Deeb, Pape, Wu Bag Big in Day 1b of partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe Main Event
Day 1b is complete in the 2019 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe Main Event, and with the chips in the bags it’s Freddy Deeb who holds the chip lead going into Day 2. Deeb ended the night with 5,875,000 chips, which is the largest overall stack from either of the Day 1 flights.
Other large stacks from Day 1b include Piet Pape (5,585,000) and Yake Wu (5,500,000), and the trio of Deeb, Pape and Wu finished at a large distance ahead of the rest of the Day 1b field. Like Day 1a, the Day 1b field played through eight 60-minute levels in the €10,300 buy-in event after beginning the day at noon local time.
Those three players will be the top three stacks when Day 2 commences. The 59 players that survived Day 1b will join the 101 players that bagged Day 1a, and the combined field of 160 will return to the King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic Friday for Day 2 as the action continues in this €5,000,000 guaranteed tournament.
Deeb, Wu Bag Big
Poker legend Freddy Deeb has been no stranger to success at partypoker LIVE MILLIONS events in 2019.
Deeb’s largest cash in the last four years came earlier this year, when he finished fourth in the Main Event of the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Vegas event and took home $319,200. Deeb appeared in the field early in the day and rode a wave of big pots to the overall chip lead. He’ll be looking to add to his legend, and his total tournament career tournaments earnings total , which coming into this tournament is $8,945,355.
Deeb is joined at the top of the chip leaderboard by the German Pape, and China’s Wu. Wu is coming off a second-place finish in the €25,000 Triton Short Deck event earlier at the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe, and is in good position to add to an already successful trip to Rozvadov with a possible deep run in the Main Event.
Loaded Field
A table full of crushers developed right at the start of Thursday’s flight, as Ben Heath, Charlie Carrel, and partypoker pro Josip Simunic were all seated together. That lineup was moved to the televised feature table for much of day. Hossein Ensan, the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, joined the group later in the day at what was certainly one of the toughest draws in the room.
Other interesting dynamics unfolded at other tables, including a pair of WSOP Main Event champions seated next to each other in Ryan Riess and 2018 WSOP Europe Champion Jack Sinclair. Yet another table put partypoker pro Jeff Gross at the same table as German pros Ole Schemion and Steffan Sontheimer, and that group was moved to the feature table for the second half of the day.
A slew of other big names came through the King’s Casino poker arena for Day 1b. Some of the players not making through the day included Sontheimer, Mustapha Kanit, Michael Chi Zhang and Kristen Bicknell. All of those players busted Day 1b, but all still have the opportunity to re-enter the event through the first two levels of Day 2.
Some of the players that did make it through to Day 2 include partypoker pros like Bertand Grospellier (835,000) and Josep Simunic (675,000).
Other notables making it through included Carrel (2,975,000), Kenny Hallaert (2,930,000), Maria Lampropulos (1,855,000), Kahle Burns (1,655,000) Orpen Kisacikoglu (1,615,000) and Sinclair (1,410,000). Heath (1,140,000), Ensan (920,000) and Schemion (480,000) also all made it to the end of the night with chips in the bag.
Day 2 restarts at noon local time Friday, and play starts at Level 9 with the blinds at 15000/30000. Players will keep working through 60-minute levels, with late registration available up until the beginning of Level 11.
Keep it right here with the PokerNews live reporting team as the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe Main Event continues.
Follow the action from partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe on live stream with PokerGO.
on the board, Charle Carrel bet 200,000 from the hijack, into Ben Heath on the button. Heath took some time to think about making the call, with his own stack dwindling.
was good against Carrel's 
. The gutsy ace-high call keeps Heath in the hunt as the last level of Day 1b approaches.
and Zhang secured a much needed double up.
flop, and Riess called. Sinclair continued the aggression with a 45,000 bet on the 
turn, which Riess again called.
river. Riess used a couple of time bank chips as he thought it through, before making the fold.
flop, Carrel called and Heath folded.
, and Rivers bet 100,000 on the river 
, which Carrel called.
, and Carrel tabled 
, taking down the pot.
flop was dealt and it checked to Simunic. The Austrian partypoker Pro took over the betting initiative after he bet 20,000. Rivers was the only player that stuck around. Rivers check-folded on the 
after Simunic bet 36,000.
