both of his opponents with pocket tens, then chip up further into second position.

Dinner then seemed to suit Supper. Everything went his way from that point forward, starting with the hand of the tournament that took place just after play resumed.

With the board showing [3c][6h][4s][7c], betting between Silbernagel and Supper resulted in the latter being all in. As it happened both had straights, as Silbernagel had [Ks][5s] and Supper [9d][5h]. But the [8h] landed on the river to give Supper a better straight, giving him the pot and -- suddenly -- the chip lead.

No one was more surprised than Supper.

"I didn't even know!" he said, not having realized the freerolling opportunity. Now he was in the driver's seat, and he would run Silbernagel down in third shortly thereafter.

After being nearly down to the felt, Supper was taking a 7-to-1 chip lead versus Martinez to the starting line of heads-up play. Supper withstood one double by Martinez, but on the next all-in was able to draw a winning flush to claim top honors.

What a turnaround it had been!

"I don't play many tournaments," explained Supper afterwards, noting how he'd won his way here via a 10-euro rebuy tournament on PokerStars in which he'd invested a grand total of just €30.

"It's pretty incredible," he grinned, saying how he will be continuing his studies (of both geography and chemistry), but that "it's always nice to have some money to fall back on."

He will, however, perhaps indulge a little to buy something nice for himself. And again, there seemed something especially appropriate about the item he's considering purchasing.

"I'm looking for a car at the moment," he said. "So maybe it will be a little bit of a nicer one."

Congratulations to Sebastian Supper for making his way through a huge FPS Monaco Main Event field to the finish line and the victory.

Final table profiles
Final table; Level 29-32 updates
Final table; Level 33-35 updates

FPS Monaco Main Event final table results
Entrants: 993
Prize pool: €963,210
Places paid: 143

1. Sebastian Supper (Germany) -- €177,000
2. Manuel Martinez (Spain) -- €107,500
3. Gilles Silbernagel (France) -- €75,400
4. Pablo Gordillo (Spain) -- €56,600
5. Joseph Mouawad (USA) -- €43,800
6. Luca Moschitta (Italy) -- €32,700
7. Sergio Braga (Brazil) -- €23,500
8. Michael Ferrari (USA) -- €16,750

There's tons more to come from Monaco this week, with the Main Event already underway plus a panoply of side action filling every corner. Stick close to the PokerStars Blog for reports on everything from the EPT11 Grand Final.

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

With a win in the UKIPT Bristol this week, the Belgian poker community was celebrating a second win in the space of about a week. Pierrick Tallon was merely carrying on where Bart Lybaert had started in Lille a few days earlier.

Belgian pro Lybaert won the France Poker Series Main Event at the Hotel Casino Barriere in Lille last week, collecting a first prize of €122,000 against a field that was 745 players strong. It came heads-up against French player Jamal Hassani, who was unable to win on home soil. Hassani settled for €85,300.

It was the highlight of a 14 event series which beat the €500,000 guarantee by some way, totalling €715,200 when registration closed for the €1,100, 3 day event. Some 103 players would finish in the money, including Team PokerStars Pro Christophe de Meulder, who earned €6,150 in 17th place.

It was the biggest win to date for Lybaert whose previous biggest win came when he won the Eureka Main Event in the Czech Republic back in 2013, collecting €115,000.

Here's the full result.

FPS Main Event, Lille
Entrants: 745
Places paid: 103
Prize pool: €715,200

1. Bart Lybaert (Belgium) € 122,000
2. Jamel Hassani (France) € 85,300
3. Sonny Franco (France) € 60,100
4. Arthur Conan (France) € 45,600
5. Julien Bottollier (France) € 36,100
6. Romain Peacock (France) € 27,400
7. Romain Morin (France) € 20,100
8. Matti Konttinen (France) € 15,100
9. Eemil Tuominen (France) € 12,100

After events in Monte Carlo and Online, the FPS, now in it's fifth season, now has a break until the final event of the year at Enghien, near Paris, in December. For details of that and all aspects of the Series, go to the FPS homepage.

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

As a usual kick-off to the the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final, the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event is traditionally a popular starting point for poker players coming to beautiful Monaco to take part in the lengthy festival. With 80 events on this year's schedule, this €1,100 buy-in event provides a perfect opportunity for a person to get his or her poker feet wet after literally doing so in the surrounding beach and/or a hotel pool.

We wondered at the start of the day what sort of turnout we'd see, eyeing the 993 who played this event a year ago when 265 took part on the first of two Day 1 flights. That standard was met and then some this time around, with a remarkable 349 Day 1A entrants. If tomorrow follows form, then, we may see well over 1,000 playing this event.

After a dozen 45-minute levels today that big field was whittled down to just 91 players advancing to Friday's Day 2. We followed numerous big stacks throughout the day, but it was the Russian Andrey Andreev who emerged during the late afternoon as a leader, then later in the night retook first position to claim the chip leader status for the time being in this event.

Andreev finished the night bagging a cool 281,300 to put him ahead of the chase pack. His achievement also earned him the reward of a pair of tickets to Saturday's football match between French Ligue 1 sides AS Monaco and EA Guingamp, a bonus going to the Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 2 chip leaders.

Others who thrived today to end the night with bigger-than-average stacks included the following:

Kasra Pour Khomamy - 263,000
Mario Melis - 219,000
Ivan Freitez - 190,200
Niste Mihai - 184,200
Bertrand Guenoun - 182,000
Tudor Purice - 153,000
Yury Gulyy - 134,600
Ariel Mantel - 129,400
Patricio Rojas - 128,300

Also making it to Day 2 from today's starting flight were:

Govert Metaal - 101,100
Miguel Silva - 89,400
Jean Brecard - 65,500
Mario Lopez - 57,900
Rasmus Agerskov - 34,400

Meanwhile included among the many less fortunate failing to make it through today were Dinesh Alt, Lee Markholt, Mohsin Charania, Nacho Barbero, Fabian Chauriye, David Yan, Amos Ben, Natasha Barbour, and Pierre Neuville.

Tomorrow we go back to the start for Day 1B for another 12 levels. Late registration will be open until the start of Level 5 tomorrow, at which point we'll find out just how big the FPS Monaco Main turns out to be.

Play starts at 12 noon tomorrow. Be sure to return here then as we find out together who the next France Poker Series Main Event champion will be. Until then bon soir.

FULL DAY 1A COVERAGE:

11:25pm: Day 1A has ended
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Play is over and just under 100 players have made it through from the 349 who entered. Stay right here for a recap of the day's action. --NW

11:15pm: Last three hands
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

The tournament clock has been paused and they'll be three more hands before play is done for the day. --NW

11:05pm: Andreev still the man to catch
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

With about 20 minutes left of Day 1A there are 108 players remaining and the average stack is 80,800. One man who has more than that is Andrey Andreev, he's lost a few big blinds but still has a commanding stack of 285,000. --NW

10:55pm: Nasty turn of events for Purice
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Tudor Purice's stack is still well above the average, but he would've been challenging for the chip lead had he held in a pot against Patricio Rojas. The LAPT6 Peru champion bet 7,000 on the [Ac][5d][4s] flop, Purice raised to 19,500, Rojas shoved for 61,800 and Purice snap called.

Purice: [5h][4h]
Rojas: [Ad][Js]

The [Ah] turn gave Rojas trips and left Purice drawing dead, Purice drops to 135,000 whilst Rojas is up to 141,000. --NW

10:35pm: Selected chip counts
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

As the final seconds tick down on level 11 it looks like Andrey Andreev has broken away from the pack and opened up a large chip lead. His stack of 307,500 is over four times the average stack. If anyone beats him to the end of day chip lead it'll be because he's lost chips, not because someone else has eclipsed his high point.

10:31pm: Confirmed busto
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

Another round of eliminations to share. Among those leaving us post-dinner were Stanislas Volle, Pavel Veksler, Vidak Banicevic, Dinesh Alt, Robert Spano, Fernando Cimaglia, , Alexander Timokhin, Yvan Kabalane, Tomas Jozonis, Jason Kiselis, Frank Delval, Thomas Aicardi, Gregory Hassan, John Field, and Lee Markholt.

Also out are David Sellam, Philippe Lamigeon, Pedro Chaves, Serge Ekert, Antony Darmani, Florian-Dimitrie Duta, Ricardo Alain Manquant, Nicolas Martin, Christine Menusier, Jan-Eric Schwippert, Atanas Malinov, Thierry Lelouche, Gerard Cohen, Egidio Aragno, Alexandre Viard, Tony Cousin, and Jean Louis Natale. --MH

10:22pm: The uninterrupted march to the rail
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

The carnage continues with players continuing to be eliminated at a rapid pace.

Just now we saw several go out in short order at nearby tables. First Andrei Streltsou fell when his ace-seven failed to hold against an opponent's king-queen.

Soon after that came a three-way all-in between Francisco Acevedo with [Ks][Kc], Nunzio Vacirca [As][Qs], and Steponas Venckus with [5s][5h]. A king on the flop would mean both Vacirca and Venckus were drawing dead by the turn, with Acevedo left to stack about 150,000.

The board shows 117 players currently remaining. --MH

10:15pm: Win with the ace-high!
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

I joined the action to see Marine Menager all-in for 21,000 on a [Td][Th][9d] flop with [8h][7h] and up against Noris Barcimanto who held [Ah][Ks]. Although behind there were worse spots for Menager as she had a 48.18% chance to win the hand. The [3d] turn and [3s] river saw Barcimanto hold, though, and Menager banged her fist on the table as the board completed.

Barcimanto is up to 87,000 after that hand. --NW

10pm: Domination nation
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

Action folded to Felix Lambertz in the hijack and he opened to 3,600. Next to act was Kasra Khomamy, the German had plenty of chips and looked like he was tempted to raise, before settling on a call.

That would have a knock-on effect as Alfio Rotella shoved all-in for 24,600 and when it got back to Lambertz he moved all-in for 44,100. This made Khomamy jolt upright and take off his mirrored sunglasses. He paused a few beats and then mucked his hand.

Lambertz: [Ad][Qc]
Rotella: [Ac][Js]

The [6h][8d][As][2d][8c] board kept Lambertz in front and Rotella was sent to the rail. --NW

9:49pm: Boost for Brecard
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

With Level 10 nearly done, there are 135 players left in the Day 1A field. Among them is Julien Brecard of France's PokerStars TV Stars team, who just enjoyed a big boost to his stack to push up close to 75,000. --MH

9:39pm: Gone but not forgotten
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Around 200 of the 349 players who started today with dreams of winning the FPS Main Event have been knocked out. Recent eliminations include: Malek Grabsi, Mohsin Charania, Kamran Aliyev, Michal Mrakes, Laurent Marc, Sharman Olshan, David Giorsetti, Peter Johnston, Gaetan Cauchy, Peter Horkay, Felix Lambertz, Eric Abbas, and Aurelien Angenieux. --NW

9:37pm: Guenoun goes to the top
Level 10 - Blinds: 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Bertrand Guenoun just survived a huge all-in at his table on the far side of the room, and when the stacking was done he now appears to have around 208,000, which means he's now contending for the chip lead as Day 1A moves into its final levels.

As we mentioned earlier, whoever finishes the night atop the leaderboard will be picking up a pair of free tickets to Saturday's football match between French Ligue 1 sides AS Monaco and EA Guingamp. --MH

9:25pm: Double knockout!
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

"Much better," said Alexander Timokhin as he racked in the chips of two vanquished opponents. He'd opened to 3,000, Maxime Zimmermann shoved for 9,100, Jorge Dominguez then moved all-in over the top for 22,600 and when it got back to Timokhin he made the call.

Timokhin: [7s][7h]
Zimmermann: [Ah][Qs]
Dominguez: [As][Qh]

It was bad news for the all-in players as they had each others outs. The [2d][Jh][6s][Ts][8d] board meant the pair held up and Timokhin climbed to around 65,000.

150 of the 349 players remain and the average stack is 58,200. --NW

9:14pm: Pariente knocks out Aliyev
Level 10 - Blinds: 600/1,200 (200 ante)

More than half of the table were still in the hand for the [Qh][9d][Qs] flop, but when Kamran Aliyev pushed his short stack all-in everyone skedaddled save Guy Pariente.

Aliyev had [Jh][Th] for a straight draw and needed help versus Pariente's [As][Qd], giving the latter trip queens. The turn was the [6d] and river the [6h], improving Pariente to a full house and ending Aliyev's night.

Pariente is now up around 95,000. --MH

9:12pm: Boyard doubles through Bleiker
Level 10 - Blinds: 600/1,200 (200 ante)

With the board showing [8s][Kd][5c][2s][7c] and about 20,000 in the middle, Felix Bleiker checked over to Sebastien Boyard who shoved his last 25,000 or so in the middle. After some time in the tank Bleiker called, then mucked after Boyard tabled [8c][7s] for two pair.

Boyard bumps up to 75,000 now, while Bleiker slips to 65,000. --MH

9:10pm: Starter for 10
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

As level 10 gets underway these are the top 10 stacks in the room:

9:05pm: Play resumes
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Players are back from dinner and have settled in for Level 10. They'll be playing three more 45-minute levels tonight (without a break), then bag up for the night. --MH

7:50pm: Dinner break
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

The players have been released out into the wild on a 75-minute dinner break. Play will resume at roughly 9:05pm local time. --NW

7:40pm: Three-way all-in
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

Miguel Silva -- who currently looks to be our chip leader -- opened to 2,200, Ricardo Manquant then three-bet to 5,300 total. Next to act was Benoit Martin. He moved all-in but had less than Manquant's bet, 4,900 to be exact. Then Patrick Schuhl moved all-in! He had just 400, though.

Back on Silva, he took a look at Manquant's stack and elected to fold an it was time for a three-way showdown!

Manquant: [6d][6h]
Martin: [Qc][Td]
Schuhl: [Js][7d]

The [8d][5h][7h][7c][Jc] board meant Schuhl octupled up (!), Martin was eliminated and Manquant made a profit too! --NW

7:31pm: More eliminations
Level 9 - Blinds: 500/1,000 (100 ante)

More players have hit the rail as the dinner break approached. Tallying up the latest eliminations, Stephane Malderez, Yassine Azouaou, Najib Kamand, Niculina Grasu, Charles Laczny, Thi Xoa Nguyen, Laurent Herisse, Vlad Stefan Lache, Kevin Pennaneac'H, Pascal Jean Pierre Boyer, Stephan Ouzilou, Florent Bruno, Stephane Debeil, Maxence Debar, Jean Pucci, Feras Abid, Favia Francesco, Yevhen Lazorkin, Damien Naguy, Tahar Said, Kevin Gougis, Clemente Malheiro Carreira, Moshe De Leon, Nasrodin Pirmamod, Remano Giulio, Nikolay Panchenko, Anthony Matray, Christophe Girard, Decy Dublin, and Pierre Neuville have all met their FPS Monaco Main Event ends. --MH

7:15pm: Marozas down to zero
Level 9 - Blinds: 500/1,000 (100 ante)

After opening from early position, Danius Marozas saw Jorge Dominguez reraise all-in from a couple of seats over, and it when it folded back to Marozas he decided to call and commit the rest of his short stack.

Marozas had [Tc][7c] and a couple of live cards versus the [Ad][Qc] of Dominguez, but the [8c][2h][5s][Kd][Ah] board didn't hit either of them and Marozas hit the rail.

The eliminations continue at a healthy clip, with the overall Day 1A field now down to 167 -- less than half the number of players who started the day. --MH

7:10pm: Rung laddering up
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

There was a bet of 3,700 in front of Romano Giulio and by the time the action got back to him he was facing not one, but two all-ins! First to shove was Laurent Herisse, his shove was for 8,500 and Philip Rung had then re-shoved for 15,300 total. You could tell Giulio wasn't exactly loving life, but nonetheless he called off the extra.

Giulio: [Ad][Jh]
Herisse: [Kh][Qs]
Rung: [Ah][As]

Rung got the sort of board you love to see when you've got aces and are up against two players. It ran [9c][6h][4d][3c][8h] and he was home and dry after the turn. He's up to around 40,000 whilst Giulio drops to 35,000. --NW

6:57pm: "How could you play that hand?"
Level 8 - Blinds: 400/800 (100 ante)

That post title is a fiction. No one said anything like that following a three-way hand involving Marine Menager, Ivan Arbatskii, and Guido Pezzotta. Someone might have thought it, but we're bound at PokerStars Blog to report only what can be seen and heard, and not what people are thinking. Or what we think they are thinking.

The board showed [9s][Th][Jh][5s][2d], and one by one the players showed their hands. Menager had [Ac][5c]. Arbatskii turned over [Ad][5d]. And Pezzotta revealed [Ah][5h]. The dealer set to work on the three-way split.

The three players' might have been even on that one, but not overall. Both Menager and Arbatskii are hovering around the 50,000-chip mark at present, but Pezzotta is one of the bigger stacks in the room at present with about 135,000. --MH

6:55pm: C'est fini
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

They think it's all over, it is now... for the following players: Sergey Malyavko, Sergio Galliano, Kohei Nakai, Laurent Azoulay, Alban Marques, Gilbert Diaz, Vladas Tamasauskas, Alfredo Pagliaro, Matas Cimbolas, Quentin Dellis, Giorgio Calligaris, and Turgut Guner. --NW

6:48pm: One in, one out
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

From under-the-gun Nicolas Martin moved all-in for 11,000 with [As][Th] and he got looked up by Damien Naguy who held [Qs][Qd]. A [Ah][Js][9d][8s][6h] board doubled Martin to around 24,000 whilst Naguy dropped to 6,200.

Meanwhile Jason Wheeler was involved in a big hand. There was a bet of 4,000 in front of Bertrand Guenoun and Wheeler had moved all his big chips over the line - it looked to be somewhere between 20,000-25,000, Guenoun made the call.

It was unclear if Guenoun thought Wheeler was all-in or not but the American had 1,400 back and committed them on the [8h][5s][Td] flop, Guenoun called the extra and it was time for showdown. Wheeler showed [As][Qs] and needed help against Guenoun's [Ah][Kd]. He didn't get any on the [7d] turn or [7c] river and was swiftly on his way. --NW

6:38pm: Silva surges to the lead
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Miguel Silva is up to 147,000 after eliminating Danilo Colomba in a huge pot. I joined the action on the turn with a [9s][4d][Qd][3c] board on the felt. There was a bet of 16,500 in front of Colomba and Silva then shoved for what looked like 75,300 total.

Ricardo Manquant was still in the hand and he tanked before folding, Colomba snap-called. "Do you have nines?" asked Silva to Colomba. Neither player showed their hand for about ten seconds and then Silva got the ball rolling by opening [4h][4c]. Colomba rolled his eyes and showed [Ah][Qh]. He was drawing dead and the [2h] completed the board. --NW

6:34pm: Kings serve Vacirca
Level 8 - Blinds: 400/800 (100 ante)

We saw Nunzio Vacirca jump out to an early chip lead today, but the last few levels had been less exciting for the Frenchmen. But just now he hit a big hand again, making a set with [Kh][Kc] to claim most of Tahar Said's stack. Vacirca is back up around 90,000 after that one. --MH

6:30pm: No good for Giedraitis
Level 8 - Blinds: 400/800 (100 ante)

Andrius Giedraitis was standing and checking his phone, all of his chips already committed on a [4s][Qs][7d] flop. At last the action reached Armand Lopez who called, turning over [Ad][Qh]. With a free hand Giedraitis tabled his [Kh][Jh] and began calling for kings, but the [Ts] turn and [5s] river didn't answer his request and he's out. --MH

6:28pm: Nacho no more
Level 8 - Blinds: 400/800 (100 ante)

Players are back in action to begin Level 8, minus one of those who just now returned from the break. Nacho Barbero lost the last of his short stack to begin the level, leaving 210 players to continue battling on Day 1A. --MH

6:02pm: Smoke 'em if you got 'em

With about 220 left from the Day 1A field, players are taking another 20-minute break. --MH

6:01pm: Two big flushes, one winner
Level 7 - Blinds: 300/600 (75 ante)

In the last hand of the level, Andres Federico Jeckeln had made a big river bet on a [Kd][9c][3h][4c][5c] board, then with some reluctance made a call of Yvan Kabalane's all-in raise in response. Kabalane showed [Ac][Jc] for the nuts, while Jeckeln turned over the next-best [Kc][8c].

Jeckeln slips to about 44,000 while Kabalane is now up around 110,000 going to the break. --MH

6pm: Tough fold, right fold?
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Johan Guilbert had bet 16,125 on the river of a [8s][Qc][Qs][7d][5s] board and was faced with an all-in shove of 39,900 from Ikam Benyeffou.

After getting a count Guilbert began squeezing his cards and kept on looking back at them. He then folded [Js][Ts] face up. As Beneyeffou took the pot he showed one card, the [As]. --NW

5:45pm: 100 out
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Exactly 100 of the 349 players who showed up today have seen their stack reduced to dust. Some of those to feel the hangman's noose around their tournament life are: Gregory Luttke, Sebastien Bailet, Simone Petrini, Said Mouthadi, Benjamin Sibuet, Vincent Garat, Cyril Ramey, Thierry Martinez, Carlo Dito, Jose Pellegrini, Jean Montury, Raynor Smeets, Nicolas Proust, Ludovic Sultan, Neil Van Der Merwe, Mangano Fabio (and breathe) Paul Tedeschi, Julian Thomas, Monica Nezosi, Henri Kasper, Alexandr Komarov, Eddi Makhoul, Anthony Borde, Fabian Chauriye, Jeremy Nock, Oleh Okhotskyi, Andrey Pateychuk, Kully Sidhu and David Yan. -- NW

5:33pm: A Said finish
Level 7 - Blinds: 300/600 (75 ante)

Said Mouhtadi is out. He made a move with his short stack versus two opponents holding [9s][8s] on a [6h][2c][6c][As] board, but unfortunately for the Moroccan player one of them had [Ah][Kc], meaning Mouhtadi was already drawing dead. --MH

5:25pm: Chip leaders!
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Stack'em high!

5:30pm: The names keep coming
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

A few players who've busted the €10,000 high roller event have made a hop, skip and a jump into the FPS Main Event. We mentioned a moment ago Mohsin Charania had made the trip over, as has Jason Wheeler.

The latter isn't the only EPT champion to have late registered this event as Jean Montury is having a bash at this, as are Tudor Purice and Josh Prager. --NW

5:17pm: Deal another!
Level 7 - Blinds: 300/600 (75 ante)

They're crashing straight through to Level 7 without a break, with the next respite coming at the end of this level. After that will come two more 45-minute levels, then the 75-minute dinner break. --MH

5:16pm: Smeets meets end
Level 6 - Blinds: 250/500 (50 ante)

With the board showing [9d][7s][2c], Raynor Smeets put the last of his chips at risk versus Mohsin Charania. Smeets had [8c][7h] for sevens, but was outkicked by Charania who'd made the same pair with [Td][7d].

The turn was the [Ts] and river the [8s], giving both players two-pair hands but Charania's remained bets, and Smeets was eliminated. Charania has 35,000 now. --MH

5:13pm: À la recherche du chips perdu
Level 6 - Blinds: 250/500 (50 ante)

Down to his last 7,000 or so, Nicolas Proust was just all-in versus two opponents and hoping queen-jack would outrun both king-queen and king-nine.

Alas the board brought no help to the Frenchman, and Proust is out, left only to remember chips past. --MH

5:05pm: Chip leaders!
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

Stack'em high!

4:55pm: Bolimowski can't believe it
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

They say there's a fine line between genius and madness and Julien Bolimowski can't quite believe he's out of the tournament, but credit to Vladimir Lesik for making a tough call.

I picked up the action on the river with a complete board of [Ks][9s][5d][4c][Qd] on the felt. Bolimowski had shoved for 13,850 into a pot of roughly 16,000.

At this point Lesik was in the tank, he asked for a count and then after seeing what he'd be left with should he call and lose, he made the call. Bolimowski didn't look happy at this and no wonder as he had [7c][6c] for a bluff, Lesik meanwhile had made the call with [Kd][Js]. He's up to 51,00 as a result. --NW

4:44pm: Some poker for Picard
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

There's a celebrity in today's field to tell you about, French singer William Picard, best known as part of the music group Début de soirée who scored their biggest hit, "Nuit de folie," in 1988.

The Début de soirée member isn't making his poker debut here, as he's already notched a cashed in tournament in Cannes last fall. --MH

4:34pm: Chauriye cut down
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

Fabian Chauriye has joined those on the rail as Level 6 begins, having just lost the last of his stack to Miguel Silva. --MH

4:20pm: Gone
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

The number of seat opens are, unsurprisingly, increasing in pace with the blinds. Unfortunately for: Sofiane Belkilani, RudyHadjedj, Mike Adamo, Georges Chow, Amos Ben Haim, Declan S. Connolly, Guillaume Marechal, Rong Xia, Darius Narmontas, Ludwig Boulogne, Maris Paeglis, Cedric Demore, Osvaldo Venegas, David Gouyer, Christos Xanthopoulos, Bahram Chobineh, Natasha Barbour, Armano Di Giorgio, Dror Amiram, Ramiro Araujo, Julien Brahimi, Sandro Pitzanti, Jeremy Palvini, Sophiane Merabti, Michel Bouskila, Cyrille Lacogne, Vladimir Lesik, Patrick Clarke and Fabien Matthieu they've all busted before the halfway point of Day 1A. --NW

4:13pm: Iapadre bowls over Boulle
Level 5 - Blinds: 200/400 (50 ante)

Following an under-the-gun raise and call, it folded to Jean Boulle in middle position who reraise-shoved his last 9,550. Action revolved around to Rosato Iapadre in the big blind who tanked for a while, then called Boulle's push, after which the remaining players released their hands.

Iapadre: [Ts][Tc]
Boulle: [As][Kh]

The board ran out an uneventful [6h][9h][9d][5s][3h], and Boulle bid the table adieu. Iapadre is now at about 45,000. --MH

4pm: Like Belgian buses
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

Pierre Neuville has always been fairly easy to pick out in a crowded poker room. The septuagenarian has been mixing it with the kids for years now and his attire of choice is starkly different. A button down shirt and v-neck pullover a staple of the Belgian's wardrobe.

He played the €10,000 high roller yesterday but despite dropping down in buy-in level he's still finding it hard to build a stack. He's down to 14,600 at the moment.

Elsewhere fellow Belgian, Quentin Dellis, is fairing far better. He's only been in the tournament a short time but has increased his stack...just. He's up to 25,050. It all counts! --NW

3:56pm: Further incentive to put your best foot forward
Level 5 - Blinds: 200/400 (50 ante)

It's still early, relatively speaking, with only a little over four levels down and nearly eight more to go today. Later on, though, we'll be eyeing closely that leaderboard, in part because an extra prize awaits the player finishing the night on top.

Besides positioning themselves well going forward, players finishing Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 2 with the chip lead will be winning a pair of tickets to Saturday's football match between French Ligue 1 sides AS Monaco and EA Guingamp. That'll present one more goal to shoot at for the players. --MH

3:49pm: Darcourt done
Level 5 - Blinds: 200/400 (50 ante)

Players are back in action, minus one Frenchmen -- Guillaume Darcourt who busted before the last break. Late registration is now closed, so we'll soon bring you the official total of Day 1A entrants. --MH

3:27pm: Let's take a break

With four levels down, players are taking another 20-minute break. This marks the last opportunity for those late registers to get in the game today. --MH

3:23pm: Menager managing quite well
Level 4 - Blinds: 150/300 (25 ante)

Following a middle-position raise and button call by Vidak Banicevic, Marine Menager made it 2,000 to go from the big blind and both of her opponents called. She fired 2,500 on the [7c][3c][3h] flop, losing the MP player while Banicevic stuck around. He'd call again a bet of 5,000 from Menager after the [7s] came on the turn.

The river brought the [5s] and one more 5,000 bet from Menager, and Banicevic called one last time. Menager tabled her [Kc][Kd] for kings and sevens, and Banicevic mucked. He's down around 16,000 now while Menager climbs close to 60,000 with a few minutes to go in Level 4. --MH

3:20pm: Big names and big stacks
Level 4 - Blinds: 150/300 (25 ante)

Below are a selection of big names and big stacks. There is almost certainly some crossover.

3:09pm: Down to the felt
Level 4 - Blinds: 150/300 (25 ante)

The field keeps growing, but a few more have fallen here by the day's fourth level. The recently felted include William Batista Arruda, Yan Li, Artur Karamuca, Valeriy Skudar, Natan Chauskin, Alessio Bassanelli, Kyosti Isberg, Fernando Erize, and Francisco Gottardo.

3:05pm: Sick river
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

This was one of those car crash hands where neither player wanted to put the brakes on and it ended in a massive collision. After a raise to 500 from middle position, Cyrille Lacogne raised it up to 1,500 on the button only for Peter Johnston to three-bet to 4,200 from the big blind. Fold, then a call from Lacogne.

On the [2s][6s][Ts] flop Johnston bet 5,400 and Lacogne was going nowhere. On the [Ks] turn Johnston check-called a bet of 5,000 and the [2c] paired the board on the river.

After another check from Johnston there followed an all-in bet of around 18,000 from Lacogne and a snap call from Johnston. He rolled over [Kc][Kd] for a full house and Lacogne looked pained as he showed [As][Kh] for the nut flush. He's down to 3,200 whilst Johnston is up to about 58,000. --NW

2:55pm: More for Moro
Level 4 - Blinds: 150/300 (25 ante)

"Oh, wow... wow."

So said Francesco Moro, giving voice to his reaction to a showdown just now. There was already more than 25,000 in the middle when his opponent Sandro Pitzanti shoved the river with the board showing [9c][6s][Ts][7h][Qd]. After a bit of a tank Moro had finally come up with a call, putting his last 10,000 or so at risk.

Moro showed his hand -- [8s][8c] for a straight -- then made his comment after seeing Pitzanti had but [Th][9h] for two pair. Moro is now up around 50,000 while Pitzanti slips to 14,000. --MH

2:45pm: Barbero deals knockout blow to Denisov
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

After a raise to 600 and three calls, Nacho Barbero moved all-in for 10,100 and found a call from Aleksandr Denisov, who himself was down to 6,100.

Barbero opened [Ac][Kd] and was in a dominating spot as Denisov had [Kc][4h]. The [Jc][7d][6c][Ts][3h] board gave no help to Densiov and the high roller, who has over $1,600,000 in lifetime earnings, was on his way. --NW

2:40pm: Last level for late entry
Level 4 - Blinds: 150/300 (25 ante)

They've leveled up again, with this fourth level representing the last one during which players can register. Technically they'll have until the start of Level 5, actually, so we'll see then how far this year's FPS Monaco Main Event Day 1A field has exceeded the 265 who played Day 1A last year. (Last year a total of 993 ultimately took part.) --MH

2:21pm: Passport stamps for LAPTers
Level 3 - Blinds: 100/200 (25 ante)

Earlier we mentioned two-time LAPT Main Event champions Mario Lopez and Nacho Barbero (both of Argentina) and frequent LAPT Main Event final-tablist Fabian Chauriye of Chile were part of today's field. There are more represenatives of the Latin American Poker Tour here today as well.

The Chilean Patricio Rojas, winner of LAPT6 Peru, is here, as is his fellow countryman and former LAPT Player of the Year, Amos Ben. Brazil's Fernando "Grow" Garcia is now part of today's field as well. --MH

2:12pm: Fast start for Freitez
Level 3 - Blinds: 100/200 (25 ante)

EPT7 Madrid Main Event champion Ivan Freitez has joined the proceedings over here in the FPS Monaco Main Event after having busted the Single Re-Entry High Roller, and he's quickly begun building a stack.

Just now Freitez picked up a pair of black aces in a hand versus a short-stacked George Bogdan Ana, and by the time they were through Ana was on the rail while Freitez was stacking up chips totaling around 70,000. --MH

2:11pm: 300!
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

"Tonight we dine... somewhere where we can get in and out during the 75-minute dinner break so we don't miss a hand."

Yes, the FPS Main Event is up to 300 runners on Day 1A and that means we've already eclipsed the Day 1A total from Season 5, which attracted 265 runners. So it's already a good 10% up on last year and late registration is open until the start of level five.

Helping to take that total skywards are Nacho Barbero, who has now shown up, and Govert Metaal. The latter is one of the best known Dutch players and indeed sits seventh on their all-time money list. He's racked up $2,118,513 in lifetime cashes so far and his two biggest scores came in back-to-back PCA $25,000 High Rollers in 2013-14. --NW

1:57pm: Back in action
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

They're up to 291 entrants here at the start of Level 3. Late registration remains open for two more 45-minute levels plus the break that follows. --MH

1:41pm: Break time

Players are now taking their first 20-minute break of the day. --MH

1:27pm: Vaulting Vacirca
Level 2 - Blinds: 75/150

We noted Nunzio Vacirca earning an early knockout -- the earliest of the tournament, in fact -- back at the start of the day. He's just added another elimination to his credits here in the second level, pushing his stack up over 80,000 already to earn him a high spot on the Day 1A leaderboard.

This latter one saw Anthony Apicella-Albertini check to Vacirca on the turn with the board showing [Td][2d][Ac][8c], then call when Vacirca bet to push the pot up over 15,000. The river was the [Qh], prompting an all-in shove of 7,600 from Apicella-Albertini, and Vacirca quickly called.

Apicella-Albertini turned over [Ah][Qd], having flopped top pair and rivered a second pair. But Vacirca turned a set with his [8s][8d], and a dismayed Apicella-Albertini headed railward. --MH

1:25pm: Proust takes a pot
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

There have been plenty of big pots so far today and another seemed to be brewing at table 25 as I wandered by. There were five players still with cards as the [2h][9s][6s] flop came down and Apostolos Chantzis was first to stick his head above the parapet, firing out a bet of 1,075. Nicolas Proust raised it up to 2,500, the three other players folded but Chantzis made the call.

There would be no further betting on the [4c] turn or [6h] river, Proust's [Qh][9h] proved the winner at showdown as Chantzis had called the flop raise with [Ac][Qc]. --NW

1:21pm: Lopez loses a few
Level 2 - Blinds: 75/150

Two-time LAPT Main Event champion Mario Lopez is here, and just now the Argentinian faced a challenge after three-betting before the flop and getting a couple of callers in the two Frenchmen, Laurent Herisse and Kamel Djemai.

Lopez had position, but after watching the [Qs][9h][8s] flop and his two opponents check, he checked behind. The [7c] turn then saw Herisse check, Djemai bet, Lopez call, and Herisse step aside.

The board-pairing [7h] river followed, and Djemai quickly checked. Lopez gathered a bet of 3,800 together and pushed it forward, but when Djemai called, Lopez mucked his hand without showing, conceding the pot. Lopez is down to about 19,000 now while Djemai chips up to 35,000. --MH

1:15pm: Loads in, three out
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

Having lost a bit pot earlier (see 1:01 pm post) Alexander Kopylkov is now out and he's been joined on the rail by Alexils Thobellem and Salvatore Crapanzano.

But there are plenty of players still picking up fresh stacks of 25,000 with Matas Cimbolas and UKIPT5 Dublin champion Vladas Tamasauskas both now in and both at Table 25 alongside Dinesh Alt. At least 264 players have entered today. --NW

1:01pm: More chips on the Mantel
Level 2 - Blinds: 75/150

Here's another eyebrow-raiser, coming early in Level 2.

Preflop action had already built a decent-sized pot between Alexander Kopylkov and Ariel Mantel when Kopylkov check-called a bet of 2,500 from Mantel following a [4d][9d][4s] flop. Mantel check-called once more following the [Kh] turn, the bet being 6,000 this time, then the [5s] completed the board.

Kopylkov checked again, and after Mantel shoved his last 10,600 in the middle Kopylkov hemmed and hawed a bit before coming up with a call. Mantel turned over [6d][5d] for a busted flush draw turned two pair on the river, then Kopylkov disappointedly showed his [Ad][Jd], also a busted flush draw that evolved into fifth-street hero call. --MH

12:52pm: They keep coming
Level 2 - Blinds: 75/150

More than 240 players are now registered as they move into the day's second level. --MH

12:45pm: A few more familiar faces
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

The field continues to swell with more than 225 players now part of the action.

Dotted around the field you'll find the likes of Patrick Clarke, the Irish Open winner and fourth place finisher in the recent EPT12 Dublin Main Event. He's at the same table as Nacho Barbero, although the latter has yet to show. He played the €10,000 high roller yesterday and it may well be that he doesn't play this event to Day 1B.

If he does wait until tomorrow he'll avoid the likes of Dinesh Alt, Vlad Lache, Rasmus Agerskov and Jeremy Nock, who've all started their campaign today.

12:45pm: Go big or go home
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

The players aren't shy about playing big pots early on that's for sure and the all-in triangle is seeing more use in the opening level that we expected.

The triangle was called up for another job when Jacques Napiot shoved on the river for 10,250 into a pot of 14,000. Philippe Lamigeon was his lone opponent and he eyed up the [5h][Ad][6d][Ts][9d] board as he weighed up his decision.

He took his time, so much so in fact that Napiot called the clock. Before half of his allotted minute was up Lamigeon - who'd have 7,500 left should he call and lose - made up his mind to fold. So Napiot is back to starting stack whilst Lamigeon drops to 17,750. --NW

12:37pm: Bienvenue! More arrivals
Level 1 - Blinds: 50/100

More than 200 are now taking hands as today's first level continues. Among the many French players we've spotted thus far is Guillaume Darcourt, perhaps best known for his relatively deep WSOP Main Event run in 2011 (where he finished 35th) and his WPT Bucharest victory the year before.

Fabian Chauriye of Chile is also part of the Day 1A field, hoping to better some of his recent deep runs such as his 16th-place finish in this year's PCA Main Event and his runner-up showing in the most recent LAPT Main Event in Viña del Mar, Chile.

Natasha Barbour is also here, fresh off a couple of cashes in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Florida. She finished runner-up in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event at last summer's WSOP for a $284,911 score. --MH

12:21pm: Hello goodbye
Level 1 - Blinds: 50/100

Talk about early action. Just over 10 minutes in and we've already seen an elimination.

Catching up with the board showing [6c][2d][9c][6d][6h] and a lot already in the middle, Halimi Rachid pushed in his last chips -- just over 10,000 from the 25K starting stack -- and got a call from Nunzio Vacirca.

Rachid showed [Kc][Jh] for air, something Vacirca must've thought to be likely as he had [4h][4d] for a winning full house. --MH

12:15pm: Introductions over, let's play poker
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

Before play began Cedric Biilot - the President of the EPT - made a brief introduction to the players. "Thank you and welcome to EPT Moncao, we hope you have a good time at the tables," he said. He then passed the microphone to Thomas Lamatsch and the tournament director gave a few instructions about the format of the tournament.

