Johnny Lodden Leading into Penultimate Day of EPT11 Grand Final

The time is near. PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event is now down to just 16 players. Hundreds have fallen and but a few are left standing. One of them will become a new EPT champion tomorrow.

Before that can happen, however, the final table needs to be formed today and the man who will have eyes of the fans and lights of the cameras on him is one and only Johnny Lodden. Johnny bagged the chip-lead last night to the tune of 2.3 million, giving him a nice cushion over the second place Markus Ross with 1.8 million and Adrian Mateos with 1.6 million.

We can't be sure what Lodden thinks at this very moment, minutes away from the start of play, but one thing is certain: he will need more than a few extra chips to claim the title. With the likes of Ole Schemion and Juan Martin Pastor still in, he will have to tread lightly and avoid many traps that are likely to pop out along the way.

Yesterday started with 34 players still holding on to their chairs and more than half of them were sent to the rail by the time the last river was dealt. The very last casualty of the last night was Connor Drinan who, thus, will not be claiming his EPT title.

Similar fate found Dario Sammartino, Ludovic Geilich, Stephen Chidwick and PokerStars Team Pro members Isaac 'Ike' Haxton and Jason Mercier. Lodden played most of these at one point or another throughout the day, and outplayed, out-bluffed and eventually outlasted them all.

An interesting fact about this year's Grand Final that it is the first time that there are players from Japan and Africa who made it this deep. They are Koichi Nozaki and Muhyedine Fares of Senegal. Their success could lead to poker boom in their home countries and wider, so there is plenty of reason to root for them from a purely poker point of view.

Another day of exciting action is ahead of us in Monte Carlo, so make sure to tune in and follow the developments on PokerStars Blog and the EPTLive stream. Today we will find out the names of the players who will return tomorrow to battle it out for the prestigious EPT Grand Final title.

Who do you think Lodden thinks will win?

Photo: Neil Stoddart, PokerStars Blog