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Within the first 71 minutes of the tournament, Alex Brenes experienced quite the roller-coaster ride when it comes to his chip count. Starting with the standard 20,000 in chips, Alex’s stack dipped to 5,200 within the first five minutes of play. Then he snatched up a huge pot, taking his stack back up to 17,000, only to give most of his winnings back on a subsequent hand, his chip count falling back down to 7,000. While a lesser player might simply throw up his hands in anguish, Alex hunkered down and found a bit of run-good, grinding his stack back up to a far more workable 23,000. He has his work cut out for him today, with Gualter “stockcar99″ Salles directly to his right.

A few tables away, everyone’s favorite shark-lover Humberto sported some unusual headwear. Typically found in his signature white visor adorned with the Costa Rican flag, Humberto is playing out Day 1 in a hat emblazoned with the Mexican flag, the result of being on the losing end of a prop bet with fellow Team Pro Angel Guillen. At the recently completed America’s Cup of Poker, each man took their home country in a soccer match between Mexico and Costa Rica, the loser required to wear a hat from the opposite country at the next LAPT event. Needless to say, the Costa Ricans found themselves on the losing end, and Humberto is donning the red, white and green today.

Across the room, Humberto’s youngest son, 18-year old Roberto landed on one of the more difficult tables in the room, captained by online sensation David “WhooooKidd” Baker. Playing in the tight-aggressive style he no doubt learned from his father, Roberto is hanging tough with 19,000 in chips.

We’ve definitely been here before.

Late last month in Warsaw, the chip leaders on days 1b and then day three were Antony Lellouche and Jeff Sarwer respectively. Today on the Algarve, on day two of the inaugural EPT Vilamoura, the chip leaders are Jeff Sarwer and Antony Lellouche respectively. It’s deja vu all over again.

Sarwer got a good chunk of his chips by knocking out his friend (and Warsaw table-mate) Shaun Deeb; Lellouche got a good deal of his chips by knocking out fellow EPT phenomenon Jason Mercier. Oh, the symmetry.

Those were the two biggest stories on a day where we sliced the overnight field of 177 down to a far more manageable 71. It took five levels in a spacious ballroom by the sea in southern Portugal, and now all the players have slipped off to enjoy an early night in the bars and restaurants of Vilamoura.

What we’re left with is the chip count, which shows those familiar names at the very summit — Sarwer with 545,900; Lellouche with 484,700 — ahead of a clutch of other luminaries of this game.

On the final hand of the day, the Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser took a monstrous pot from Andy Black. “Do I really have to count my chips?” Visser said at the end. When he got round to it, he had 389,000, good for third place.

That edged Visser ahead of Ljubomir Josipovic, who carried his overnight lead up to 371,700 tonight, and Martin Wendt, who found a bigger full house to down Matt Nieberg and put the Dane in the leading pack.

Joao Barbosa (109,700), on home soil, remains in with a chance of extending his terrific EPT cash run, while his countryman and Team PokerStars Pro Nuno Coelho (28,900) has lasted to fight another day. Team Pro has had a good one: Johannes Strassmann ended with 120,100, Jan Heitmann has 173,800 and Alex Kravchenko finished with 27,100. Jude Ainsworth, on his debut in the familiar livery, has a terrific 230,000.

The internet’s Johan “busto_soon” van Til (259,000) and Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy (176,000) will return for day three in the real world, when we will play through the money bubble and closer to the €404,793 first prize.

Take a look back at all the action from the day with the level-by-level updates:

Level nine updates
Level ten updates
Level 11 updates
Level 12 updates
Level 13 updates

And watch video blogs until your eyes bleed at PokerStars.tv.

That’s round about that for this evening. Stay tuned through the wee hours for action from the LAPT in Costa Rica. We’ll be back here at noon GMT tomorrow for day three.

Until then, a harbour.

Hank Sitton waved his hand around the well-appointed resort.

“This is my old stomping grounds,” he said, the memory obviously still clear in his mind. “I used to be a surfer.

Sitton, known as “Hardway Hank” on PokerStars, is a serial qualifier for PokerStars events. We’ve seen him just about everywhere, including the underground games in Greenville, SC where this writer used to play. The owner of a major car dealership back in the U.S., Sitton likes to spend his spare time playing cards. He’s done alright for himself. His most recent score was a third place finish at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship in 2007 for $210,000.

If that win is in the past, Sitton is enjoying his memories of ancient history, of his time on the waves along the Guanacaste coastline.

“Back then, none of this was here. It was gravel roads all the way from Tamarindo to here,” he said. “And that airport we flew into? It had a thatched roof. A tiki hut!”

Just last night, Sitton was sure he would make a big splash here in the place of his youth. Alas, the scream of “Seat open, Table 2″ meant an early wipeout for the one-time king of the waves.

Sorry, Hank. But, look at it this way…it’s more time for the beach.

***

In other news, Jean-Robert Bellande must have been hungry for some pool time. He busted in the first level of the day.

Updates from level 13 of EPT Vilamoura, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Blinds:
Level 13: 1,200-2,400 (200 ante)

7.30pm: Done for the day
That’s it for day two at EPT Vilamoura. Jeff Sarwer is tonight’s chip leader with 545,900, well ahead of the other 70 players going into day three. A full wrap up of today’s action is on the way. In the meantime check out the latest chip counts.