Roughly 183 players witnessed this, with Yury Gulyy one of those looking on. The Russian player had a successful time of it last year in Monaco, finishing second in the FPS High Roller for €109,345. --NW

12:06pm: Shuffle up and deal
Level 1 - Blinds: 50/100

The first 45-minute level of the day is underway. There are about 180 seated for the day's first hands, with the field sure to grow significantly as late registration lasts to the start of Level 5.

Back in a few with an update on who is taking part today. --MH

11:55am: Season 6 of the FPS about to begin

Whilst the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final series marks the end of Season 12 of the European Poker Tour, the FPS Monaco event is the start of Season 6 of the French Poker Series.

So, what can we expect over the next five days? Well if history has taught us anything the answer is players and lots of them. Given the queue of players snaking out the door to buy into yesterday's satellite to this €1,100 event it shouldn't come as a shock if this event breaks some records.

Last year Sebastian Supper topped a field of 993 to claim the trophy and €177,000. He defeated a final table that included the like of Pablo Gordillo, Joseph Mouawad and Luca Moschitta to seal the deal.

On that occasion 265 came out for the first of two Day 1 flights so today's final total of players will be a good barometer of the likelihood of this event reaching the 1,000 player mark.

As we did last season we'll see the champion crowned under the bright lights of EPT Live, with the final taking place on Sunday. There's a lot of poker to be played before then though. Cards are in the air at noon. --NW

Key FPS Monaco Facts:

- 25,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds
- Levels are 45 minutes on Day 1 and they'll be 12 of them. From Day 2 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes. 
- Late registration remains open until the start of Level 5
- Day 1A is today, Day 1B takes place tomorrow, the field will then combine for the first time on Friday. We'll reach the money during the 10 levels of play on Day 2 (approximately 15% of the field will be paid) and then play down to a final table on Saturday. On Sunday the final table will play out on the TV table on EPTLive with cards-up coverage. Cue mad celebrations and swigging of champagne from the trophy (possibly). 
- Full FPS Monaco schedule here.
- There's a boat load of other events today including a €100+€20 satellite to this event. That tournament starts at 16.00 CET.
- It's not all about the poker here in Moncao. There are plenty of #StarsFun activities including the player party at Jimmy'z Nightclub on April 29 a Sports Simulator Challenge and Live Spin and Gos. Full details on that available here.

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at FPS Monaco: Martin Harris and Nick Wright. Photos by Jules Pochy. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

We knew when we saw 349 come out for yesterday's Day 1A -- the first of two Day 1 flights in this €1,100 buy-in France Poker Series Monaco Main Event -- that today was going to be grand (bilingual pun intended). That was well over last year's Day 1A turnout, and eventually 993 players took part in that FPS Monaco Main. So we knew this year's total was all but assured to be more.

As anticipated, today's Day 1B was massive, with 907 entrants making for a total of 1,256 altogether for this year's event. Players filled the huge main tournament room, much of the adjacent cash room, and the Americas Room located a promenade away. After 12 fast-paced 45-minute levels just 248 of those players remained, with the boisterous Brazilian Leonardo Pires the biggest-stacked among them after bagging 339,400 to conclude the night.

Leonardo some may remember from the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. There he similarly raced out to a big chip lead, then held it well into the money until the final two tables before busting in 13th. And he'll be the pace-setter again here when 339 players return for Day 2 tomorrow, as his count exceeds that of Day 1A leader Andrey Andreev.

Others doing well for themselves on Day 1B included the following:

Andrei Boghean - 313,000
Gleb Tremzin - 284,700
Olivier Puche - 251,600
Massimiliano Patroncini - 237,200
Pedro Oliveira - 235,400
Philipp Wenzelburger - 227,500
Tarik Kerbouci - 224,600
Thomas Djefaflia - 223,000
Julian Fernandez - 200,200
Romain Matteoli - 200,000

And looking at a few of those also making it through to tomorrow:

Abraham Serrano - 196,200
Maxence Benoulha - 192,200
Vicente Delgado - 179,500
Niall Farrell - 153,000
Steven van Zadelhoff - 135,000
Arnaud Mattern - 125,900
Faraz Jaka - 123,300
Liv Boeree - 118,000
Dzmitry Urbanovich - 116,000
Gabriel Nassif - 91,300
Joseph Carlino - 90,400
Joao Vieira - 63,100
Yaxi Zhu - 59,200
Ivan Soshnikov - 53,400
Simon Deadman - 40,100

Meanwhile hundreds of Day 1B were less fortunate today, failing to survive the night. That group included Max Greenwood, Andrey Zaichenko, Antoine Saout, Joao Simao, Dermot Blain, Sergio Aido, Mayu Roca, William Foxen, Martin Finger, James Akenhead, and Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Chen-An Lin, Jake Cody, and Eugene Katchalov.

Tomorrow they get going at 12 noon once again, with the plan being to play 10 one-hour levels. The money bubble is due to burst tomorrow as well, at which point we'll begin to see how the big prize pool will start to be divided.

Thanks for following the story so far, and see you back here tomorrow for the next chapter as we discover together who will be the next France Poker Series Main Event champion. Until we reconvene, bon soir. --MH

FULL DAY 1B COVERAGE:

11:40pm: That's your lot!
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

It's been a mad day of poker with 907 players in total taking their seats on the second starting flight of the FPS main event. Roughly 280 survived. A wrap of the day's play will appear above shortly. Also keep your eye on the @PokerStarsBlog twitter account and the widget to the right for the overnight seat draw and chip counts.

11:22pm: Four more, says the floor
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

They've paused the tournament clock and announced there will be four more hands before play stops tonight. And leader Leonardo Pires looks like he's nearing the 400,000-chip mark. --MH

11:15pm: Buzzer bad beats
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

It's tough lines on the following players, who've grinded all day only to fall at the last as: Roman Korenev, Georgics Zisimopoulos, Luc Greenwood, Jelcides Monteiro, Rocco Palumbo, Shola Akindele-Deadman, Louis Salter and Bart Lybaert.

300 of 907 players remain and the average stack is 75,900. --NW

11:05pm: Chip leaders and notables
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

With less than 20 minutes to go here's a list of some of the big stacks and big names still in. --NW

Leonardo Pires - 338,000
Julian Fernandez - 210,000
Maxence Benoulha - 199,000
Tarik Kerbouci - 194,000
Faraz Jaka - 150,000
Niall Farrell - 145,000
Liv Boeree - 125,000
Joseph Carlino - 90,000
Vicente Delgado - 85,000
Ami Barer - 62,000
Ivan Soshnikov - 46,000
Joao Vieira - 39,000
Rocco Palumbo - 18,000

10:47pm: One level to go
Level 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (ante 300)

They've moved into Level 12 which means there will be approximately 45 minutes' worth of poker left, then the bagging and tagging will commence. We'll be spending much of that time scouting for big stacks. Currently no one appears yet in this field to have moved ahead of Andrey Andreev's Day 1A total of 281,300, but several are getting close.

Incidentally, besides bragging rights and a nice spot heading into Day 2, tonight's chip leader -- like Andreev and like the player ending tomorrow atop the counts -- will win a pair of tickets to Saturday's football match between French Ligue 1 sides AS Monaco and EA Guingamp. --MH

10:45pm: Sweet relief for ElkY
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier was eliminated from this tournament during level 10 and he's indulged in some food therapy to help ease the pain.

10:30pm: Mansouri gets angry, tilts chips to Gordillo
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)

Ouassini Mansouri is not a happy man and as it's been 20 years since I studied French I'm not sure exactly what it is he's got in such a fuss about. What I can tell you is that over 22,000 of his chips now belong to Pablo Gordillo.

I joined the action to see a bet of 3,200 in front of Gordillo, a call of that bet in front of Erick Guedj and Mansouri, who was in the big blind arguing with the dealer. The small blind still had cards in front of him but it seemed to matter not to Mansouri. After the small blind folded the back and forth between Mansouri - who's French - and the dealer who's also French but speaks perfect English - continued.

What I did pick up was the dealer telling Mansouri that it was English only at the table and Mansouri replying that he didn't speak English. Fair enough. Eventually after some back and forth Mansouri threw out the call but wasn't happy. My best guess (and it's only a guess) is that he wanted to raise but he'd done it out of turn and as a result had been forced to just call.

The flop fell [Qh][4d][Qc] and action checked to Guedj, who bet 5,000, Mansouri check-raised to 16,000 total and Gordillo then shoved for 20,800. Guedj folded and Mansouri called the extra.

Gordillo: [Qd][9c]
Mansouri: [Kh][Jc]

The Spaniard had flopped Mansouri all but dead and the running cards Mansouri needed did not arrive on the [Jh] turn or [7c] river. Mansouri stormed off, but he's got plenty of chips should he need an extended break. He's down to 145,000 after that hand whilst Gordillo is up to around 59,000. --NW

10:18pm: Matias meets end
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)

Allberto Meran Matias was all-in and at risk with [7c][7d] versus Slaven Popov's [Ac][8c], hoping the medium pair would hold. But the flop brought an ace -- coming [Ad][Kd][Ks] -- and after the [3c] turn and [6c] river it was the end for Matias.

He joins a crowded rail, as now there are less than 370 players still with chips with a couple of levels left to go on Day 1B. --MH

10:15pm: No more chips for Chen-An
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)

We just spied Team PokerStars Pro Chen-An Lin gathering his belongings to go, yet another of the knockouts here late on Day 1B. --MH

10:05pm: Level 10 fallers
Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (ante 200)

Lots of exits in level 10 including: Nicolas Le Floch, David Pourraz, Adrien Delmas, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Gregor Abmayr, Laurent Reboul, Alexander Nemchin, Andrew Hulme, Sandrine Wilhelm, Max Greenwood, and Andrey Zaichenko. -- NW

10pm: Set bests two pair
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)

What a crazy hand!

Cherif Zermiche opened to 2,000, a player then moved all-in for just 500 and two more players called the 2,000 and the four players saw a [Jh][Ks][8h] flop hit the felt.

Zermiche c-bet 4,000, Yan Portal then moved all-in for 26,700 and Maxim Panyak then re-raised all-in to 48,000 total. Zermiche shook his head a couple of times and folded. The all-in player knew the jig was up and meekly turned over [Ts][6c]. Portal showed [8s][8c] for the flopped set and Panyak showed [Jd][8d] for two-pair!

The [Kc] turn and [9s] board rounded out the board and Portal moved up to over 60,000 whilst Panyak dropped to 48,000. --NW

9:53pm: Half the field they used to be
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)

The rate of attrition is high, as a post-dinner level full of tournament casualties has brought the overall number of Day 1B entrants down to about 440 -- less than half the 906 who began the day. --MH

9:46pm: Guess Boeree's stack
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)

So how many chips do you think Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has in this picture? The blue chips at the front are worth 5,000 a piece.

Got a pile in #FPSMonaco main 😀. Am donating 20% winnings in this to @REGcharity , hello run-good time #nomincashpls pic.twitter.com/sdfkfAlFZL

— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) April 28, 2016

9:33pm: Leonardo back in the lead
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)

A familiar-sounding laugh came from the far side of the room. Investigation resulted in the sight of a familiar face, Leonardo Pires, he of the deep run at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in January where he finished 13th.

Laughing and smiling, Pires once more appears to have built a decent-sized stack once again. Drawn to the table, we watched as his neighbor to the right opened, and he tossed out chips appearing to intend a call, but it was a raise. It came back around and the raiser four-bet, Pires shrugged and called, then folded to a small flop continuation bet.

Pires appears to have about 220,000 now. We'll continue to pay attention to him as the night develops, not that one can easily avoid doing so. --MH

9:30pm: Mad Turk still trucking
Level 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (ante 200)

Despite telling the PokerStars Blog a few hours ago that he'd probably double his 100K-plus stack or lose it Yucel "The Mad Turk" Eminoglu is still going strong, he's lost a few chips but still has around 105,000. --NW

9:20pm: Play resumes

Cards are back in the air and play has resumed in the Main Event. --MH

8:00pm: Dinner break

The level has ended and the remaining players are now taking a 75-minute dinner break. --MH

7:57pm: Sol takes a stroll
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)

Sander Sol thought he'd been eliminated. It had been an all-in situation on the turn between himself and Ibrahim Al Bishri. The board showed [3c][9s][9c][Kc] and Sol had [Ks][Qc], but he was drawing all but dead as Bishri had [Qh][9d]. The deuce on the river didn't change anything, but once the chips were counted Sol was surprised to learn he had 400 left -- just four brown chips worth 100 each.

"Okay that's the last hand," said the tournament director, suddenly appearing over the dealer's shoulder. The table was breaking. Sol had to laugh. Handed a tray he set his four chips in it, then traveled from one corner of the huge tournament room all of the way to the other, a big grin on his face the entire way,

As he took his seat at the new table, he slowly turned the tray over and let the four chips fall. The table chuckled in response.

"Bring it!" he said.

Sol had to wait through another hand to play, and now the dinner break is approaching. He may not last that long, but he'll have a story either way. --MH

7:50pm: Akkari plodding on
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)

Team PokerStars Pro André Akkari is on one of the few tables still in use in the cash game area and he's still pretty much got starting stack, with 23,000 from his starting stack of 25,000.

He watched on as Fred Weiss opened to 2,100 and received two calls. Danut Chisu then squeezed to 8,500 and one by one his opponent's folded. --NW

7:35pm: Felted
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)

The rate of bustouts in this tournament has noticeably ramped up a notch or two since the last break. Those who've recently departed include: Mayu Roca, Walter Treccarichi, Usman Siddique, Sergio Aido, Nikolaus Teichert, Antoine Saout, Joao Simao, Dermot Blain, Ross Loggie, Andrew King, Dean Hutchison and Padraig O'Neill. --NW

7:30pm: Boeree busting a move, Cody sadly bust
Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (ante 100)

If you're a fan of the UK Team PokerStars Pros then I'm afraid we've got some good news and bad news. First the good stuff, Liv Boeree has run her starting stack of 25,000 all the way up to 88,000. That's more than double the average stack, which is 39,000 at the moment.

Jake Cody though is out, no details I'm afraid but he's one of over 300 players who've busted so far on Day 1B. 580 of 906 players remain. --NW

7:13pm: Dzmitry with designs on a different title
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)

Those of us in the media room had spotted Dzmitry Urbanovich a bit earlier, wondering if perhaps he were about to enter the €100K Super High Roller -- i.e., the event in which he finished runner-up a year ago here in Monaco to earn a prize of €1,446,600.

Mais non, not this particular soir. No, tonight the young Polish phenom has opted to join the FPS Monaco Main Event, a tournament he could enter about 1,315 times over with those winnings from last year's SHR.

We just spotted him watch the player two to his right raise the button and the small blind call, then Urbanovich three-bet big to force folds from both. We've no immediate context or cards to help explain what happened, but the contrast between the proficiency of the reraiser and the unease of the folders was nonetheless discernable.

Having only settled behind his 25,000-chip starting stack late in the afternoon, Urbanovich is now up around 60,000. --MH

7:10pm: Fanego has to go
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)

With a [Qc][6c][4s] flop on display Ludovic Heude (under the gun) bet 2,600, he was called in one spot, only for Stephane Fanego (big blind) to check-raise to 7,500 total. After about 20 seconds Heude smooth called and it was heads-up to the [3c] turn.

Fanego moved all-in for 12,800 and Heude paused a beat before calling. "You have the flush?" asked Fanego and indeed Heude did, [Kc][8c]. Fanego showed [7h][5h] for the straight, a fine hand, but one that was drawing dead in this instance. --NW

7:04pm: News from the Americas
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)

The number of tables in use in the Americas Room continues to dwindle but there's still plenty of action going on down there.

Joao Vieira is an EPT regular but he's struggling today. He three-bet all-in for 14,400 over the top of a 2,000 open and waited for his opponent to make his decision. He got it through though and is up to the relative safety of 20 big blinds now.

Maria Lampropulos is another in action down there. Since her deep run in the EPT Dublin main event she's had two more big cashes. She came second in the WPT National event in Brussels for € 68,200 and then followed that up with another runner-up finish at Eureka Rozvadov. The man who beat her, was none other than her boyfriend Ivan Luca.

We saw here get involved in a hand against Ramin Hajiyev, who opened to 1,800 from the hijack, there was a flat call and Lampropoulos then raised to 6,000 from the button. Both players called and the flop fell [Ah][7h][2s]. A c-bet of just 5,000 from the Argentinian was enough to earn her the pot.

Elsewhere Arnaud Mattern has a stack of 82,000 but that's not as much as Marc Manzo Bodrone who's up to 105,000. --NW

6:59pm: It's late... loosen up!
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)

Hand ranges widen from late position. Even so, sometimes if those hands get to showdown, eyes widen, too.

Andre Akkari (cutoff) and Fred Weiss (button) were just involved in a hand that saw Akkari leading postflop with increasingly-sized bets on the flop and turn, then slow down with a check on the river. Weiss called the first two streets, then looking at the completed board of [6d][Jd][Qh][3d][Ts] decided to check behind.

Akkari turned over [7s][3c] for treys, while Weiss showed his [Qs][9h] for top pair of queens to claim the pot. The pair shared a chuckle afterwards as the next hand was dealt.

Weiss is up to about 75,000 now while Akkari is down to 25,000. --MH

6:48pm: Eights deliver for Sahih
Level 8 - Blinds 400/800 (ante 100)

After an Ahmed Sahih raise to 2,000 from middle position, it folded to Giancula Speranza who three-bet all-in with his last 7,200 from the cutoff. Then Daniele Cuomo reraise-pushed himself from the button for about 10,000. The blinds got out, Sahih confirmed the counts, and decided to go for the double-knockout.

Speranza: [Kc][Qs]
Cuomo: [Kh][Qh]
Sahih: [8s][8h]

The [Ad][3c][Jh] brought some added hope to the all-in players, providing Broadway outs. But the turn was the [2s] and river the [4d], and both Speranza and Cuomo were eliminated. Sahih is up to about 60,000 now. --MH

6:12pm: Break it down

Let's regroup, shall we? The players are taking 20 minutes to gather their thoughts, and so shall we. They'll return for two more 45-minute levels, then will come the 75-dinner break. Perhaps it's time to make that reservation. --MH

6:10pm: Huet flushed away
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)

With the board showing [Th][3c][3h][Qh] Gilles Huet moved in for his remaining 9,000 with [Ks][Kc] and got snap called by Alexandre Vanadia. The reason for that soon became clear as he turned over [Kh][5h] for the turned flush. The meaningless [9c] completed the board and Huet was on his way.

Roughly 680 of 906 players remain. --NW

6pm: Mooney rising
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)

Down to just 8,025 Geoffrey Mooney moved all-in with [Ad][Qd] and Mehdi Tafer gave him a spin with [Ah][9s]. It was a great spot for Mooney and his dominating ace held up on the [7h][Jc][2d][As][6d] board. He's up to around 17,700 whilst Tafer drops to 39,000. -NW

5:55pm: Don't blame the messengers
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)

If you've been looking for Xia Lin, Jose Pascal Godfroy, Laurent Guyon De Montlivault, Mohamed Fayad, Cedric Massaro, Thierry Navarro, Julien Mariani, Karim Benkhelouf, Thys Vincent, Enrico Mosca, Guillaume Roiron, Marcel Vadella, Thierry Mangot, Sigoli Michele, Ozgur Arda, Tony Jean Rose, Mikael Guenni, Jason Barton, Chris Dowling, Antonio Scalzi, Daniel Tudorie, Leonardo Parmiggiani, David Urban, Yusuke Okada, Maximiliano Gavilan, Emil Lukac, or William Foxen, well, we hate to break it to you, and really, we had nothing to do with it personally, we're just passing along the news, but they've all busted. --MH

5:45pm: Gordillo getting along
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)

After another quick tour of the Americas Room, we bring back two pieces of information worth passing along.

For one, Pablo Gordillo has amassed a nice stack down there of about 80,000. The Spaniard who finished fourth out of 993 in this same event a year ago is off to another strong start this time around.

Also worth sharing -- a couple of the tables have emptied down there, signaling the start of what will be a lengthy process of breaking tables back into the main tournament room. It will still be some time, though, before the field becomes manageable to house under a single roof. --MH

5:37pm: ElkY and Katch
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)

A couple of other Team PokerStars Pros are here and playing. Both Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Eugene Katchalov are helping to make up the massive FPS Monaco field, with both hovering around 30,000 at the moment.

ElkY and Katch... sounds like a '70s television cop-buddy drama series, oui? --MH

5:30pm: The poker hokey cokey
Level 7 - Blinds 300/600 (ante 75)

Up until level five of this tournament players were doing their level best to get into it, with a slew of alternates lining the tournament room. Now they're all doing their best to not get knocked out it. Unfortunately for Huidong Gu, Danis Budovskis, Mark Baxter, Ivan Deyra, Gregory Vivat, Raymond Santucci, Oliver Weis, Alex Goulder, Sylvain Naets, Sacha Israel, Erwann Pecheux, Herve Regis, Julien Renard, Erich Tedeschi, Alexandra Laudicina, Peter Akery, Mark James, Raffaele Castro, Igor Yaroshevskyy, Mikalai Pobal, Irina Petrova, Damien Luis, Neil Strike, David Even, Mike Hill, David Stocker, Richard Pearsona, and Nick Crozer, they're all out. --NW

5:18pm: More on Farrell, who is not folding
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

"I knew you didn't have a king," said Giulio Spampinato with a grim-looking grin. It was a Pyrrhic victory he'd earned, having correctly read Niall Farrell's holding, but incorrectly anticipated how the EPT12 Malta Main Event champion would react to his all-in push.

With the board showing [5h][8c][Kh][7d][7c], Farrell had come up with a call against Spampinato. The latter showed but [9d][2h] for total air, and while Farrell didn't have a king, he had an eight with [Qc][8s] to make two pair and score the knockout. "Very nice hand," said Spampinato, tapping the table as he departed.

Farrell is up around 80,000 now. --MH

5:18pm: Farrell off to a flyer
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (ante 50)

A couple of hours ago we saw Niall Farrell wandering away from the tournament room with a ticket in his hand. We asked if he was playing the FPS Main Event and he said: "I am but I'm alternate one million so I'm going to get a drink first."

He's got his seat now and is sat to the right of Team PokerStars Pro Chen-An Lin. The Scotsman has wasted little time in running up a stack as he's got about 70,000. The last time he got off to this sort of start he won EPT12 Malta. You've been warned. --NW

5:12pm: Mad man
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (ante 50)

He might've been born Yucel Eminoglu, but to everyone in the poker world he's known simply as "Mad Turk." In fact you can type just that into a popular poker database and his profile will pop up. He's got 118,000 at the moment and we've not seen a bigger stack.

"Come back in an hour and they'll either all be gone, or I'll have doubled it," he told the PokerStars Blog. He's not lying, we've seen him play! --NW

5:05pm: Playing Fitoussi or foldoussi
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

The famous Frenchmen Bruno Fitoussi is in action here today, although found himself in a tricky spot just now in a hand versus Tsveterina Pavlova.

Following a Pavlova open, Fitoussi three-bet from the button, then obliged by showing his remaining stack of about 10,000 when Pavlova asked how much he had behind. At that she reraised all-in, and after a pause Fitoussi thought it best to his hand go. --MH

4:55pm: Some counts from the Americas room
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

Below are the counts of some of the names and notables who're plying their trade in the Americas Room. There are about 200 players down there spread over 21 tables.

4:44pm: Akkari and Boeree join in
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (50 ante)

We noted earlier how the tournament had spilled over into the cash game area. A couple of those who rode the wave into that part of the Sporting Club were Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari and Liv Boeree, both of whom were among the relatively late entrants for the event.

Akkari we forgive for arriving late, as he first had to try out the Sports Simulator out in the lobby.

Both Akkari and Boeree are persevering with stacks of around 15,000 at present. --MH

4:40pm: Leaving the Americas
Level 6 - Blinds 250/500 (ante 50)

A plethora of exits from the Americas tournament room as the following players have all seen their stack of 25,000 reduced to zero: Remondino Massimo, Paul Hoefer, Aouini Said, Alexandre Pouzet, Christophe Reynaud, Arunas Sapitavicius, Martin Finger, Alexandre Pacharel, William Alvernhes, Maksim Shulga, Jose Jimenez, Jerome Buruil, Richard Dromzee, Jon Garde, Bartholomeus Sol, Laurent Polito, Adrien Casanova and Maxim Colom. --NW

4:27pm: A few for Zhu
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

With the board showing [5d][Ad][5s][As][7c] and about 10,000 in the middle, Yaxi Zhu checked to Oliver Weis on her left who thought a good while before checking behind. He was glad he did, as Zhu showed [Ah][8h] for aces full.

The Team PokerStars Pro is up around 45,000 at present. --MH

4:14pm: 904!
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

With late registration closed, the big board shows 904 players having entered just today, which added to the 349 who played yesterday's initial starting flight adds up to more than 1,250 FPS Monaco players. We'll await the official word of just how many took part -- as well as prize pool information -- and pass along that news when it arrives. --MH

4:05pm: Big stacks from the main room
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

Two players have managed to quadruple their stack during the opening four levels, whilst plenty more have got a treble or a double-up.

3:55pm: Play resumes
Level 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

They're back and at it again, with late registration now closed. We'll let you know soon just how énorme this FPS Monaco Main Event field has turned out to be. --MH

3:32pm: Break it up

They've reached the end of Level 4 and the second 20-minute break of the day. This marks the last chance for late entries, as that door will close at the start of the next level. --MH

3:29pm: Gone, but not forgotten
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Forgive us if we don't let you know about every player who busts Day 1B today, as there will like be something like 500-600 of them who do. But we feel we owe it to you to let you know Tiberiu Zanfirache, Igor Salomasov, Peter Jaksland, Valerii Lubenets, Xavier Detournel, Alexandre Moreau, Franck Putinier, Laurent Villard, Riccardo D'Urso, Ronald Tasse, Ismail Tas, Hicham Zebidi, Srdjan Patkovic, Nils Maibaum, Nadim Hage Ali, Samuele Grassi, Oleksii Liashenko, Raffaele L'abate, Mehdi Bidi, and Fabrice Maltez have all been eliminated prior to the day's second break.

Vlad Darie also lost his stack in the early going, as did James Akenhead. --MH

3:27pm: Hey, I see an open table on the deck over there
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

With about 15 minutes left to go in Level 4, they've seated some FPS Monaco Main Event players in the cash room as well now, meaning the tournament is taking up just about every available area in the Sporting Club. More than 850 players have come out for Day 1B thus far.

No word yet whether they'll try to get permission to set up any tables on the luxury yachts parked in the Mediterranean nearby. --MH

3:25pm: Chip counts
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Below are some counts of some of the names and notables in the main tournament room. Nicolaj D'Antoni has accumulated a six-figure stack over the first four levels, whilst Jake Cody has arrived (see 3pm post) in fact Cody almost missed his flight because it left on time! "I'd been told it was delayed by 90 minutes and then 30 minutes before the scheduled take-off time I looked at the board and it said 'boarding now'."

Cody's one of 852 players who are playing today and there's still a list of alternates waiting to get in, EPT12 Malta champion Niall Farrell is amongst them.

3:21pm: The garden of forking paths a dead end for Borges
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

With about 10,000 in the middle and four players still in, Manuel Leal Borges fired all in from the small blind with his last 15,000 following a [9c][4h][3h] and only Alexandre Vanadia, sitting to his left in the BB, chose to look him up. Borges had [9d][2s] for nines but Vanadia had [Ks][Kc], and after the turn and river brought a couple of sevens Borges was done.

Vanadia chips up around 60,000 with that pot. --MH

3:09pm: Over and out
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

More knockouts to share, among them Yeray Mesa De Armas, Damien Combe, Chaoiki Raaisat, Vebjorn Monstad, Steve Roedsens, Shakhabiddin Muradov, Charlo Azzopardi, Axel Colin, Olivier Boyer, Alfie Adam, Francois Lafleur, Yunhsiang Fan, and Jullian Feriolo. --MH

3pm: Now that's a bad beat
Level 4 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Jake Cody's not had the best start to the day...

2:45pm: Villard's day takes a bad turn
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

They started with 25,000. But after just over two hours of poker Laurent Villard's stack had dwindled down to just 3,450. Picking up [Ad][Qs] in middle position, the Frenchmen decided it was time to turn things around and put his stack in the middle. The table folded to Alessandro De Iaco of Italy in the big blind who after getting a count called with [Ah][Th], and after a flop of [8h][8s][2d] it looked like Villard was in decent shape to keep his seat.

Alas for Villard the turn brought the [Td], earning a weary exhalation from him. The [Kd] sealed it and he moves on, opening up a seat for one of the alternates in line to take his place. De Iaco meanwhile chips up to around 45,000. --MH

2:38pm: It's getting historic in here
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

More than 800 have joined the Day 1B fun now, which carries the overall total number of entrants above 1,150. Our amis from the France Poker Series have begun to look back over the FPS's six-season history, finding just one other FPS Main Event with a bigger field.

There were 1,355 jouers at FPS Deauville during Season 4 to set the all-time high for the tour. Late registration here is open until the start of Level 5, remember, so there's still time for this FPS Monaco event to close the gap even more. --MH

2:36pm: Castro can't be moved
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (ante 25)

I joined the action on the turn of a [4s][Jc][4d][Qh] board to see Raffaele Castro firing out a bet of 3,800. Action was on Jonathan Sironval and he check-raised to 9,100 total. Castro gave it a think and then called.

The [3s] completed the board and Sironval continued his aggressive line, firing out a chunky river bet totaling 11,600. Castro, who's every inch the modern poker player with heavily tattooed arms, three blingy rings and large headphones leaned forward and did his best Daniel Negreanu impression by running through the hand out loud.

Eventually he decided that as the flop had checked through that he likely had the best hand and so he called. Sironval showed [8h][8s] and Castro showed [As][Qc] to take the pot. --NW

2:23pm: Call the floor!
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (ante 25)

Usually when the floor is called to a table to rule on a decision at least one player argues/kicks up a fuss. However, in a hand I just witnessed between Mehdi Tafer and Alex Goulder there was none of that, in fact its probably the smoothest acceptance of a floor decision I've ever seen.

In the hand in question Goulder and Tafer were heads-up to a [5s][2d][4d] flop. Goulder had the betting lead and fired out a 2,000 chip bet. Call from Tafer. On the [Ah] turn Goulder checked the action to Tafer and the Frenchman threw out a single blue 5K chip and said: "Three," as he did so. Goulder asked the dealer if this was a bet of 300 or 3,000 and the floor was called. The floorman ruled that as 300 was still legal bet that Tafer's bet was for 300. There was no histrionics on Tafer's part and Goulder made the call.

The [Kh] fell on the river and Goulder check-folded to a bet of 5,000. "If you bet 2,000 I call," he said to Tafer after the hand. With that dent Goulder drops to 19,000. --NW

2:16pm: Rockets survive
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

That post title obviously does not allude to the Houston Rockets, bounced as they were from the first round of this year's NBA playoffs. We're talking cards, here, natch.

"Five players," said the dealer. Not necessarily what preflop raiser Josy Laurent Benhayoun would have preferred. See, he had [Ad][Ac], but a preflop raise had failed to encourage exactly half of his eight opponents from coming along.

The flop came [3c][Jh][4h]. "Check, bet, fold, fold," said the dealer. That sounded a little better to Benhayoun, who raised Gordon Nord's thousand-chip bet to 2,500. Nord called. The turn was the [Ks], and Nord checked, Benhayoun bet 3,000, and Nord called once more. Both then checked the [4s] river, and when Nord showed [Js][Ts], Benhayoun knew his aces were good. --MH

2:09pm: Tough table
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

It's a huge field with a (relatively) low buy-in, but that doesn't mean there aren't some tough tables, depending on your seat draw.

Let's say you landed at Table 14 in the main tournament room. You'd find the Italian Rocco Palumbo there, winner of over $1.7 million in tournament earnings and both a WSOP bracelet and a WPT title. Ami Barer of Canada is there as well, who has won more than $3.2 million in tournaments with an Aussie Millions his crowning achievement. That's not even counting the $7.5 million or so Barer has won online, most of which while playing as "UhhMee" on PokerStars.

Oh, and the German Adrian Apmann is at Table 14, too. He only has a WSOP bracelet as well. --MH

1:40pm: And relax
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

Well that was a whirlwind start to the second of the two opening flights of the FPS Main Event. Time to take a 20-minute break. --NW

1:35pm: Over a thousand
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

Last year this tournament attracted a total of 993 runners, well that figure is being well and truly obliterated in 2016. Already there are 1,029 players in this tournament and that number will rise significantly. There's still a queue of players waiting to get in and late registration is open until the start of level five. The question now is could the Day 1B figure eclipse the total number of runners from last season. There's a chance.

Another whip round the tournament unearthed a few of the players who've taken this tournament over the 1,000 runner mark. Anatoly Filatov, wearing trademark braces, was busy chatting away to his table in his usual jovial manner.

Spanish sensation Vicente Delgado is playing too, he's at the same table as Jelcides Monteiro, who finished seventh in the UKIPT5 Dublin main event. And Antoine Saout is another big name we've spotted. --NW

1:28pm: Exits before the antes' entrance
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

You wouldn't guess it by the looks of things, but as the field grows it is also being reduced... well, technically. That is to say, before we've even gotten through two 45-minute levels, a handful of folks have managed already to be separated entirely from their 25,000-chip starting stacks.

Evgenii Sboev, Jacques Der Megreditchian, Drice Hamza, Jean Napiot, Mustafa Biz, Antoine Contreras, Bernd Vogelhuber, Samir Chriraa, Morad Ahabbad, and Sardor Shagulyamov are all part of the unfortunate group sent railward before even the antes came in today. --MH

1:10pm: How high can you go?
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

There are somewhere in the region of 670 players now with bums on seats here on Day 1B. It's impossible to know for sure as the players keep on coming.

We've been furnished with a player list and can tell you that as well as the big names we've already spotted, that: Dimitar Danchev, James Akenhead, John Gale, Quan Zhou, Salvatore Bonavena, Slaven Popov, Nicolas Cardyn, David Susigan, Bart Lybaert, Andrew Hulme, David Urban and Padraig O'Neill are all set to make an appearance today. We've yet to set eyes on them, but with such a large field spread over two areas that's not a surprise! --NW

12:59pm: Working out the tightness
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150

There are so many taking part in today's Day 1B of the FPS Monaco Main Event, every available inch of space is taken up with players. We just told you about the Americas Room having been called into service. Back over in the main tournament area, several tables have been set up in the upper tier (near the ongoing high rollers), and the space in between them is relatively tight.

Massimo Mauri is seated in one of those tables, and he just now called one of the massage therapists over to help him relax here in the early going. Finding himself in Seat 3 at his table and back-to-back with Seats 7 and 8 at the neighboring one, space had to be negotiated for the massage to be able to occur. All were accommodating, though, and Mauri is now on two clocks -- the tournament one and the one for his massage.

Much like a tense player's muscles, the tightness all around should be relieved as we go today. But not for a while, as players continue to stream in to fill every empty seat. --MH

12:45pm: Meanwhile in the Americas room...
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

This tournament is bursting at the seams and there's still a long line of players waiting to get into this behemoth of a Day 1B. There's a ton of players currently playing in a tournament area called the Americas Room, which is a short walk from the Sporting Club. The likes of Pablo Gordillo, Simon Deadman, Shola Akindele Deadman, Eureka champion Keith Johnson, former Aussie Roller Hockey player Nick Galtos, ex-snooker pro Jason Barton, Joao Vieira and Chris Dowling are all trying to build up a stack down there. --NW

12:26pm: The day's first face cards
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

Players continue to arrive here during the first couple of orbits of Day 1B. Upon arrival, each player shows a registration ticket to the dealer along with a picture ID -- the first "face card" everyone must play before beginning.

Among the faces in the crowd so far are three red-spade sporters, including two relatively new members of Team PokerStars Pro, Chen-An Lin of Taiwan and Yaxi Zhu of China. Also here is WSOP bracelet holder Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara of Team PokerStars Pro Online who hails from Japan. --MH

12:17pm: Spotted
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

As mentioned below, there are a lot of players here already -- over 500 of them now, including a number of notables.

On a first pass we've spotted the likes of WSOP bracelet winner Adrian Apmann, APPT champion Dermot Blain, and UK pros Alex Goulder, Neil Strike, Mike Hill, and Ben Winsor. --NW

12:08pm: Shuffle up and deal
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100

The first hands of Day 1B are being dealt, and there are already more players in their seats than played Day 1A.

There were 349 entrants yesterday all told. Here the number is already nearing 500, and with late registration lasting until the start of Level 5, it's sure to increase significantly. --MH

11:45am: B is for bigger

Let's cut to the chase today is going to be big. It's going to be gros, grande and большой all rolled into one. In the language of poker that means play will be spread across three rooms to start with. The main tournament room, the cash game area and the Americas room will all be pressed into service today.

Yesterday 349 players entered the fray, up from 265 in 2015. If we get the same percentage increase year on year today we're looking at 953 players today alone! Play is due to start at noon and they'll be a dozen 45-minute levels today. Add in the various break and play should wrap around 23:30 CET. Stay right here for exclusive live coverage. --NW

Key FPS Monaco Facts:

- 25,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 50/100 for 250 big blinds
- Levels are 45 minutes on Day 1 and they'll be 12 of them. From Day 2 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes. 
- Late registration remains open until the start of Level 5
- Day 1B is today, the field will then combine for the first time on Friday. We'll reach the money during the 10 levels of play on Day 2 (approximately 15% of the field will be paid) and then play down to a final table on Saturday. On Sunday the final table will play out on the TV table on EPTLive with cards-up coverage. Cue mad celebrations and swigging of champagne from the trophy (possibly). 
- Full FPS Monaco schedule here.
- There's a boat load of other events today including the €100,000 super high roller. You can follow live updates of that event here.
- It's not all about the poker here in Moncao. There are plenty of #StarsFun activities including the player party at Jimmy'z Nightclub on April 29 a Sports Simulator Challenge and Live Spin and Gos. Full details on that available here.

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at FPS Monaco: Martin Harris and Nick Wright. Photos by Jules Pochy. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

It was a fast-paced Day 2 in the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event on Friday -- so fast, in fact, the decision was made to forgo the dinner break stop a couple of levels early. When the last hands were dealt 60 players remained, all that's left from the massive 1,261-player field that began the event. And tonight Philipp Wenzelburger enjoys the overnight chip lead after bagging an impressive 1,389,000 at night's end.

