EPT Warsaw: Day two, level 12 updates

Live updates from day two, level 12 of the EPT Warsaw Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Blinds: 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)

7.30pm: Play is done
With a huge rush at the end of the day, play has finished. The "number of players" horse won in the end, as we reached the target of 56 remaining when Gianni Giaroni perished at the death. There were a couple of very interesting hands in the closing stages though, so check here in a moment once I've written them up. Then a full wrap will be coming after that.

7.20pm: Best hand comes third
A lot of players like jack-ten, mainly because it has the (often only theoretical) potential to crack huge hands. It was certainly almost the case here for Clayton Mozdzen, but note that almost. He had the biggest stack in town and had two players well covered when they were both all in pre-flop. Mozdzen had [js][10s], and it would be needed to crack the biggest two hands around: Matthias Kurtz had [kd][kh] and Cedric Lebrette had [ac][ad]. But - boom! - how about this flop and turn: [9c][3d][ks][qc]. Kurtz flopped top set but Mozdzen turned the straight. Lebrette's aces were in big trouble. The river changed things again, though. It was another queen, giving the boat to Kurtz, sending Lebrette out, and Mozdzen ruing what might have been.

The Canadian PokerStars qualifier would have been beyond 450,000 if he'd have won that one. As it is, he had to settle for a "mere" 332,300, still good for the overnight chip lead.

7.15pm: Another champ exits
This time it's former EPT Barcelona champion and Team PokerStars Pro Sebastien Ruthenberg who has busted. He raised pre-flop but faced a re-raise to 15,500 from Jari Mähönen. It didn't take long for Ruthenberg to announce all-in - and even less time for Mähönen to call. The reason?

Mähönen: [ad][ac]
Ruthenberg: [ah][kc]

The flop came [ks][6d][4c]. "Oh no, please don't," Mähönen pleaded. The dealer must have listened as the turn and river were a harmless [6h] and [8s].

We're down to less than 60 players, and play could end very soon once we reach the required 56 for the day.

7.10pm: Big moment...anticlimax
Carter Phillips and Oleksandr Vaserfirer got heavily involved pre-flop. It was at least five- probably six-bet -- standard raise from Phillips on the button, re-raise to 14,000 from Vaserfirer in the big blind, 38,500 Phillips, 68,000 Vaserfirer, all in Phillips, call Vaserfirer, for stacks of more than 150,000 each. Then they flipped and both had the same hand: [ac][kc] for Phillips, [ah][kd] for Vaserfirer. The rainbow flop, no club, ended interest.

7.05pm: Dario v Deeb, the conclusion
Shaun Deeb has won his last longer bet against Dario Minieri after the Italian tyro just departed Warsaw. Minieri lost almost all of his chips in a pot against Jeremi Stępiński when they got their similar sized stacks in pre-flop. Minieri had [5c][5d] and Stępiński had [ad][jd]. A jack on the turn left Minieri with less than 10,000, which all went in the next hand. Out. Before he left, he went over to hand the cash to Deeb -- the quantity is their business, but I'm guessing it wasn't ten bucks -- and Deeb said: "Thanks man. It was a lot of fun." They shook hands and away Minieri went.

Slightly better news for Luca Pagano, who seems to have got some yellow chips back. It looks like he's up to about 50,000 now.

7pm: Mattern matters
Arnaud Mattern just booked a flight and is leaving the hotel as we type. The Frenchman busted in a straightforward ace-jack against aces showdown.

6.55pm: Another one gone
Sebastian Ruthenberg sends another player home, his [as][qs] getting the better of the all in Richard Grace holding [kc][4h]. The board ran out [ah][qd][8h][3c][2h] to leave Ruthenberg with more than 70,000.

6.53pm: Van den Berg back in business
Thierry van den Berg moves all-in but gets no takers. "King high," he says, showing pocket kings. A few hands later he tries again but this time is called by 209. The Team PokerStars Pro has [tc][jh] but 209 is ahead with [ah][jd]. But not for long. The board runs: [9d][3c][7s][8d][5c] giving Van den Berg the straight and close to 50,000.

6.52pm: Eastgate reveals all
World champion Peter Eastgate, still in the EPT here, sits down for a decent chat with the video blog team...

6.50pm: New level
The race is on. At the beginning of play, tournament officials said we would either play five levels or down to 56 players, whichever came sooner. This is the fifth level of the day and there are about 70 players left. What will happen first: 75 minutes tick away or 14 player bust? It's a thrilling question, be in no doubt of that.

The full chip count is on its way. In the meantime, here's a picture of a dealer's hands: