With two levels gone and three players eliminated, it's time for a short hiatus in proceedings as the players take a 15-minute break to reformulate their strategies and plan their assault on the title.

We will be back shortly as they play to conclusion.

Mattern has had a tough ride so far on the final, his chip stack dipping from its height of $328k at the start down to a more lowly $250k or so.

He must have been feeling the pressure a little and decided to make his move a few moments ago. Watching Joao Barbosa limp for $8,000 from middle position and Russian Sergey Shcherbatskiy raise to $22,000, Arnaud pushed his stacks of chips into the middle. Barbosa passed but the Russian called!

Arnaud tabled T T and Sergey A K, and we had a big race on our hands.

The flop had something for everyone, coming Q 5 J to give Sergey a gutshot to go with his overcards, whilst Arnaud's tens held sway as well as picking up a club flush draw.

The turn was the 6 and the river was paint, which drew a few gasps from the crowd, but it was blank paint, the Q changing nothing.

That meant Arnaud had survived his first all-in of the final table, doubling through to $500,000, while the Russian's stack was dealt a big, possibly crucial blow.

Joao Barbosa raises from the hijack and Dario Minieri makes it $66,000 to go from the cut-off. Action folds back around to Barbosa, who moves all-in over the top for $140,000 more. Minieri tanks for a minute or two but ultimately decides to make the call, tabling A J to find himself in horrible shape against Barbosa's J J.

The board comes T 8 6 3 K and Barbosa miraculously manages to dodge an ace, doubling through Minieri near the end of Level 19.

Andrea Benelli was another player to have already secured his biggest live poker score by reaching the final table here, but his journey has drawn to a close in seventh spot.

It was his compatriot Super Dario, a fellow Italian, who did the damage.

Benelli was looking a little short and shipped it in from middle position for $111k, only for Dario to make the call on the button.

Benelli tabled pocket jacks and Dario A Q, and we had a big race on our hands ...

The dealer dealt out a board of 8 4 5, which must have looked ominous for Benelli as he looked to fade a flush draw and two overs.

The 3 on the turn brought in Minieri's flush and left Benelli drawing dead. Once the formality of the river was dealt, Benelli was left to collect his things and visit the cage for the 169,260 PLN he receives for seventh place.

Since eliminating Ludovic Lacay, Nico Behling has taken over the final table, amassing a substantial chip stack and taking down a number of decent pots, including this last:

Sergey Shcherbatskiy limped from under the gun and was joined in the pot by small blind Dario Minieri and big blind Behling. The flop came Q Q T and action checked to Shcherbatskiy, who bet $20,000. Minieri and Behling both called and the turn was the 4, prompting checks from all players.

The river was the K and action checked to Behling, who bet out $50,000 and induced folds from both opponents. He's now on over $650,000.

The water level is rising and with two victims already in Level 1, this increase is likely to put even more pressure on the players.

Ludovic Lacay came into the final well placed, but he was surprisingly the second victim of the day, in unfortunate circumstances.

Nico Behling raised it up pre-flop to $17,000, only for Ludovic to reraise from his big blind to $56,000.

Behling thought for a while before flat-calling the additional $39,000.

The board fell 8 7 5 and Ludovic considered his options before counting out 15 yellow $5,000 chips and betting out $75,000.

Behling now thought about it before cutting out a reraise to $160,000.

Ludovic had a little more than this and moved all-in, only for Behling to call.

"Do you have a set?" asked a nervous-looking Ludovic, tabling pocket aces.

"Yes," replied the German, showing he had outdrawn Lucay on the flop, turning over 8 8.

Anguish was written all over Ludovic's face.

The turn came the 4 for a glimmer of hope in the form of a split but the rivered 5, making Behling's full house, was enough to send Lacay to the rail.

"You were unlucky," offered a sympathetic Behling.

"I know," said Ludovic regretfully as he departed the arena, a disappointed man, to collect his 121,520 PLN for eighth place.

We have our first elimination of the day and it's no surprise that that dubious honor should fall to the shortest stack coming into the final, Michael Muheim.

The young Swiss online qualifier had already secured his best payday merely by making the final table here, but he was unable to improve on ninth position, good for 78,120 PLN.

His exit was unfortunate. Facing a limp from Russian Sergey Shcherbatskiy in middle position, Muheim looked down at A-9 in the big blind and with his short stack, he elected to shove all-in.

His timing was awry however, as the Russian had been playing possum, and instantly called with aces.

Muheim made a pair on a Q T 9 board and had outs to a chop when the J arrived on the turn, but the brick 3 on the river was no good, meaning Muheim is the first victim of the final.

The players continue eight-handed.

The opening level has been conducted in quiet, efficient fashion by the players so far, as they circle round each other cautiously, waiting for gaps in one another's defenses to appear.

Arnaud Mattern has been quite busy in the opening stages, raising relatively frequently. Many of his raises have been uncontested, but a few moments ago, he raised to $16,000 on Dario Minieri's big blind.

Dario often watches raises and looks like he is contemplating a reraise, then passes. But this time he followed through, shuffling his chips before repopping Arnaud's raise to $68k.

Arnaud looked studious beneath his opaque shades before picking his cards up and throwing them over the line in submission.

1-0 to Dario there in the battle of the heavyweights.

Ludovic Lucay has also been fairly busy, raising regularly, although he just faced a repop of one of his opening $16,000 raises to $55k by Nico Behling.

He also laid it down ...

The players have all been sufficiently introduced and the cards are in the air from the final table of the PokerStars EPT5 Polish Open in the dungeon of the Hyatt Regency in Warsaw. From now on it don't quit until we've crowned a champion!

An interesting side note heading into this final table is that French pro Arnaud Mattern was incorrectly listed in the official chip counts as having $238,000 when play concluded last night. In fact, he has $328,000, but all media reports coming out of Warsaw yesterday listed the incorrect amount.

This has had a number of side effects, including but not limited to the fact that the betting lines for this event were set with Mattern's incorrect chip total in mind. Therefore, bettors who took Mattern were getting a far better price than they might have been. Bonus!