The first two hours today were the Leonardo Pires show, with the start-of-day chip leader from Brazil more than doubling his starting stack during just two levels to sit with 715,000 at the day's first break. A reprise, it seemed, of what Pires had done at the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure back in January where he led the tournament for several days before busting in 13th.

That stack would've been more than average at the end of Day 2, let alone two hours in, but after a couple more levels Pires had seen that big mountain chips cut down to a couple of hundred thousand, then soon into the day's fifth level he was eliminated in 160th.

At least Pires made the cash, however, as the top 183 finishers were scheduled to divide the tournament's €1,223,170 prize pool. The bubble burst late in the afternoon, with China's Yangzi Wang the unfortunate 184th-place finisher.

Soon after the post-bubble rush of exits, Gleb Tremzin -- runner-up finisher in the EPT12 Prague Main Event -- enjoyed a period of time as the tournament's chip leader becoming the first player to reach the 1 million-chip mark. He eventually fell back to the pack, though, while his fellow German Philipp Wenzelburger climbed to the top to sit in first position as the field narrowed to less than 100.

Late in the evening Niall Farrell and Romans Voitovs both began challenging for the top honors, before finally at night's end Wenzelburger ended up pushing back out in front.

Bruno Cohen, Yury Gulyy, Aaron Gustavson, Marvin Rettenmaier, Arnaud Mattern, Ana Marquez, Mario Lopez, Ivan Freitez, and Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu were among the cashers today. You can check the prize pool and payouts page to see where they finished and how much they took away.

Besides Wenzelburger, there were several others who finished strong on Day 2, including Jean Bertrand (1,171,000), Niall Farrell (1,122,000), Mathew Hopkins (1,120,000), Thierry Morel (1,053,000), Alexandre Sette (982,000), Kamel Hamou (963,000), Mauro Tarantini (957,000), Tudor Purice (917,000), Gleb Tremzin (860,000), and Pedro Oliveira (860,000)

Meanwhile among the others still in the hunt with a chance at taking their FPS Monaco Main Event runs deeper include Keith Johnson (319,000), Julien Brecard (289,000), and Andrey Andreev (155,000).

Tomorrow they pick things back up at 12 noon once more to continue the march toward Sunday's final table and the €218,000 prize awaiting the champion. See you back here then, but for now, bon soir. --MH

FULL DAY 2 COVERAGE:

9:20pm: 60 advance to Day 3
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

The bell has tolled on Day 2 of the FPS Monaco Main Event and it looks as if 60 players will be back for Day 3 tomorrow. Play starts at noon CEST. Join us then for Day 3 coverage, but look out for a wrap of the day's play appearing above, overnight chip counts, and a Day 3 seat draw which will all be available via the @PokerStarsBlog twitter account. --NW

9:08pm: Three more hands
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Clock? Paused. Hands to play? Three. --MH

9:05pm: Crazy four-way all-in!
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Nothing like a four-way all-in to get the pulses racing.

Oleksandr Vorobii shoved from under-the-gun for 122,000 with [2d][2h], Xiaoyong Liao then re-raised all-in for about 225,000 total with [9s][9d] and action paused as Jean-Charles Beunas considered his options. Eventually he too moved all-in, he had [Ad][Js] and then Pedro Oliveira, who had them all covered, called as well!

Oliveira had [Ks][Kh] and was looking for a triple-knockout. The [5h][7c][Ac] flop gave Beunas the lead, the [2c] turn vaulted Vorobii to the front and the [Jh] river kept him there.

So Vorobii basically quadrupled up to 500,000, Oliveira all but broke even on the hand, and Beunas and Liao were eliminated. --NW

8:59pm: Graupner gone
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

It folded around to Thomas Graupner who pushed his last 125,000 or so in the middle over the small blind, and Kidhir Megrous didn't take very long to make the call.

Graupner turned over [Kh][4h] and needed improvement to survive versus the [As][9h] of Megrous. But the [2s][Jh][8s][Qd][7c] board didn't provide any help and Grauner is out.

Megrous has about 420,000 now, a bit below the average of just over 500,000 with 63 players left. --MH

8:45pm: Haigh jacked
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

Down to a handful of big blind Robert Haigh moved all-in with [Qd][Qh] and was up against the [Jd][Js] of Kamel Hamou.

The [4c][3d][Ks][Jc][9c] board was cruel for Haigh and he exited the tournament. --NW

8:35pm: It's tight at the top
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

There are 67 players remaining right now and seven of those players have over a million in chips. They are:

8:21pm: Last level of the night
Level 20 - Blinds 6,000/12,000 (ante 2,000)

One more hour of poker to go, and the bagging and tagging will commence. --MH

8:17pm: Farrell and Hamou play 900K pot
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Kamel Hamou limped from under-the-gun and next to act Toni Zengovski raised it up to 28,000 total. Action then folded all the way to Niall Farrell in the big blind. He put the price of poker up to 67,000 only for Hamou to move all-in. Zengovski didn't miss a beat and folded, Farrell though wanted a count. It was 454,000 total and after a couple of minutes he shrugged and call.

The EPT12 Malta champion showed [As][Ks] and was relieved when Hamou opened [Ad][Kh]. The [7c][4c][7d][8d][9d] board meant the pot was chopped. --NW

Farrell fairing well

8:13pm: Andreev knocks out Ruzicic
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Andrey Andreev limped in from middle position and Gleb Tremzin limped as well from the button, then Sloboban Ruzicic reraised all-in for his last 56,000 from the small blind. It folded back to Andreev who called, Tremzin called as well, and those two checked both the flop and turn. Andreev then led with a bet on the river, and Tremzin let his hand go.

The completed board showed [Ks][Kh][Jh][7d][Qh], and Andreev swiftly tabled his [6h][5h] to show he'd made a flush. Ruzicic showed his beated [4c][4d] and left to collect his payout.

Andreev is back up around 695,000 now with 75 players left. --MH

8:05pm: Your starting stack in the form of a single chip
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

The starting stack in this event was 25,000 and that equated to quite a few physical chips when play began. At the start of this level tournament staff introduced the lime green chips worth T25,000 apiece. Each of those represents the stack of a player who entered this tournament! --NW

7:50pm: Silva shining
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

All-in and at risk with [7h][7c], Raphael Montefalcone was hoping the small pair would hold against Miguel Silva's [Ad][Jh]. But the [Tc][Kh][Ac] flop quickly swung the advantage Silva's way, and after the [Ks] turn and [4h] river, Montefalcone is out.

Silva is now up around 1.2 million and starting to challenge Philipp Wenzelburger for the chip lead. --MH

7:34pm: Wenzelburger sizzling
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

The Philipp Wenzelburger express continues unabated, with the Germany continuing to accumulate chips at a rapid rate.

Just now Wenzelburger grabbed a few more while reducing the field by one in a hand versus Mamouni Smain. The latter was all in with a short stack behind [3h][3s] and had run into Wenzelburger's [7d][7h], and after a [Ks][Qh][As][6s][9d] runout Smain was knocked out while Wenzelburger moved up to about 1.325 million -- the biggest stack around with 90 players left. --MH

7:30pm: Purice continues to climb
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Tudor Purice has had an up and down day. He was as low as 15 big blinds at one point but now has almost 100 big blinds after winning a large pot against Jessica Drissi. On the river the Romanian bet 92,000 into a pot of around 200,000. Drissi looked at the [Qs][Jh][9h][2h][8h] board and then called. Purice showed [Ah][5h] for a flush and Drissi mucked.

After that hand Purice has roughly 970,000. --NW

7:19pm: Every decision has a rippling effect
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Ariel Mantel (121st, €2,040), Marvin Rettenmaier (113th, €2,310), Josh Prager (105th, €2,310), and Aaron Gustavson (100th, €2,310) were part of the last wave of knockouts just before the last break. Don't forget, you can check who finished where on the constantly updated prize pool and payouts page. --MH

7:10pm: Top 10 stacks
Level 19 - Blinds 5,000/10,000 (ante 1,000)

Below are the top ten stacks at the start of level 19. It's Philipp Wenzelburger who leads the way.

6:55pm: Last break of the day

Reaching the end of Level 18, the remaining 94 players have gone on one last 20-minute break for today. Recall the schedule has changed -- rather than go to dinner now, they'll come back shortly for two more one-hour levels, then call it a day. --MH

6:42pm: Every decision has a rippling effect
Level 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Ivan Arbatskii opened for 18,000 from the middle position, Andrey Andreev called from a couple of seats over, then Gleb Tremzin made it 51,000 to go from the button. Slobodan Ruzicic called the three-bet from the next seat in the small blind, and it folded back to Arbatskii who shoved all-in for 253,000 total.

Andreev let his hand go, but Tremzin wasn't going anywhere and called the shove. That sent Ruzicic deep into the tank, and after some time he at last emerged to fold his hand. The remaining two players tabled their cards:

Arbatskii: [Kd][Kc]
Tremzin: [Ah][Kh]

The flop came [9c][Qc][Th], and while neither of the players in the hand responded at all, Ruzicic was fit to be tied, standing from his seat with his hands on hips. The turn was the [8c] and river the [4h], and Arbatskii survived with a more-than-double-up.

Before sitting down, Ruzicic leaned over and poked a finger at the nine on the board, and it wasn't hard for the others to deduce he'd folded pocket nines.

Gleb Tremzin - 720,000
Ivan Arbatskii - 565,000
Andrey Andreev - 555,000
Sloboban Ruzicic - 345,000

Ruzicic continued to shake his head as he sat back down, although Arbatskii was plenty glad he had chosen not to gamble. --MH

6:40pm: Down to the final 100
Level 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Just 100 players remain in the FPS Monaco Main Event and there are still two EPT champions among them.

Niall Farrell, who triumphed in Malta this season is chugging along nicely. He's got 765,000 which is well above the average which is 312,000. In comparison Aaron Gustavson has work to do as he's got 160,000. -- NW

6:32pm: Mattern, Marquez out
Level 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

More eliminated to report -- Arnaud Mattern (134th) and Ana Marquez (137th), each of whom earned €2,040.

6:17pm: Gabriel gets got
Level 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Add Niste Mihai Gabriel to the growing list of eliminated players. Gabriel got his small stack in with [Ks][Jd] versus the [9c][9d] of Mamouni Smain, a [2s][9h][9s][Qd][5d] runout giving Smain quads was more than was needed to end Gabriel's run.

They are now down to 119 players. --MH

6:10pm: What a horrible spot
Level 18 - Blinds 4,000/8,000 (ante 1,000)

Laurent Olive just found himself in a ridiculously tough spot and it's not one you can ever train for or expect to happen. I'll explain...

From under-the-gun Massimiliano Patroncini moved all-in for 132,000 and Olive flat called from his stack of 360,000. It folded all the way to Fabio Freitas in the big blind but before the Brazilian could act Patroncini went to turn his hand over, thinking that Freitas had folded.

Before he fully exposed his hand Freitas told him to stop, but it was too late as Freitas had seen the cards. The floor was called and it was ruled that Patrocini's hand should be exposed and the [js][jh] was turned over.

It should be noted that Freitas had claimed he'd yet to look at his cards at this point. He then took a peak and reasonably quickly moved all-in. This was not what Olive wanted to hear. He asked for a count and the shove was for 290,000. Olive took some time and then folded the other two jacks face-up!

Freitas showed [Kh][Kc] and the [6s][9d][5h][6d][5c] board kept him in front. He's up to 525,000 whilst Olive is down to 230,000. --NW

5:53pm: Tremzin up over a million
Level 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Gleb Tremzin saw both Dany Parlafes and Slobodan Ruzicic go all-in before the flop, and he had a decision.

About Parlafes, Tremzin slightly less concerned, as he was only in for 81,000. Meanwhile Ruzicic had committed nearly a quarter-million, and while Tremzin already had some chips in the middle, he wasn't sure if he wanted to put any more at risk.

Finally Tremzin did call, showing [Ac][Jh], and expressed some relief when he saw Ruzicic turn over [Ah][Jd]. Meanwhile Parlafes had [4s][4h], and looked as though he was about to triple up after the [Tc][5h][7d] flop and [9s] turn.

But the river brought the [8s] to give the bigger stacks a straight, and Parlafes was eliminated. Ruzicic sits with about 275,000, while Tremzin now looks to be the first player in seven figures as he has about 1.07 million. --MH

5:40pm: Change of plans
Level 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

There were 10 levels scheduled for today but we've been informed by the tournament director that the decision has been made to play just eight levels today instead. Play should end around 20.45 CEST. --NW

5:30pm: Stacks of chips
Level 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Gleb Tremzin is the current chip leader, the Russian player is closing in on one million.

5:16pm: Benoulha bounces Camhi
Level 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Eric Camhi was all-in with a short stack with [Ks][Qs], and the stack was short enough that Maxence Benoulha couldn't bow out of the hand with his [7d][4d].

The flop came [2d][As][7c] to hit Benhoula's seven, and after the [5d] turn and [3c] river Camhi was done for a small cash. Benoulha now is moving up the leaderboard, having chipped up to 525,000. --MH

5:14pm: More fall
Level 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Ricardo Chauriye (149th), Vicente Delgado (155th), and Luca Moschitta (159th) were also among the latest knockouts, with each of them earning €1,770. --MH

5:07pm: Pires busts
Level 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

At the start of Day 2, Leonardo Pires was the overall chip leader with 339 players left. After two hours of play, he'd more than doubled his stack to 715,000 to lead by an even wider margin over the 255 or so players still remaining.

A little over two hours more, and Pires is out in 160th for a 1,770 min-cash, ending his FPS Monaco roller coaster here before the dinner break. --MH

4:59pm: Min-cashers
Level 17 - Blinds 3,000/6,000 (ante 1,000)

Among the first taking trips to the cashier, Kasra Pour Khomamy (178th), Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu (171st), Ivan Freitez (168th), and Mario Lopez (166th) all collected 1,770 for their efforts.

To keep tabs on who is finishing where, check the constantly updated prize pool and payouts page. --MH

4:37pm: Break it up

The next 20-minute break has arrived, giving the remaining 163 players a chance to catch their breath after the excitement of the bubble's bursting. --MH

4:31pm: Andreev on the ascent
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

End-of-Day-1A leader Andrey Andreev is now sitting behind a formidable stack of chips after picking up a nice post-bubble pot versus Guido Pezzotta.

With about 230,000 in the middle and the board showing [Ad][5c][8c][7d], an all-in shove by Andreev just couldn't be called by Pezzotta, and now Andreev has about 780,000 as the next break nears. --MH

4:25pm: All-in crazy!
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Since the bubble burst this joint has gone mental! There's smoke coming off the felt such is the speed that chips are being moved around.

I saw five all-ins in just a couple of minutes, here's what happened:

1. Cederic Ramqaj moved all-in for his final 30,000 with [9s][8s] and he found a call from Ariel Mantel who held [Ac][Ts]. The [As][6c][Jh][Ks] gave Ramqaj hope but the river was the [5d] meaning Ramqaj was eliminated and Mantel climbed to 240,000.

2. Julien Brécard had just 18,000 and they went in with [6h][6d], Vicente Delgado had already opened and he called the extra off with [8h][7h]. A [6c][Js][Kh][9c][Jd] board gave Brécard a fright but he survived. Delgado is now down to 260,000.

3. Christos Stefanidis was at risk for his final 53,000 holding [Ad][7s] and in the deep stuff against Vincent Antoine Cavailles, who held pocket tens. The [4h][3d][7h] flop gave Stefanidis hope, the [4c] turn was a blank, but the [Ah] river saw the Greek player survive.

4. Action folded to Stefano Terziani in the small blind, he looked to his left and eyed up Steven Baldolli's stack. It totaled around 77,000 and Terziani elected to move all-in, a bet Baldolli snap called.

Terziani showed [8h][7h] and have live cards against Baldolli's [As][Kd]. That proved crucial as the [3h][8c][Jh][4d][6s] board favoured the suited connectors and eliminated Baldolli.

5. Vincent Antoine Cavailles got some of the chips he'd lost back as his [Ac][Qd] held against Jimmy Guerrero's [Qh][9d]. Guerrero was all-in for his last 55,000 and sent on his way to the payout desk. --NW

4:11pm: Yangzi bubbles
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

After Morgan Aceto survived a river shove all-in with trip aces -- doubling up after he was called by Mario Melis -- it was confirmed that 184 players were left, eight each at 23 tables.

On the first hand of hand-for-hand play, Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu saw an opponent raise to 12,000, then while on the button with just 15,000 looked down at what was a playable hand. She grimaced a little, then the table chuckled when they heard "all in and call" coming from a neighboring table.

Finally, Zhu let her hand go, and after all of the other tables finished their hands everyone congregated around the table featuring the all-in.

Yangzi Wang of China was the one at risk. She stood and waiting after having put her last 49,000 in from middle position, with Mauro Tarantini having called her from the big blind. Finally the cards were revealed:

Tarantini: [9c][9s]
Wang: [Kc][Qc]

The dealer dealt the first three community cards, and a king appeared in the window to give Wang. But when the flop was spread it showed a villanous nine underneath (from Wang's point of view), the board showing [9d][6c][Kd].

The [Ac] then fell on the turn, giving hope to Wang that she might make a backdoor flush to beat Tarantini's set. But the river was the [4h], and with a round of applause the bubble had been burst.

They're halfway through Level 16. Let's see how many visit the cashier's desk before the break happens in half an hour. --MH

4:06pm: Bad time for kings for Bonavena
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

With 185 players left -- just two from the cash -- Salvatore Bonavena just found himself in a bit of a nightmarish situation.

A blind-versus-blind hand between Bonavena and Ivan Arbatskii resulted in the former being all in with a below average stack with [Kh][Kd] only to see Arbatskii table [Ac][Ah]. The board ran out [Jd][5c][9h][4s][Qd], and Bonavena exits shy of the cash.

There will be a brief pause as the tables are balanced to ensure just 184 are left. Stay tuned. --MH

4:05pm: Pires gets poorer
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Leonardo Pires was up to 600,000 at one point, he's now down to 205,000. That seems like a small stack but it's still above average. Thomas Popov, who's sat to his right is up to 450,000. The two may be connected. --NW

3:55pm: Miracle for Maisano
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Oh. My. God.

Mirco Maisano just hit a miracle!

I only saw the denouement of the hand but on a [5s][3h][Qh][6s][6h] Maisano had got his last 163,000 in on the river and Patrick Schuhl had matched it. Maisano had [6c][6d] in front of him for quads, whilst Schuhl had pocket queens for a flopped set that turned into a full house that lost to quads!

He had his hands on his head and well he might, he's down to 59,000 whilst Maisano is up to 410,000. --NW

3:45pm: Deadman done for just before the bubble
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

We're just two spots off the bubble now and Simon Deadman is one of those who've just missed out on a cash.

In his exit hand Ariel Mantel raised to 10,000, Tudor Purice three-bet to 32,500 from the small blind and Deadman then moved all-in for 44,500 from the big blind. Mantel smooth called and Purice then wanted confirmation from the floor that he couldn't raise.

The floor was called and Purice was informed he could only call, which he did. The flop fell [2h][2c][3h] and Purice moved all-in, whilst Mantel folded. Deadman showed pocket fives and he was ahead of Purice's [Ac][Qh].

The [Qc] turn gave Purice the lead though and Deadman didn't hit the [9d] river.

Other players just missing out on a cash include Slaven Popov and Daniel Smith. --NW

3:38pm: Tough spot for Zhu
Level 16 - Blinds 2,500/5,000 (ante 500)

Just 190 players remain -- seven from the cash -- and Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu finds herself in a tricky spot.

