EPT 11 Grand Final - Ole Schemion Leads the Way into Day 3

Day 2 of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event has reached its conclusion, with a member of German high roller contingent leading the way. Ole Schemion bagged the stack of 477k, which puts him just ahead of Christopher Frank and Jose Carlos Garcia, who will come back with 465k and 461k respectively.

The Main Event gathered, as expected, some of the biggest names in the world of poker, but the turnout was somewhat lower than the last year when Antonio Buonanno took the title. If nothing else, people from the poker media will remember that epic battle, which lasted until early morning hours and - as much as we all love good poker - everybody was on the edges of their seats waiting for it finally to end.

Buonanno outlasted 650 players last year and this year's final saw total of 564 entries - not an insignificant decrease, but not big enough to prevent a seven-figure first place payout. The eventual winner will walk away with €1,082,000 and join the club of EPT made millionaires (unless they are already a member).

There are 125 players still left in the field and they will come back tomorrow to continue their journey towards one of the most prestigious titles in poker. Some of the notables looking to further their fame include PokerStars Team Pro members Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier and Isaac Haxton. Dzmitry Urbanovich, who came very close to claiming the title in Super High Roller event is also still in with a shot together with Max Altergott, Eugene Katchalov and Steve O'Dwyer.

For quite a few, however, the dream of making the final table in Monte Carlo was abruptly cut short, including the reigning WSOP champion Martin Jacobson, Team Pro member Liv Boeree, high roller regular Igor Kurganov, Sam Trickett, Dominik Panka and Daniel Negreanu.

Upon returning tomorrow, players will first try to make it through the bubble, to insure that their performance yields a positive ROI, and then they can start directing their thoughts at the title. There is still some work to do for the remaining players, as only 79 of them will get paid, so quite a few will have to make their way to the rail with nothing but their hands in their pockets.

Of course, there are those who care none about min-cashes and they are the ones who will be driving the action tomorrow for the most part. There is certainly an exciting day ahead of us and the quality of the field is a guarantee that poker fans will not be left unsatisfied.

Photo: Neil Stoddart, PokerStars Blog