Jerome Finck opened to 12,000 from early positon before Rafael Moraes moved all in for 168,000 from the small blind. After getting a count, Finck called.
Rafael Moraes:
Jerome Finck:
Finck's kings stayed ahead on the flop and improved to a set on the turn. The completed the board and the PokerStars ambassador was eliminated.
Gianluca Speranza opened to 80,000 with just 15,000 behind and Lars Kamphues three-bet jammed on the button to send Speranza into the tank on the soft money bubble.
Speranza used three time banks before the floor instructed him that they would kill his hand after five seconds and Speranza then called.
Gianluca Speranza:
Lars Kamphues:
Speranza couldn't survive the flip as the board ran out to pair Kamphues's king as Stephen Song revealed he folded king-jack.
"I like your king-jack better after the flop," commented Kamphues.
The Italian's elimination marked the beginning of hand-for-hand play with 64 players remaining and 63 places paid.
Rui Ferreira raised to 16,000 from late position and Martin Jacobson reraised to 55,000 from the big blind. Ferreira pushed all in for around 335,000 effective, with Jacobson the player at risk. Jacobson made the call.
Players gathered around the table to witness the all-in clash on the bubble, with all other tables paused during hand-for-hand play. "It's bad," said Jacobson as he waited for the moment to arrive for the dealers to play out the board.
Martin Jacobson:
Rui Ferreira:
The board ran out . The flop gave Ferreira a pair of kings and both players paired their ace on the river. Ferreira took it down with top two pair and doubled up, much to the dismay of onlookers who were hoping the bubble would burst.
Mustapha Kanit raised to 45,000 from early position, leaving 1,000 behind. Action folded to Stephen Song in the big blind who put him all in. Kanit called.
Mustapha Kanit:
Stephen Song:
Kanit's tens held out to scoop the pot as the board ran out with the .
Pieter Aerts started the hand with 183,000 and opened to 25,000. Jerome Finck jammed for 262,000 from the button. The blinds got out of the way, and Aerts quickly called for his tournament life.
Pieter Aerts:
Jerome Finck:
It was the ultimate preflop cooler and even sicker that it was on the bubble. The flop had Aerts with one foot out of the door. However, the appeared on the turn to give Aerts a set of kings to take the lead. Finck look sickened. The completed the board, which sent Finck for a walk.
"That was f***** up," laughed David Miscikowski. Bubble play continues.
The bubble has continued and still no bust. In the latest hand, the board had run out . Marton Czuczor checked it and Vlada Stojanovic shoved all in. Czuczor eventually made the call and he had Stojanovic covered.
Stojanovic, however, had the stone cold nuts. He showed for quad aces. Czuczor showed the for the full house. Stojanovic chipped up to over one million.
The tension in the tournament area was palpable as players anxiously eyed stacks around the room nearly three hours deep into the bubble.
After several short-stack double-ups throughout the room, Aleksandar Tomovic was forced all in from the small blind and got three callers who were looking to put an end to the bubble trouble.
Action checked to Rui Ferreira on the flop of and he bet 10,000. Only Tom-Aksel Bedell and Roman Hrabec called. All three players then checked on the turn and Hrabec checked again on the river. Bedell bet 42,000 and Ferreira folded, leading Hrabec to use a time bank before check-raising to 225,000.
Hrabec's raise sent the Norwegian into the tank and he exhausted through three time banks — a fitting end to the lengthy bubble — as spectators made their way to the table. Eventually, he folded and Tomovic waited patiently as hands played out on other tables. Finally, the cards were on their backs.
Tomovic showed for just jack-high, while Hrabec held for a pair of queens to finally burst the bubble as the room erupted in applause.
Eros Calderone limped under the gun. Action folded around to Julien Sitbon, who raised to 115,000, leaving just 3,000 behind. Calderone pushed all in and Calderone called for his remaining chips. Cards were turned on their backs.
Julien Sitbon:
Eros Calderone:
The board ran out . Sitbon paired his aces but Calderone hit a set of sevens on the flop and improved to a full house by the river. Calderone is in the top five chip leaders. Sitbon, meanwhile, was eliminated in 47th place for €18,800.
After 10 levels of play, Day 2 of the €10,300 High Roller at PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris concluded, with Apoorva Goel topping the end of day chip counts. They ended the day with a stack of 1,410,000.
Closest to him are Christian Pedersen and Rui Ferreira, who bagged 1,120,000 & 1,060,000 respectively.
From Day 1, 173 players advanced to Day 2. However, as late registration was open until the start of today's session, 40 more players opted to hop into the fray.
These extra entries brought the Day 2 field to 213 players, taking the total number of entries to 431. This generated a whopping €4,137,600 prize pool, with €810,500 designated for the eventual champion.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Stacks
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Apoorva Goel
India
1,410,000
94
2
Christian Pedersen
Denmark
1,120,000
75
3
Rui Ferreria
Portugal
1,060,000
71
4
David Miscikowski
United States
1,050,000
70
5
Aleksandr Shevliakov
Russia
1,030,000
69
6
Eros Calderone
Italy
990,000
66
7
Jun Obara
Japan
885,000
59
8
Chevan Tin
Hong Kong
780,000
52
9
Martin Stausholm
Denmark
777,000
52
10
Mauricio Ferreira Pais
Germany
690,000
46
Bubble Play That Will Be Remembered for a Long Time
The big story of the day was that the money bubble burst. However, it was a long wait as the players made the money in the final level of the day.
Bubble play lasted nearly three hours, with several double-ups taking place. But in the end, Aleksandar Tomovic was the last player to leave the tournament room empty-handed.
Tomovic was forced all in from the small blind and got three callers looking to end the bubble trouble.
Action checked to Rui Ferreira on the flop of , and he bet 10,000. Only Tom-Aksel Bedell and Roman Hrabec called. All three players then checked on the turn, and Hrabec checked again on the river. Bedell bet 42,000, and Ferreira folded, leading Hrabec to use a time bank before check-raising to 225,000.
Hrabec's raise sent the Norwegian into the tank, and he exhausted through three time banks — a fitting end to the lengthy bubble — as spectators made their way to the table. Eventually, he folded, and Tomovic waited patiently as hands played out on other tables. Finally, the cards were on their backs.
Tomovic showed for just jack-high, while Hrabec held for a pair of queens to finally burst the bubble as the room erupted in applause.
Other Day 2 Highlights
As mentioned, the returning players from Day 1 were joined by many fresh faces who opted to take advantage of late registration.
Notable names who joined the festivities at the last minute included Julien Martini, Nick Petrangelo and Erik Seidel. However, all three of them missed out on the money.
Multiple players were also representing PokerStars. The likes of Sam Grafton, Rafael Moraes, Parker Talbot, and Ramon Colillas were in attendance, but like the names above, they fell short of seeing a return on their investment.
Bubble play brought some spectacular hands, with Pieter Aerts turning a set of kings to crack aces to survive. The United Kingdom's Conor Beresford had a bit better luck with pocket aces and doubled through Jenya Gavrilovich.
Vlada Stojanovic also made quad aces to breach the one million mark and left Marton Czuczor short. But as mentioned, it was Tomovic's elimination that resulted in celebration for the 63 final players, as they all secured the €17,100 min-cash.
However, when all was said and done on Day 2, only 44 players remained, and they return for Day 3, which kicks off on Sunday, February 25, at 12:30 p.m. local time. Those players have all locked up a minimum payday of €18,800, and to find the seat draw for Day 3, head over to the PokerStars Live app.
As always, be sure to keep locked in with PokerNews to discover this thrilling event's conclusion.