Just now she lost a preflop all-in versus Lionel Clerc in which her [Th][9h] couldn't catch up to his [As][Kc]. Zhu got up to leave, thinking the 85,000 or so she'd pushed forward was completely lost, but as it happened she had Clerc outchipped by a little and so she has kept her seat.

But with less than 10,000 -- and the level having just changed -- she doesn't have two big blinds left in her stack. We'll see if she can hang on and make the cash. --MH

3:26pm: Pires tripped up
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Leader Leonardo Pires just dropped a few chips in a big multi-way pot. We saw him fire a bet of 100,000 -- roughly the size of the pot -- to force a couple of folds but one player called.

The board showed [Td][Kc][7h][2h][Ah] and Pires turned over [Jh][8d], appearing a little dismayed as he did. That was no match for the set of deuces held by the winner, and now Pires is down to about 465,000. --MH

3:17pm: Big stacks
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

The bubble is fast approaching as 192 players remain and 183 get paid. For the players below though the bubble should hold no fear as they're the big stacks.

3:07pm: Boeree bounced, Dattani down, Urbanovich undone
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

The field is shrinking down close to just 200 players left, with a few more notables among the recent exits.

Ami Barer, Alessandro De Iaco, Joao Vieira, and Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree have seen their FPS Monaco Main Event runs end shy of the money. So, too, has Michel Dattani lost the last of his stack.

And after persevering with a short stack this afternoon, Dzmitry Urbanovich was finally felted as well. --MH

2:55pm: More exits
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Numbers continue to dwindle in this event with Joseph Carlino, Andrei Konopelko, Matias Ruzzi, Dietrich Fast, and Govert Meetal among the latest batch of exits. --NW

2:51pm: Patricio picked off
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

LAPT6 Peru Main Event champion sat quietly, his last 75,000 or so pushed out before him. He was waiting to see if Gerard Sanches was going to call or fold. He was hoping for the latter, as we'd come to find out, precisely because Sanches would choose differently.

Upon hearing the call, Rojas showed his [Jh][Th], and Sanches turned over [9d][9c] to claim the pot and knock out the Chilean. Sanches has about 225,000 now. --MH

2:45pm: Much needed double for Cederic Ramqaj
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

Tudor Purice opened to 9,500 from early position and Cederic Ramqaj then shoved for 26,000 with [Qh][Qs]. Purice made a quick call with [Ad][8c] but the pair held on the [Kc][5d][8d][6s][Qd] board. --NW

2:40pm: Jaka shot down
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

A big thank you to Faraz Jaka for filling us in on his exit hand as he was leaving the tournament room.

He told us that he got dealt pocket jacks under-the-gun+3 and flat called from a stack of 80,000 after the under-the-gun player had opened to 12,000 with [Ah][6h]. Another player then moved all-in for 32,000 with king-queen, the under-the-gun player re-raised all-in and Jaka snap called.

Although the covering player turned a flush draw it was looking good for Jaka until he was Barry Greensteined by an ace on the river. --NW

2:29pm: From across the globe to Monaco
Level 15 - Blinds 2,000/4,000 (ante 500)

We have pie! The ever popular nationalities pie chart, that is, giving us some insight on where all 1,261 of these FPS Monaco Main Event players came from to get here.

Unsurprisingly, France was responsible for the most entrants, the 550 players representing just over 43% of the field. Italy was next in line with about 9.3%, with the UK, Russia, and Germany next on the list.

A total of 71 countries sent players. Here's that pie for more (click to embiggen). --MH

2:07pm: Break time

With less than 260 players left -- still about 80 off the money -- the first 20-minute break of the day has arrived. --MH

2:02pm: Pires keeps collecting
Level 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Leonardo Pires just capped off his first two hours of play today having more than doubled his chip-leading stack already. Near the end of Level 14 he picked up another 100,000-plus in a hand of Kasra Pour Khomamy who entered today with a top 10 stack.

The hand started with Pires raising to 11,100 from middle position, and only Khomamy called from the small blind. The flop came [6h][7s][4c], Khomany checked, Pires bet 15,000, and Khomamy called. The turn was the [5c], and Khomamy again check-called a bet from Pires, this time for 20,000.

Pires checked his cards once more as the [2h] completed the board. Khomamy checked a third time, and after acting quickly throughout the hand Pires paused about a half-minute, then slid forward a stack containing 67,300. Khomamy stacked up calling chips, thought about it for another beat or two, the called.

Pires tabled [Ah][8h] for a turned straight, and Khomamy mucked.

The Brazilian is up around 715,000 now going to break, more than 300,000 clear of his nearest challenger at present. --MH

1:58pm: Out
Level 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

We're down to just 261 players after the opening two levels with Pablo Gordillo, Ben Heath, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Alex Difelice and Rasmus Agerskov among the big names who've crashed out. --NW

1:55pm: Counts!
Level 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

The overnight chip leader shows no signs of losing it. Leonardo Pires is up to 605,000 and still holds the chip lead.

Leonardo Pires - 605,000
Andrey Andreev - 490,000
Aaron Gustavson - 395,000
Ariel Mantel - 295,000
Vicente Delgado - 285,000
Niall Farrell - 238,000
Andrei Boghean - 235,000
Keith Johnson - 190,000
Ivan Freitez - 166,000
Dany Parlafes - 160,000
Steven van Zadelhoff - 147,000
Simon Deadman - 140,000
Yaxi Zhu - 118,000
Salvatore Bonavena - 103,000
Liv Boeree - 98,000
Marvin Rettenmaier - 84,000
Arnaud Mattern - 77,000
Julien Brécard - 70,000
Tudor Purice - 63,000
Faraz Jaka - 62,000
Dmitry Urbanovich - 55,000

1:45pm: Deadman's turn to double
Level 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

It's raining double ups!

The cards were already on their backs by the time I reached table 17 to see Simon Deadman & Weiyi Zhang all-in and at risk, with Tudor Purice looking for the double knockout.

Deadman: [Ad][Qs]
Zhang: [Qc][Tc]
Purice: [Kc][Js]

A [2d][6s][8h][5h][Qh] board meant Zhang, who was the shortest of the three, was eliminated and Deadman, who was all-in for 68,900, more than doubled to around 150,000. After that hit Purice drops to 63,000. --NW

1:26pm: Dzmitry dzoubles
Level 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Roger Mouries opened for 6,500 from early position and after getting a call from his neighbor to the left watched the table fold around to Dzmitry Urbanovich on the button. Urbanovich swiftly set out his remaining short stack before him as an all-in reraise for about 26,000. The blinds got out, Mouries reraised over the top for about twice what Urbanovich had, and the remaining player folded.

Mouries had [9s][9c], but that meant Urbanovich was in better shape with [Th][Ts]. A ten on the turn then sealed things for the Polish pro, shooting him back up to around 55,000. --MH

1:10pm: Big double for Aceto
Level 14 - Blinds 1,500/3,000 (ante 400)

Nicolas Guest requested a count. He was in a precarious position and needed to know exactly where he stood. He'd bet 31,000 on the turn of a [2s][7s][Td][4d] board and Morgan Aceto had then shoved all-in.

There was already roughly 35,000 in the pot and you could now add 84,200 to that figure as that was the size of Aceto's shove. Numbers crunched Guest made the call and showed [9s][8s] for the combo draw.

He'd need to hit as Aceto had [Ks][Kd], but the [2h] was a brick and Aceto held to double to over 200,000, whilst Guest is down to 64,000. --NW

1:06pm: Kings serve Brecard
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Julien Brecard was just now all-in and at risk for his last 35,000 or so, but in a good spot, relatively speaking, holding [Kc][Kd] versus Quentin Lecomte's [As][Kh]. The board came clean for Brecard -- [4s][9h][8d][7c][2h] -- and he's back up around 70,000 while Lecomte is suddenly down to less than 10,000. --MH

1pm: Tough crowd
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

There are a few candidates for 'table of death' at the moment. Table 17 is definitely up there as Tudor Purice, Simon Deadman, Marvin Rettenmaier and Ariel Mantel are all scrapping it out for chips there. -- NW

12:56pm: Andreev takes his seat
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Day 1A chip leader Andrey Andreev was late arriving today, which meant those two tickets he won for Saturday's football match (a prize for his Day 1A accomplishment) had to wait with his stack.

But Andreev did finally get here, and after pocketing his tickets has now gotten to work trying to build his big stack even further. --MH

12:51pm: Loeser leaves, Metalidi moves on
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

More than 25 players have already lost their stacks in the first half-hour of play, with Manig Loeser and Artem Metalidi among the latest wave sent railward. --MH

12:45pm: Malinowski out
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Viktor Malinowski just got the last of his stack in behind [Kd][Jd] but unfortunately for him had run into the [Kc][Kh] of Laurent Olive. The board ran out [2d][5d][2s][Ts][5h], and Malinowski hit the rail. Olive meanwhile is now up around 120,000. --MH

12:40pm: Vieira takes a hit
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Joao Vieira has seen his stack cut in half after losing a flip to Jeremie Maxime Beneteau.

Kevin Fallourd opened to 5,100 from under-the-gun and Vieira called from early position. The action folded to Beneteau - who was the big blind - and he shoved for 27,800 total. Fallourd folded but Vieira made the call.

Beneteau: [Kc][Jd]
Vieira: [Ts][Th]

The [9h][Jh][3s][Ah][4d] board favoured the overcards and dropped Vieira to about 30,000. --NW

12:25pm: Gustavson takes out Metalidi
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Artem Metalidi was all-in for his last 27,000 with [5c][5d] and Aaron Gustavson had him in deep trouble with [Ts][Tc]. The board ran [Qc][2s][Kd][2d][4c] and Metalidi departed.

Gustavson now has over 180,000 as a result. --NW

12:21pm: Early bustouts
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Among the first to fall here on Day 2 were Cedric Louard, Vladyslav But, Sebastien Boyard, Jeremie Maxime Beneteau, Vasily Kurdin, Stephane Gamet, and Jaroslaw Sikora. --MH

12:14pm: Prize pool and payouts
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

With 1,261 total entrants in this event, the total prize pool is a massive €1,223,170. The top 183 finishers will be splitting those riches, with a min-cash being €1,770 and the first prize €218,000.

Here are the prizes awaiting those making the final table:

1st: €218,000
2nd: €127,900
3rd: €89,900
4th: €67,100
5th: €51,780
6th: €38,500
7th: €29,350
8th: €20,900

For a complete list of payouts, click here. --MH

12:11pm: A sunny start
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (ante 300)

Day 2 has begun with 339 players remaining, all still vying to make it to one of the top 183 spots and the money of this event. In other words, everyone still has a relatively sunny disposition as the first hands of the day are being dealt.

Such is appropriate, because tournament organizers have opened the roof on the main tournament room here at the Sporting Club, revealing a glorious blue sky overhead. They'll keep it open for the first couple of minutes, then close it up to make for a more familiar setting for poker as the sun sets (so to speak) on the day's first bustouts.

Just before play began, Day 1A chip leader Andrey Andreev and Day 1B leader Leonardo Pires were each awarded a pair of tickets to tomorrow's football match between French Ligue 1 sides AS Monaco and EA Guingamp. Actually only Pires picked up his tickets, as Andreev has yet to arrive today.

Whoever happens to have the top spot at the end of Day 2 will also win the same prize, although given how that person may well be playing poker on Saturday night, the tickets might be going to a friend. --MH

12:09pm: Chip count page
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (300 ante)

With so many players in the field it's impossible to keep track of everyone but we'll be updating the chip counts of as many players as possible. You'll find that information on the selected chip counts page
which will include the big stacks, names and notables as the day progresses.

12:07pm: Let's begin
Level 13 - Blinds 1,200/2,400 (300 ante)

Day 2 action has started. --NW

11:45am: Time to bust a move but not bust in Monaco

On the various regional tours that PokerStars operate around the world the blogging fraternity refer to Day 2 as 'moving day'.

It's the day when tournament winning stacks are built and the money starts to be dished out. Whilst 339 players return today we expect only around 10% of that field will still have chips to bag come the end of the day. The average stack will rocket to around 850,000 and Leonardo Pires's start of Day 2 chip leading stack of 339,400 will look like chump change 10 levels from now. This is not a day to maintain and stand still, this is a day to move.

The key start of day info can be accessed below. Cards are in the air at noon CEST.

Start of Day 2 seat draw
Start of Day 2 chip counts

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at FPS Monaco: Martin Harris and Nick Wright. Photos by Jules Pochy. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

There were 1,261 to start. Then 339, then 60. Now, just six players are still with a chance at the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event title and the €218,000 prize that goes with it. One of those six will have an edge to start play tomorrow, France's own Stephane Dossetto who took the lead during the early evening, lost it to the UK's Niall Farrell briefly, then secured the night's final knockout to grab it again and end with 9,525,000 -- just ahead of Farrell's 9,165,000.

The pace was rapid to start today, with more than a third of the field gone within two hours of play. Early knockouts this afternoon included start-of-Day-1 leader Andrey Andreev (57th), Thierry Morel (55th), Yannick Dupont (51st), and Romans Voitovs (44th), Oleksandr Vorobii (35th), and the last woman to be eliminated, Jessica Drissi (31st).

That whittling away continued steadily thereafter, during which time the Romanian Tudor Purice -- known by many as "a.S.e high" on PokerStars -- had moved up into the chip lead, a spot he maintained as others like Julien Brecard (25th), Keith Johnson (22nd), and start-of-day-2 leader Philipp Wenzelburger (21st) hit the rail.

By dinner time they were down to two tables, and it was just before that break Dossetto moved ahead of Purice. Meanwhile Alexandre Sette (16th), Mauro Tarantini (15th), Laurent Badin (14th), Olivier Armougon (13th), and Benoit Veres (12th) were successively felted, all Frenchmen like Dossetto aside from the Italian Tarantini.

Next it was Arman Nugmanov of Kazakhstan going out in 11th. A former professional footballer, Nugmanov won the first of the Hexathlon challenges here at the EPT Grand Final, picking up a Baby PokerStars Spade for doing so. On the very next hand Kidhir Megrous of France was knocked out in 10th by Niall Farrell, and after a lengthy final table bubble Gaetano Preite of Italy ran pocket kings into Farrell's aces to go out in ninth.

During that bubble Dossetto thrived, giving him a healthy lead for the day's final stage, at one point sitting with twice the stack of nearest challenger Farrell. Stefano Terziani then felted a short-stacked Purice in eighth, before Dossetto took out the Frenchman Romain Matteoli in seventh to end Day 3. Click here for a look at all of the payouts thus far in the event, from 7th down to 183rd.

Here's how the counts will look to start play on Sunday:

Play will resume tomorrow with just over a half-hour left in Level 30, where the blinds are 60,000/120,000 with a 20,000 ante.

The schedule calls for Sunday's final table to start at 1pm local time, and EPT Live will be on hand for cards-up coverage. That means like them we'll also be here on a one-hour delay presenting all the action as we find out together who among these eight will be the next FPS Main Event champion.

Until tomorrow, Bon soir! --MH

FULL DAY 3 COVERAGE:

12:31am: Romain Matteoli eliminated in 7th place (€ 29,350)
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/130,000 (ante 10,000)

We're down to six and it's Romain Matteoli who's gone in seventh place.

In his exit hand Stephane Dossetto opened from early position, Matteoli shoved for 1,700,000 from the small blind and Dossetto instantly called.

Matteoli: [2h][2c]
Dossetto: [Th][Ts]

The [Ad][7h][Qs][3h][As] run out meant the chip leader got richer and Mattel's run ended in sixth place.

That's the end of the action for today. The final table begins at 1pm CEST tomorrow, but our coverage won't begin until 2pm due to the coverage being cards-up on EPT Live. --NW

12:15am: Fernandez gets short then doubles
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (ante 20,000)

A tale of two hands, both involving Julian Fernandez. In the first Stefano Terziani opened to 250,000 from under-the-gun and picked up calls from Fernandez (cutoff) and Romain Matteoli (big blind).

The flop fell [Kh][7h][3c] and when it was checked to Fernandez he bet 270,000. Terziani was the only caller. The turn card was the [Jh], again Terziani checked, and once more Fernandez bet. The Frenchman fired out 450,000, but Terziani was not calling this time, instead he check-raised all-in. Fernandez only had about 800,000 back but he found a fold.

Fernandez got one shove through uncontested (he showed ace-king) but the second time he shoved he got called. It was Jean-Baptiste Bertrand who put him at risk, calling with [Jd][Jh]. It was a race as once more Fernandez had [Ah][Ks].

The [Kh][3c][2c][8h][6s] board connected with Fernandez's hand and he survived. He was all-in for 1,280,000 and so he doubled to around 2,880,000 whilst Bertrand drops to 1,400,000. --NW

12:01am: Last level of the night begins
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (ante 20,000)

Whatever happens, this will definitely be the last level of the night as they'll either play out the hour or stop at six players. --MH

11:59pm: A Silva double
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

Miguel Silva opened for his entire stack of 890,000 from the button, and after a short period of reflection Stefano Terziani decided to call the push from the big blind.

Silva had [Ac][3h] and the preflop edge over Terziani's [Qs][Tc], but the [Ad][6d][Jh] flop and [Qc] turn didn't necessarily make Silva feel any more comfortable. The [5s] river was a safe card for him, however, and he exhaled with relief while doubling to about 1.9 million. Terziani, meanwhile, still has about 6.2 million. --MH

Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

11:57pm: Tudor Purice eliminated in 8th place (€20,900)
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

It didn't take long for the first elimination of the final table and it's Tudor Purice who's gone in eighth place.

He was one of three players who saw a [T][6][5] flop, Niall Farrell bet, Purice check-raised all-in with [8][7], Stefano Terziani called with ace-ten and Farrell folded the same hand.

Purice didn't connect with the turn or river and he's out in eighth. --NW

11:55pm: Final table begins
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

After a short pause for the official final table photos the action has begun again. --NW

11:50pm: Gaetano Preite eliminated in 9th place (€16,160)
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

It seemed like it was going to take an unavoidable cooler to set the final table and that's exactly what happened.

Gaetano Preite opened to 250,000 from the hijack, Niall Farrell three-bet to 620,000 from the cutoff, Preite raised to 1,300,000, Farrell shoved all-in and Preite called all-in for around 3,200,000.

Farrell: [Ah][Ad]
Preite: [Kh][Ks]

Ouch! What a cooler. The [6h][2d][Js][Ts][9c] board kept the aces in front and Preite was eliminated. Farrell is up to around 8,000,000 and challenging Stephane Dossetto for the chip lead. --NW

11:45pm: Updated chip counts (nine remain)
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

11:42pm: Big boost for Bertrand
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

The hand started slowly, was slow in the middle, then ended swiftly and dramatically. Let us explain.

It folded initially to Gaetano Preite in the cutoff who took a half-minute before letting his hand go. Then Niall Farrell promptly opened for 215,000 from the button, and after a bit of thought Julian Fernandez reraised to 580,000 from the small blind. Jean-Baptiste Bertrand then didn't take that long before announcing he was all-in for 1.405 million.

Farrell tossed his hand right away, but Fernandez took more than three minutes before finally spinning a chip forward to signal a call.

Bertrand tabled [As][Js] and Fernandez [Kh][Jh], and the dealer efficiently dealt out the [9h][2h][Jd] flop (giving both jacks and Fernandez a flush draw), the [Tc] turn (providing a gutshot, too, for Fernandez), and [4c] river (a safe finish for Bertrand).

