Day 2 is in the books for the partypoker MILLIONS Europe €3,300 Main Event at Casino Barcelona with the 67 returning players dwindled down to just nine hopeful final tablists with Steve O'Dwyer holding the chip lead after bagging 70.4 million in chips.
O'Dwyer was among the short stacks late in the day until just before the dinner break when he doubled up through Matthias Lipp when his sevens won a flip against big slick.
Straight after the dinner break, O'Dwyer, who is in 14th place on The Hendon Mob All-Time Money List with more than $31 million in live tournament earnings, went on a tear eliminating three players with two tables left.
He delivered a bad beat to Marcin Kreft when his eights hit a set against queens before sending a short-stacked Lipp packing when his king-queen held against six-deuce suited.
Meanwhile, partypoker ambassador Matt Staples had an incredible run until O'Dwyer put an end to that too when his ace-queen held against ace-four. A four dropped on the flop but a five paired a turn along with an ace on the river to counterfeit his two pair.
Just behind O'Dwyer was Gergely Bartos with 70.1 million. Igor Picone (66.1 million), Luuk Gieles (57.3 million), Daniel Smyth (52.7 million), and Taras Khilko (47.8 million) all have healthy final table stacks. While nobody is below 20 big blinds, Jelle Moene (30 million), Duco ten Haven (27 million), and Pavel Brzeski (25.5 million) will be the shortest stacks when the final table kicks off on Sunday, June 12 at 1 p.m. CEST with it broadcasting shortly later with hole cards exposed at the partypokerTV Twitch and YouTube channels.
Remarkably, Khilko cashed twice in this event as being the only player to bag twice during the opening flight. He took home the 68th place prize of €5,000 and is lined up to earn a lot more.
Many big names were among the 67 players out of the 450-player field to advance to Day 2 but fall short of the final table including partypoker ambassador and stream host Jeff "MaximusBlack" Johnston, Steven van Zadelhoff, Christian Rudolph, Alex Lynskey, Georgi Sandev, Ottomar Ladva, and Day 1 chip leader Ramon Colillas, who was out within the first few hours of the day.
| Seat | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luuk Gieles | 57,300,000 | 48 |
| 2 | Jelle Moene | 30,000,000 | 25 |
| 3 | Taras Khilko | 47,800,000 | 40 |
| 4 | Pavel Brzeski | 25,500,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Daniel Smyth | 52,700,000 | 44 |
| 6 | Duco ten Haven | 27,000,000 | 23 |
| 7 | Igor Picone | 66,100,000 | 55 |
| 8 | Stephen O'Dwyer | 70,400,000 | 59 |
| 9 | Gergely Bartos | 70,100,000 | 58 |
Lukas Boublel qualified for the partypoker MILLIONS Europe Main Event at partypoker for just $0.01. He was living the dream by coming to Barcelona, but unfortunately for him, he just busted out in 18th place for €11,000 after his big slick ran into aces.
Boublel came to the Catalonian capital with his girlfriend and has been truly taking in the experience as someone that typically plays low stakes. He shared that although he is disappointed that he didn’t go deeper with what he described as two mistakes because he was tired, after a quick break he relished in the fact that this was his biggest poker tournament cash.
“I was so excited to be playing with those I watch on TV like Steve O’Dwyer,” said Boublel.
Hopefully, for Boublel, this is the start of something big for the player from Montenegro. We certainly hope to see him at more partypoker events, as in addition to his strong play, he also is very friendly.
The nine returning players are each guaranteed at least €2,900 with Sunday's winner slated to go home with a whopping €250,000 top prize.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | € 250,000 |
| 2 | € 168,000 |
| 3 | € 122,000 |
| 4 | € 84,000 |
| 5 | € 65,000 |
| 6 | € 50,000 |
| 7 | € 38,500 |
| 8 | € 29,000 |
| 9 | € 29,000 |
The action will resume tomorrow with 35 minutes left on the clock in Level 25 with blinds at 600,000/1,200,000 along with a big blind ante of 1,200,000. After this level, blinds will increase every 60 minutes, as opposed to the 40 minutes during most of the live opening flights and 50 minutes on Day 2. Stay tuned at PokerListings to see who will win the partypoker MILLIONS Europe Main Event at Casino Barcelona.
*Photos compliments of partypoker photographer Mickey May