Bertrand is up close to 3 million now, while Fernandez sinks to 2.35 million. --MH

11:30pm: Still on the final table bubble
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

A reminder that we're one elimination away from the official final table in this event. However play will continue until six players remain or we reach the end of level 30, whichever comes first. --NW

11:20pm: Preite moving on up
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

Gaetano Preite started level 29 as the shortest stack but he's now up to fifth in chips after winning a big pot.

It was Tudor Purice who started the action, raising it up to 225,000 from early position. He got calls from Stephane Dossetto (button), Preite (small blind) and Niall Farrell (big blind).

On the [4c][9c][4d] flop Purice continued for 340,000 and Dossetto flat called. Preite then reached for chips and check-raised to 700,000 total. That equated to about half his stack and it got the job done as everyone folded. He's up to 3,000,000 now, whilst Purice is into the danger zone as he's down to 1,500,000. --NW

11:10pm: Battle of the blinds wounds Matteoli
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

Action folded to Romain Matteoli in the small blind, he raised to 275,000 and Stefano Terziani called from the big blind. On the [3s][Kc][Qd] flop Mattel continued for 325,000 and Terziani smooth called. The [4c] fell on the turn and Matteoli fired again, his bet was 575,000 this time and again Terziani stuck around.

The [5s] rounded off proceedings and Matteoli check-folded to a bet of 815,000. He's down to 1,600,000 whilst Terziani climbs to 5,500,000. --NW

10:55pm: The short stacks aren't waiting around
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

If you followed our coverage of the super high roller yesterday you'll know that on the stone bubble the short stacks got very short indeed - sub five blinds we're talking - well the short stacks in this tournament aren't as patient.

Since the break Jean-Baptiste Bertrand has shoved twice - once over a Niall Farrell raise - and Gaetano Preite has min-raised and won a pot uncontested. --NW

10:45pm: Chip counts
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (ante 10,000)

Here are the counts of the remaining players as level 29 gets underway. Stephane Dossetto has a large chip lead with Niall Farrell his nearest challenger.

10:30pm: End of the level
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (ante 10,000)

Level 28 has just ended and the players are now on a 15-minute break. --NW

10:20pm: No major action yet
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (ante 10,000)

There haven't been any other major hands to speak of. At the moment the two players who are most in danger of bubbling this final table are Gaetano Preite (915,000) and Jean-Baptiste Bertrand (1,180,000). --NW

10:10pm: Dossetto dents Purice to extend his chip lead
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (ante 10,000)

Stephane Dossetto is up to 9,300,000 after winning a big pot against Tudor Purice. The Frenchman opened to 225,000 from under-the-gun and Purice smooth called on the button. The [Qd][Ad][5h] flop was checked through and the [7h] fell on the turn. Dossetto checked, Purice bet 375,000, Dossetto check-raised to 850,000 total and Purice smooth called.

The [Js] completed the board, Dossetto led out for 1,300,000 and Purice snap called. Dossetto slammed [7c][7d] on the felt and Purice mucked. "Nice turn," he offered as Dossetto took the pot. Purice drops to 2,375,000 after that loss. --NW

9:51pm: Seat draw for nine-handed table
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (ante 10,000)

They are down to the not-quite-official final table. Here's a look at where the final nine are seated. --MH

9:37pm: Kidhir Megrous eliminated in 10th place (€13,450)
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (ante 10,000)

On the hand after Arman Nugmanov was eliminated we lost another player and are now down to the unofficial final table of nine.

Stephane Dossetto opened to 200,000 from under-the-gun and picked up calls from Niall Farrell and Kidhir Megrous. The flop fell [Qh][6h][9c], Dossetto checked, Farrell bet 315,000 and Megrous leaned forward, counted his chips and then moved all-in for 750,000 total.

Dossetto folded and action was on Farrell. "I'm getting 3.5:1," he said. "If you've got a nine I'm supposed to call." And call he did.

Farrell: [Ah][Jd]
Megrous: [9d][7d]

The [6d] turn changed nothing but the [As] river did. Megrous let out some choice words in French after he saw the river card. Farrell is now up to around 5,000,000. They'll be a short break whilst there's a complete re-draw of the final nine players. --NW

9:30pm: Arman Nugmanov eliminated in 11th place (€13,450)
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (ante 10,000)

From the cutoff Niall Farrell opened to 165,000 and action passed to Kidhir Megrous in the small blind. He got some calling chips out of his stack of around 1,050,000 and held them in his hand over the line. He seemed unsure what to do leaving his had hovering for about 20 seconds before calling. But he hadn't put enough chips in and had to put in another 50K to make up the shortfall.

Perhaps this influenced Arman Nugmanov's decision (but we'll never know), he moved all-in for 930,000 total, Farrell re-raised all-in and Megrous tanked before folding.

Farrell: [Qs][Qh]
Nugmanov: [Ac][7c]

The board ran [Ks][3s][3c][9c][Js] and Farrell's hand held to boost him to 3,800,000. We are now on the unofficial final table bubble. --NW

9:29pm: Preite doubles through Purice
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Gaetano Preite open-raised all-in for 630,000 from middle position, then Tudor Purice reraise-shoved from the small blind to isolate.

Purice had [8s][8d] while Preite showed [Ad][Kd]. The [2d][Jd][6s] flop kept Preite in front, but the [7d] gave Preite a flush and made the river no matter. Preite is up to 1.37 million now, while Purice still has a big stack of 4.55 million --MH

9:19pm: Benoit Veres eliminated in 12th place (€12,050)
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Benoit Veres had battled with a short stack for several hours before finally getting his last 670,000 chips in the middle with [Kc][Td] and facing one caller in Niall Farrell who held [As][Jc].

The board ran out nine-high -- [9d][6c][6s][8h][9c] -- and Veres was knocked out in 12th. Farrell meanwhile bounced back to 3.12 million with that pot. --MH

9:15pm: Nice call!
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Niall Farrell's slide down the chip charts continues as Stefano Terziani just made a nice river call against him to win a decent sized pot. Farrell opened to 125,000 from the cutoff and Terziani called from the button.

On the [8h][7s][6h] flop Farrell fired out a 185,000 c-bet and Terziani stuck around. The [Jd] turn got checked through and the [7c] fell on fifth street. Farrell reached for chips and pushed out a bet of 250,000. His Italian opponent dwelled for a minute or so and then called. Farrell turned over [Kc][Ts] for king high and Terziani opened [As][Qh] for an ace high hero call.

After that hand Farrell is down to around 2,500,000 whilst Terziani climbs to 3,700,000. --NW

9:05pm: The "shove on Farrell" orbit
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Whilst the big Purice vs Fernandez pot was taking place (see below) the other table played a full orbit. During that orbit Niall Farrell raised four pots in a row (one of them was a three-bet). He got shoved on three out of the four occasions and folded every time with the minimum of fuss. --NW

8:55pm: Purice and Fernandez play a big pot
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Tudor Purice and Julian Fernandez, who are two of the top five stacks in the tournament just clashed in a big pot. It was actually Miguel Silva who got the action started, he opened to 125,000 from under-the-gun, Purice flat called and Fernandez then raised it up to 325,000 from the button. Purice was the only caller.

The flop fell [8s][Tc][4c], Purice checked, Fernandez bet 530,000, Purice check-raised to 1,275,000 and Fernandez went into the tank. Purice had about 2,075,000 back and Fernandez, who had about 3,600,000 behind puffed out his cheeks a few times as he thought about what to do. He tanked for over five minutes before folding the [Jd] face-up.

Purice is up to 4,600,000, whilst Fernandez is down to 3,600,000. --NW

8:46: Olivier Armougon eliminated in 13th place (€12,050)
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Olivier Armougon open-raised for his last 240,000 and got one caller in Gaetano Preite. Armougon tabled [Ks][8d] while Preite had [Ac][9d], and after the [Jd][Jh][3h][3c][2c] runout, Armougon bid the table goodbye. --MH

8:38pm: Better kicker for Terziani
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Kidhir Megrous raised to 150,000 from under the gun and it folded around to Stefano Terziani who called from the big blind. The flop came [5d][2s][Ah], Terziani checked, Megrous bet 225,000, and Terziani called. The turn was the [As], bringing another check-call from Terziani, this time for 275,000.

The [8s] river completed the board. Terziani checked again, and after hesitating a couple of beats Megrous checked behind.

Terziani showed [Ac][Qd] for trip aces, and Megrous showed his hand briefly -- ace-jack, also for trips but with a worse kicker -- before mucking.

Terziani is up to 2.4 million now, while Megrous slips to 680,000. --MH

8:35pm: Romain Matteoli doubles through Tudor Purice
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Action folded to Romain Matteoli in the small blind and he raised it up to 160,000 total. Tudor Purice thought for a little bit and shoved all-in. He was the covering stack and Matteoli, who had 1,560,000 total, thought for about 30 seconds and then called.

Matteoli: [Kh][Qh]
Purice: [3h][3c]

Matteoli needed to win a flip to stay alive and he did just that as the board ran [2c][Ts][Qc][Kc][9h]. He's up to 3,180,000 whilst Purice drops to 3,000,000. --NW

8:25pm: Laurent Badin eliminated in 14th place (€10,810)
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

On the first hand after the dinner break Laurent Badin was eliminated when his ace-jack failed to spike against the pocket queens of Julian Fernandez. Badin's all-in was for 570,000. --NW

8:23pm: Play resumes
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000)

Players are back. These final 14 will be playing down to eight tonight. --MH

7:06pm: Dinner break
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

The 14 remaining players are now on a 75-minute dinner break. Take a look at their updated counts below. --NW

7:05pm: Mauro Tarantini eliminated in 15th place (€ 10,810)
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

Stephane Dossetto opened to 150,000 from early position, Niall Farrell flat called and Mauro Tarantini then moved all-in for 845,000 from the big blind. Dossetto tanked and then folded, Farrell also tanked but he called!

Tarantini: [7d][7c]
Farrell: [As][Qh]

The board ran [3s][Ks][Ad][3c][9d] and Tarantini was eliminated, whilst Farrell finally won a big all-in. His first of the day. Dossetto told Farrell that he'd folded the same hand. "I thought when you tanked for that long you might have the same hand, which is why I thought for so long," said Farrell.

He's up to around 4,050,000 after that hand. --NW

7pm: Fernandez takes a big pot from Preite
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

Julian Fernandez opened to 135,000 in early position and called after Gaetano Preite min-raised to 220,000 total. On the [3s][6h][Qh] flop Preite bet 300,000 and Fernandez, using a high chip toss, called immediately.

The [Qc] turn checked through and the [5d] completed the board. Fernandez led for 200,000, Preite raised it up to 600,000 and Fernandez grimaced before calling. Preite rolled over [Ah][Js] but Fernandez had him beat with pocket tens. He's up to 4,100,000 whilst Preite is down to 1,250,000. --NW

6:50pm: Battlin' Badin
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

With 15 left Laurent Badin has become the short stack, and while he's tried to improve his status of late with a couple of preflop all-ins, no one is taking him up on the offer.

Less than 10 minutes remain until the end of the level, at which time they'll be taking a 75-minute dinner break. --MH

6:41pm: Alexandre Sette eliminated in 16th place (€9,580)
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

After shoving all-in for his last 500,000 or so from middle position, Alexandre Sette watched Stephane Dossetto call from the next seat over and the rest of the table step aside.

Sette had [Ah][9d] but needed help against Dossetto's [Ad][Jh]. The board came [Jd][As][6d][7h][8h], which meant Sette was drawing dead by the turn to go out in 16th place.

Dossetto is way up to 5.15 million now. --MH

6:33pm: Two flush draws are better than one
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

An absolute sicker for Stefano Terziani who just doubled up Kidder Megrous even though they both had the same hand.

Terziani raise-called with [As][Ks] and a chop looked liked likely as Megrous had [Ah][Kd]. Before any community cards were dealt Megrous, who was all-in for 875,000, pointed at the king as if to say: "I'll make a flush with that one," and he did.

The [9d][Ad][Tc][5d][4d] making him a diamond flush on the river and wounding Terziani in the process. He's up to 1,800,000 whilst Terziani is down to 2,200,000. --NW

6:30pm: Final two tables
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

Below is how the final two tables shape up:

6:20pm: Gleb Tremzin eliminated in 17th place
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

We're down to the final two tables in the FPS Main Event and it's EPT12 Prague runner-up Gleb Tremzin who's fallen in 17th.

He shoved for 615,000 with [Ad][Js] and Arman Nugmanov looked him up from the big blind with [7s][7h]. The [8d][2s][Kd][9c][7c] board meant Nugmanov's hand held up. He's up to 1,700,000 and there's now a short break for a re-draw of the final two tables. --NW

6:10pm: Silva doubles up
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

Gaetano Preite and Miguel Silva had reached the river of a [7h][Td][Js][7d][Jh] board and there was about 800,000 in the pot. It was a blind on blind battle and Preite checked to Silva and he moved all-in for 740,000.

Preite tanked and then called it off, Silva showed [Jc][6d] for trips and Preite tapped the table before showing [Ah][Th]. He's down to 1,525,000 whilst Silva is up to 2,300,000. --NW

6:06pm: Hopkins cut down in 18th
Level 26 - Blinds 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000)

After Gaetano Preite opened for 125,000 from middle position, it folded around to Mathew Hopkins in the small blind who reraised all-in for 340,000, and Preite called.

Hopkins had [Kd][Js] and the edge over Preite's [8c][6c]. But the flop came [3h][8s][6s] to give Preite two pair, and by the [Qc] turn Hopkins was already drawing dead to finish in 18th place.

Preite has 2.85 million now. --MH

5:51pm: Oliveira eliminated in 19th
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

Right after Florian Pral's bust, Pedro Oliveira watched Stephane Dossetto raise from under the gun and the table fold back to him in the big blind. Oliveira then reraise-pushed all-in for about 900,000, and Dossetto called in a snap.

Oliveira: [Td][Ts]
Dossetto: [Ah][As]

Bad timing for Oliveira, and five cards later -- [9c][7d][7s][Qc][9s] -- he was out in 19th place. Dossetto is now stacking up about 3.925 million and is challenging Tudor Purice for the chip lead. --MH

5:45pm: Pral punches out in 20th
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

Florian Pral pushed all-in with his short stack from middle position with [Ac][6d] and was looked up by Miguel Silva who reraise-isolated from the button with [Ah][9d]. The board ran [3c][Qc][Jd][7c][Qd], and Pral's run was stopped in 20th place.

"Nice hand," said the short-stacked Mathew Hopkins from across the table to Silva. "And thank you!"

With 19 left now, Silva sits with 1.475 million. --MH

5:39pm: Wenzelburger falls in 21st
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

Philipp Wenzelburger started the day as the chip leader with 60 players left, though during the afternoon gradually slid back to the pack as others challenged for the top spot.

At last Wenzelburger got the last of his chips in the middle with [Ts][Td] but unfortunately for him had run into the [Qd][Qc] of Tudor Purice.

The board ran out [Ad][6h][9c][6c][7c], leaving Wenzelburger unimproved and sending him railward in 21st place. Meanwhile Purice is now way up to 4.55 million --MH

5:35pm: Johnson loses flip to bust in 22nd
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

The previous hand Keith Johnson had three-bet all-in over the top of a Jean-Baptiste Bertrand open and Julian Fernandez looked like he really wanted to call. The Frenchman folded on that occasion but on the next hand they got it on.

Johnson opened to 100,000 from late position, Fernandez three-bet to 350,000 from the small blind, Johnson shoved for what looked like 870,000 and Fernandez flicked in a chip to signify a call.

Johnson: [Th][Tc]
Fernandez: [As][Kd]

The [9d][9s][3c] flop was safe for Johnson, the [Kh] turn gave Fernandez the lead and the [Ac] river only improved his hand. He climbs to 3,975,000 whilst Johnson picks up € 7,160 for his 22nd place finish. --NW

5:40pm: Benoit Veres doubles through Gaetano Preite
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

From under-the-gun Benoit Veres moved all-in for 590,000 and he got a call from Gaetano Preite. First to show was Veres, he had [Ah][Kh] and was dominating the [Ad][Jd] of Preite.

The board ran [5c][9d][6c][2s][6s] and Veres shouted: "Allez, allez, good morning," as he won the pot. He's up to 1,300,000 whilst Priete is down to 2,300,000. --NW

5:30pm: Big double for Tarantini
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

Romain Matteoli opened to 90,000 from middle position and Mauro Tarantini called from the big blind. The flop fell [5h][7h][4d], Matteoli c-bet 105,000 only for Tarantini to check-raise all-in for 605,000 total. Matteoli tanked for a few minutes before calling.

Tarantini: [7c][7s]
Matteoli: [3h][3c]

The [4s] turn made Tarantini a full-house and the meaningless [Ac] completed the board. He's up to 1,500,000 whilst Matteoli is down to 460,000. --NW

5:16pm: Olivier Decamps eliminated in 23rd
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

They are down to 22 now as Olivier Decamps has been knocked out.

Decamps put his last 520,000 in the middle with [Tc][Th] but unfortunately for him ran into Kidhir Megrous' [Ah][Ad].

The community cards came [7c][Kh][7s][4c][9c], and Decamps hit the rail. Megrous has 1.65 million at the moment. --MH

5:11pm: Puche put out in 24th
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

Shortly after play resumed, Olivier Puche put his short stack all-in with ace-jack versus the pocket nines of Tudor Purice, and when the board ran out eight-high Puche was done in 24th place.

Purice is now up to 3.3 million. --MH

5:10pm: A few snippets
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

Here are a few biographical items to help you get to know some of the remaining players. --NW

* Stephane Dossetto - won the FPS3 Deauville High Roller (2013)
* Kidhir Megrous - $260,000 in lifetime earnings, cashed in 2011 WSOPE Main
* Arman Nugmanov, played professional football for two years after leaving school, won the first of the Hexathlon challenges - and was rewarded with a Baby PokerStars Spade. The 37-year-old has been to the Grand Final twice as well as EPT Prague
* Miguel Silva - $133K in earnings, biggest win 3rd in a €1k Hyper at EPT12 Prague
* Keith Johnson - won the first ever Eureka event (it was in Prague) high stakes online/live cash player, final table of €25K HR in Dublin
* Pedro Oliviera - $154,106 in winnings. Results almost exclusively in Portugal.
* Gaetano Preite: $701,273 in earnings. Deep run (48th) in the 2013 WSOP Main Event. Won the IPT High Roller in Sanremo in 2014.
* Olivier Decamps - won a Winamax tour event in Paris in 2015.
* Romain Matteoli: 2nd in WPT Barcelona Main Event in 2011.
* Stefano Terziani: 2nd at IPT4 Campione in 2011. Cashed in PCA Main Event in 2015.

5:05pm: Updated chip counts (24 remain)
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (ante 5,000)

4:42pm: Take a break
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

When the three table re-draw was taking place Niall Farrell told Philipp Wenzelburger that there was a break, when in fact it was just a pause for the re-draw. When the re-draw had been completed Wenzelburger still hadn't shown up. A horrified Farrell was asking around if anyone knew how to contact him.

Fortunately Wenzelburger returned at this point and didn't miss a hand. But, the players are now on a 20-minute break. --NW

4:37pm: Matteoli doubles through Tremzin
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Romain Matteoli has just doubled up through Gleb Tremzin to push his stack up to 1.33 million.

Matteoli had [5s][5d] versus Tremzin's [Ah][Jh], and happily flopped a set to secure the double-up. Tremzin falls back to about 950,000. --MH

4:30pm: Final three tables
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Below is the re-draw of the final three tables. There's a break in about 10 minutes time, during which we'll be getting full chip counts.

4:18pm: Brecard falls in 25th
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Julian Brecard spent much of yesterday and the first part of today as a short stack. He then managed to build his stack up considerably during the afternoon, but alas for the Frenchman his tournament has come to a close with a 25th-place finish.

In his last hand, Brecard committed his final chips behind [Qs][7h] and was up against Laurent Badin's [Ah][9s]. A runout of [8c][9d][5d][As][Kh] added up to two pair for Badin and no improvement at all for Brecard, and the latter headed over to the cashier.

That means they're down to 24, and so a redraw is in order. Back in a few with details of where everyone gets relocated. --MH

4:11pm: Farrell push prompts Matteoli fold
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

With about 750,000 in the middle and the board showing [4c][3s][3d][Ks][Ts], Niall Farrell checked, Romain Matteoli bet 295,000, then after getting a count on the bet and pausing a half-minute or so, Farrell announced he was check-raising all-in.

Matteoli tanked for a full four minutes, looking back at the board, Farrell, and his stack of about 560,000 as he did. Finally he let his hand go, and now Farrell is back up around 2 million. --MH

4:05pm: Arbanatskii takes 26th
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Shortly after Leszczynski's bustout, Ivan Arbanatskii followed him to the rail in 26th, meaning one more elimination and they'll be pausing for a redraw around the final three tables. --MH

4pm: Leszczynski knocked out in 27th
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Robert Leszczynski was just all-in for his last 300,000 with [7h][7d] and at risk of elimination versus Kidhir Megrous' [As][Qh]. Alas for Leszczynski, the [Qs][3s][6h][2c][Kc] gave his opponent the better pair and ended his FPS Monaco Main Event run in 27th.

Megrous is up to 1.47 million with that pot. --MH

4:05pm: Big stacks
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

The average stack is currently 1,167,600 but there are three players who've got over 2,000,000. Julian Fernandez has 2,550,000, Tudor Purice has 2,400,000 and Stephane Dossetto is sitting on a stack of 2,200,000. --NW

4pm: Murderers row
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Table one is arguably the toughest in the room. More pertinently half of table one is arguably the toughest in the room. Sitting in a row you've got Niall Farrell (1,200,000, EPT12 Malta champion), Tudor Purice (2,400,000, IPT7 Grand Final runner-up), Keith Johnson (1,100,000 Eureka Prague champion) and Gleb Tremzin (1,750,000, EPT12 Prague runner-up).

Tough crowd. The good news for them is that there's a redraw when we reach 24 players. 27 remain. --NW

3:45pm: Jacks fail Trissi
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Jessica Trissi was all-in and at risk for her last 220,000 or so with [Jd][Js] and hoping to hold against Stefano Terziani's [Ac][Th]. But the flop came [Kc][Ad][7s] to pair Terziani's ace, and after the [2d] turn and [Qd] river, Trissi -- the last woman in the event -- was knocked out in 32nd.

With 31 players left, the average stack is now over 1 million. --MH

3:41pm: Oliveira doubles through Tarantini
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

Mauro Tarantini opened for 52,000, then Pablo Oliveira shoved all-in over the top for 476,000 total. It folded back to Tarantini who considered for a short while before making the call.

Tarantini had [Th][Tc] while Oliveira was ahead with [Qs][Qh]. The board ran out clean for Oliveira, coming [7s][6c][7h][Ad][Qh] to improve him to a full house, and he clapped his hands once in response.

Oliveira is back up over 1 million now, while Tarantini has about 810,000. --MH

3:34pm: Maisano out in 33rd, down to four tables
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (ante 4,000)

The blinds and antes go up, and the field size goes down. There are 32 players left now, gathered around four full eight-handed tables. --MH

3:33pm: Maisano out in 33rd, down to four tables
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (ante 3,000)

Mirco Maisano picked up a strong hand, he just ran into an even better one. He raised to 55,000, Miguel Silva three-bet to 125,000, Maisano shoved for just over 500,000 and Silva snap called.

Silva: [Ac][Ad]
Maisano: [As][Kh]

It was bad timing for Maisano and his luck didn't improve on the [5c][Qd][6c][8h][4h] board and he was eliminated. --NW

3:28pm: Farrell can't win an all-in
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (ante 3,000)

"I've not been good at all-ins today," rued Niall Farrell as his stack took another hit.

He'd opened to 55,000 from late position and called when Philipp Wenzelburger three-bet to 115,000 out of the big blind. On the [Qs][5h][8s] flop Wenzelburger open shoved for his last 411,000 and Farrell went into the tank. He had about 1,500,000 back and after giving it a lot of thought he called.

Farrell: [9h][9s]
Wenzelburger: [Ac][Kd]

It was a good call from Farrell but he still had overcards to dodge. The [Td] gave Wenzelburger some gutshot outs to go with his pair outs and he hit the [Ad] river to survive. He's up to 1,070,000 whilst Farrell drops to 1,130,000. --NW

3:14pm: Fernandez forces fold, finds first
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (ante 3,000)

With about 130,000 in the middle and the board showing [8d][4d][2s], Julian Fernandez led with a bet of 87,000, then start-of-day leader Philipp Wenzelburger raised just a tiny bit over the minimum to 175,000. Fernandez considered a while, then called, then both checked the [7h] turn.

The river brought the [Ac] and another check from Fernandez, and this time Wenzelburger pushed out a smallish bet of 100,000. Fernandez then check-raised big, and Wenzelburger instantly folded.

Wenzelburger is down around 520,000 right now while Fernandez is thriving, having chipped way up to 2.26 million and into first position currently. --MH

3pm: Guilbert doubles through Julien Brécard
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (ante 3,000)

Julien Brécard raised to 60,000 from the small blind with [Ad][8h] and called when Johan Guilbert shoved from the big for 189,000 with [7s][7d]. The pair held up on a [Ks][9h][2d][5s][3s] board to double up Guilbert, whilst Brécard drops to 1,950,000.

No such luck for Toni Zengovski, Alessio Sabatini, or Thomas Popov, though, as they're all out. --NW

2:47pm: Parotti out, Drissi in
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (ante 3,000)

Heading into Level 23, just two women were left in the field, and both of them were all-in and at risk during the first orbit after the break.

First Daniela Parotti pushed all-in for about 300,000 and got called by Olivier Puche sitting one seat over. Parotti had [Ac][Qc] but Puche held [Ad][Kh], having her hand dominated and chip stack covered.

The board ran out [5c][7h][2d][7c][Ks], and Parotti is out.

On the next table over, Jessica Drissi was down to just 80,000 when she put it all-in behind [Jd][Ts] and was called by Olivier Armougon with [Ac][Kc]. There the community cards came [2h][3d][2d][6h][Th], that river ten saving Drissi for now, although she still appears to be shortest with 37 players left. --MH

2:45pm: Top 10 stacks
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (ante 3,000)

As the level got underway the players below were in positions one through ten in the chip counts. Tudor Purice still has the lead, but Julian Fernandez isn't far behind. --NW

2:35pm: Freitas doubles through Farrell
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (ante 3,000)

Down to just 133,000 Fabio Freitas moved all-in from early position with [Kc][Jc] and Niall Farrell looked him up with [As][8s]. The [Td][Qh][Ac] flop was gin for Freitas and the board ran out [4h][Jd] to keep the Brazilian in the lead. He's up to around 300,000 whilst Farrell drops to 1,000,000. --NW

2:26pm: Play resumes

The 39 remaining players are back in the seats and cards are back in the air. And landing back down on the felt. And being looked at and bet upon.

You know, the usual. --MH

2:06pm: Break time

After a busy first couple of hours that saw just over a third of the Day 3 starters knocked out, those who remain are taking their first 20-minute break of the day. Meanwhile we'll be counting up stacks to give you an idea where things stand on the other side. --MH

2:05pm: Pral doubles
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

Florian Pral is up to 465,000 after doubling through Niall Farrell. The Frenchman shoved for 204,000 with [Ad][Jc] and Farrell called with [Ah][Qs].

The [Jd][3h][8s][7c][6c] board saw Pral win the pot and drop Farrell to around 1,200,000. --NW

2:03pm: Everyone is ordering doubles
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

We're hearing "All-in and a call!" constantly as Level 22 nears its conclusion. But not so many instances of "Payout!" Just now there were four players all-in and at risk on four different tables, all within a few minutes, and all four survived.

Alessio Sabatini was all-in with a short stack with [Ac][Td] versus Laurent Badin's [Ad][Kc], but the board made a wheel for both to force a chop and let Sabatini keep his seat.

Erick Levy Guedj then made it through with [Kh][Ts] versus Pedro Oliveira's [9c][9s] when a king came on the turn. "Yea papa!" said Guedj, although he's still very short.

Francisco Acevedo then survived with pocket eights versus ace-king, followed by Julien Brecard doubling up with [Qc][Qs] versus Thomas Popov's [Jc][Jd].

Brecard's double was the biggest of the four, pushing him up around 1.1 million as the first break of the day nears. --MH

2pm: Purice piles on the pressure
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

Tudor Purice is up to around 2,000,000 after winning a big pot against Gleb Tremzin. I picked up the action on the [9s][Jh][6c] flop to see Purice (small blind) betting 115,000. Tremzin, who was in early position, called. The [Qd] turn checked through and the [Qh] completed the board.

Purice fired again, this time 325,000 and Tremzin tank-called. The Romanian rolled over [Ac][Qs] and Tremzin mucked. He's down to 800,000. --NW

1:55pm: Cooler alert!
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

Our thanks to Fabio Freitas for telling us about a big pot he played, even more so given that he lost the hand in question.

He told us that he had pocket eights and Toni Zengovski pocket sixes. By the river the board was [A][5][6][6][8] and unsurprisingly the chips went in. Zengovski had about 300,000 to start the hand and he's up to 607,000, whilst Freitas is down to 350,000. --NW

1:42pm: Armougon trips up Hopkins
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

"All right, I need a minute."

So said Mathew Hopkins, and a quick survey of the situation made it immediately apparent he'd made a reasonable request.

The board showed [6s][Qc][Ah][6c], the cards in the middle surrounded on three sides by the 550,000 or so of chips in the middle. Hopkins' opponent, Olivier Armougon, had pushed all in from the cutoff for approximately 450,000, and Hopkins had to think a bit futher on the button.

Finally Hopkins called, then wincingly said "Oh!" when Armougon tabled [6d][4h] for trip sixes. Hopkins showed his second-best [As][Jd], and Armougon is now way up around 1.5 million. Hopkins meanwhile sits with about 615,000. --MH

1:40pm: Guenoun departs
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

In a blind on blind battle Gleb Tremzin and Bertrand Guenoun got the chips in with Guenoun at risk for his final 340,000. Tremzin had [8d][8s] and was ahead of Guenoun's [Ah][Kd].

This classic race went the way of the pair as the board ran [5s][3d][7c][5c][2d] and Tremzin is up to 1,275,000. --NW

1:35pm: Badin busts Yared
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

All-in and at risk with [Ac][5d], Ghassan Yared had the preflop edge against Laurent Badin's [Kd][Tc]. But the flop came [Ks][2d][Qc] to give Badin kings, and after the [7c] turn and [8s] river, Yared was eliminated.

With 46 players left, Badin has 425,000. --MH

1:25pm: Steinbicker doubles, still short
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

Thomas Steinbicker had just 57,000 left and he stuck them in with [Jh][6h] and was behind against Alexandre Sette's [As][Ts]. The [6d][2h][9d][9s][Qc] board favoured Steinbicker and he's doubled to around 140,000. -- NW

1:18pm: Brecard est très bien
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (ante 3,000)

Julien Brecard open-pushed his short stack of 212,000 from the button, and after a while saw the shove get through.

"Nice hand," said Robert Leszczynski from across the table. "Finally!"

"No... I won one before," said Brecard with a laugh, noting how through the first hour-plus he did pick up a pot with tens. "Now I have like 260-270 thousand. Yesterday I had three big blinds on the bubble, so I'm okay."

"Très bien!" clarified Leszczynski, and Brecard nodded with a laugh. They went on to talk nationalities. As a Team Pro for France, Brecard literally wears his nationality on his sleeve, but Leszczynski's is less obvious -- one parent from Poland, another from Vietnam, birth in Norway, and current residence in Norway.

Right now here in Monaco, Leszczynski has about 780,000 and an above average stack. --MH

1:17pm: The longest tank
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

This hand took so long that the blinds went up, there was a double up and an elimination at other tables whilst it took place.

Mauro Tarantini got the action started, raising to 35,000 from the hijack, Gaetano Preite then three-bet to 85,000 from the cutoff only for Pedro Oliveira to cold four-bet to 200,000 on the button.

Tarantini folded and then the tanking began. Preite had about 700,000 in total and was faced with, what was in all likelihood, an all-in or fold decision. He took his time, a lot of time and none of the players at the table called the clock. In fact they went as far to say that they realised how important the decision was and they were happy for Preite to take his time.

The clock ticked onwards and then eventually he made his decision. "All-in," he said. About half a second later Oliviera said call and we had a showdown!

Oliviera: [Kc][Ks]
Preite: [Ac][Ad]

Preite had tanked for ages with aces! Perhaps thinking that an extended tank was more likely to get a call from Oliviera. Of course with the hand Oliviera had he could have instantly shoved and Oliviera would've still called!

The [Ah][8s][7c][4s][9c] board further improved Preite and he doubled to 1,470,000 whilst Oliviera is down to 720,000. --NW

1:05pm: Purice tank-folds, still has the lead
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Tudor Purice could've become the first player to break the 2,000,000 chip mark had he won the following hand.

He'd bet 129,000 on the turn of a [7h][2c][Ks][Qc] board only for Benoit Veres to move all-in for 373,000 total. "Do you want a call, do you want to gamble?" asked Purice, before he elected to fold. Veres showed [9s][9h] as he took the pot.

"Oh my god," sighed Purice, who despite that dent still has 1,950,000. He didn't have a chance to get those chips back though as their table broke because the tournament is down to 48 players as Kamel Hamou, Bertrand Guenoun, Remi Picart and Vincent Antoine Cavailles are all out. --NW

12:54pm: A double-KO for Pedro O.
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Yannick Dupont stared down at his cards and chose to fire his last 109,000 forward from middle position, then Pedro Oliveira, next to act, decided to call the push. It folded to Christos Stefanidis in the small blind who confirmed the amount of the raise, then announced he was three-betting all-in.

The action got back to Oliveira who learned the reraise was for 283,000 total, and he decided to call again to set up a three-way all-in:

Dupont: [9s][8s]
Oliveira: [Ad][Qs]
Stefanidis: [As][Ks]

The flop came [6h][Qh][3s], prompting a sound equal parts surprise and delight from Oliveira. The [Ah] solicited further sounds of approval as the Portuguese player called for the hand to hold, and the dealer obliged with the [Jh] river.

That meant two more players have been sent to the rail in Dupont and Stefanidis, bringing the field down to just 50. Meanwhile Oliveira now has a little over 1 million. --MH

12:52pm: It's always you!
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Down to just over 200,000 Patrick Gervois shoved all-in from under-the-gun and one by one the players folded until Mathew Hopkins, who was in the big blind, requested a count. He weighed up his options and then called.

Gervois: [2s][2h]
Hopkins: [6c][6d]

The [Ah][As][Tc] flop kept Hopkins in front as did the [Td] turn but it opened up a lot of chopportunities. The [7s] river meant both players played the board. "It's always you," said Hopkins with a smirk to "Shaun the dealer" who was in the box at their table. --NW

12:45pm: Nervous Nugmanov gets his double
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Kamel Hamou raised it up from the button only for Arman Nugmanov to move all-in for 238,000 from the big blind. Hamou requested a count, received it and then called.

Hamou: [Ah][8d]
Nugmanov: [Td][Th]

Nugmanov stood up and began jigging from side to side with nervous energy as he awaited his fate. The [2d][Kh][Qc][8c][4d] board meant the pair held up and he doubled to 502,000 whilst Hamou is down to 550,000. --NW

12:35pm: Freitas not kind to his guest
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

We're taught to treat our guests well but there are no friends at the poker table and Nicolas Guest just busted to Fabio Freitas in a battle of the premium hands.

The Frenchman had less than ten big blinds and they went in with [Qh][Qs]. A fine hand, but one that was behind to the pocket kings of Freitas. The [4s][9s][6c][As][6h] board kept Freitas in front and sent Guest to the rail.

Vytautas Laurinaitis is also out. --NW

12:33pm: Purice calls Morel's push, grabs lead
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Arriving on the river with about a quarter million chips in the middle and a board showing [Tc][6c][Ad][5s][4h], Thierry Morel made a big all-in push for his last 420,000 or so to put Tudor Purice to a tough decision. Purice thought for a while but finally came up with a call, at which point Morel appeared ready to leave without showing his hand at all. His cards were turned over -- [Ah][8c] for a pair of aces -- and when Purice turned over [As][Js] to show the same pair with a better kicker, Morel indeed took his leave.

He's still stacking, but it appears that big pot pushes Purice up around 1.45 million and into the apparent chip lead with 54 players remaining. --MH

12:31pm: Andreev out
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

End-of-Day-1A chip leader Andrey Andreev survived Day 2, albeit with a short stack of just under 10 big blinds. He lost those chips within the first half-hour of play today to join others on the rail.

There are 55 players left. --MH

12:24pm: Guenoun hanging on
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Bertrand Guenoun looked destined to be one of the first knockouts of the day shortly after Florian Pral doubled through him with [Ac][Jc] versus 's [8h][7h]. That knocked Guenoun down to just over 30,000 or a couple of big blinds.

But Guenoun managed to earn a quick more-than-double-up just after, getting his chips in with [9d][8s] and being up against the [Ad][Qc] of Romans Voitovs. The board ran out [5h][5d][3c][Jh][9c], that river nine keeping Guenoun in the game with about 75,000. --MH

12:20pm: Early busts
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Atanas Kavrakov, Theodore Vives, and Noris Barcimanto all began today with relatively short stacks, and all three have unfortunately lost those chips to be the first knockouts of the day. 57 players remain. --MH

12:15pm: Fist pump for Sabatini
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Alessio Sabatini couldn't contain his glee at doubling through Stefano Terziani and did a couple of fist pumps as the river card hit the felt.

He'd shoved for 220,000 with [Kd][Ks] and Terziani understandably looked him up with [Ad][Kh]. The [6s][5c][Td][Jh][7c] board kept the cowboys in the lead and Sabatini is up to around 480,000 whilst Terziani drops to 820,000. --NW

12:05pm: Cards in the air
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (ante 2,000)

Day 3 is underway! Sixty players begin the day, all with hopes of making it to tomorrow's final. --MH

11:55am: The march to the final table begins

It's time for Day 3 of the FPS Monaco Main Event. If yesterday was about building a stack, today is about making sure you still have one at the close of play. If you do then you'll have secured a seat the final table. A final table that will play out with cards-up coverage on EPT Live tomorrow.

The man looking most likely to get that far right now is Philipp Wenzelburger, who bagged up a chip leader 1,389,000 at the end of Day 2. It's fairly tight at the top though with six players over a million. One of those is EPT12 Malta champion Niall Farrell, who'll begin the day with 1,122,000. EPT12 Prague runner-up Gleb Tremzin is still going strong too as he's got 865,000 to play with.

The full start of Day 3 seat draw is below. Play begins at noon.