7.25pm: Sousa safely into day three
On a flop of [7c][3h][4c] Ricardo Sousa made it 7,000 which Jeff Sarwer made 9,300 more. Sousa meant business and re-raised another 58,000. Sarwer just grinned.

“Serious about business, huh?” then passed.

“You had a good hand,” said Sarwer, “not nothing…”

Sousa up to 112,000.

7.20pm: Black goes from hero to almost zero
Andy Black, who was sitting on more than 200,000 a short while ago, just lost just about all of it in an extraordinary last hand that shot Ruben Visser to the near chip lead.

First Nicolo Calia raised to 11,000 from early position, then Black called, but Visser re-popped to 40,000. While Calia got out of the way, Black quickly announced all-in, and Visser called in a flash.

Black had been caught very much “at it”:

Visser: [ac][kd]
Black: [9d][10s]

Whoops! The board ran [8h][qc][5s][3h][8c], and Team PokerStars Pro Visser successfully dodged the bullets and doubled up to 389,000.

Black? He was left with just 19,400 to play with tomorrow. Ouch.

7.15pm: Closing stages
Tournament Director Thomas Kremser has just announced that, with 15 minutes remaining on the clock, we will play five more hands and call it a day.

7.05pm: Up or down?
Jeff Sarwer, sat with 560,000 in a large triangle block in front of him, is getting advice from the rail from a couple of young internet guys who prefer a more vertical stack.

“We’ll teach you how to stack chips Jeff,” he says. “There are still things you need to learn.”

“I know guys. We’ll talk,” replied Sarwer, wrapping his arms around his chips. “I just decided to go with this for the feel.”

6.55pm: Cold in Holland this time of year
Steven van Zadelhoff opened the pot with a raise from early position before Olaf de Zeeuw three-bet from the button. Van Zadelhoff then moved all in and De Zeeuw snap called with [ah][ad] and saw the pain on his countryman’s face as he revealed [ks][kd]. The board ran [7s][qh][4d][th][3s] to double De Zeeuw up to 160,000 and leave Van Zadelhodd in danger on 55,000.

6.50pm: Black in the black
Andy Black just eliminated a player. The money went in on the flop of [qh][9s][jd], Andy Black calling Miguel Menendez’s all in. Black showed [9c][9d] to Menendez’s [ad][qd]. Blanks on the turn and river and a handshake later and Menendez is on the rail. Black moves up to around 320,000.

6.45pm: Nice flop
Johannes Strassmann just doubled up. Opening for 6,600 pre-flop he was cllaed by Luis Rodrigues on the small blind for a flop of [6s][kd][kh]. Rodrigues then pushed leaving an easy call for Strassmann who showed [as][ks] to Rodrigues’s [8c][8s]. A [5s] on the turn and [js] on the river sent Strassmann up to 90,000.

6.40pm: That’s gotta hurt
Rob Yong got it all in pre-flop with [9s][9d], and was pretty happy to be called by Luis Rodriguez with his [8c][8s]. That was until an eight hit on the turn, knocking Yong out and sending a hefty 155,000 pot the Spaniard’s way.

“Sometime you just know it’s coming,” said Yong ruefully as he headed off for a calming walk on the beach.

6.35pm: Sarwer storms into lead
Jeff Sarwer already had a lot of chips, and now he has even more. On a flop of [9d][6s][8s] he and Andre Santos of Portugal were in the middle of a mighty scrap. Santos checked to Sarwer who made it 8,300 from the button. Santos then re-raised to 21,000 from his position on the big blind which Sarwer called for a [kc] on the turn. Now Santos made it 45,000. Sarwer immediately asked how much Santos had behind and raised to 200,000.

Santos’s stack of 80,000 would be swallowed up if a call went against him. Santos thought, grinned, squirmed, counted his chips and covered his ears with his fists. Sarwer just waited with his head on his hands, elbows perched on the edge of the table, waiting for Santos to respond. He folded. Sarwer now the likely chip leader with more than 500,000.

6.30pm: Chips!
This is the final level of the day, and the chip counts of the 81 players entering it are all now proudly displayed on the chip-count page.

6.25pm: Johns doubles
Probably the best way to meet PokerStars qualifiers at EPTs is in the elevators of the hotels in which we stay, where they stay, and where about 90 percent of the EPT fields usually stay. The second best place is at an airport. Matt Johns, originally from California, but now studying in Madrid, by way of Austin, TX, first came to the attention of PokerStars blog at Stansted airport, waiting for a flight to Faro. Since then, we’ve been tracking his progress deep into day two and now have the happy task of reporting that he has just effectively doubled up to around 130,000.

Jorge Carvalho opened from under the gun and Johns raised to 16,000 from one seat to his left. All the other players got out the way and Carvalho took his time over the decision, with the clock eventually called on him. He moved in for his last 40,000-odd and Johns called, almost all in himself. Johns had [ac][kc] and Carvlho [9c][9h]. The flop came [as][qh][8h][10c][5d] and Johns won the race.

He’s in this tournament after qualifying via the steps system on PokerStars. It cost him about $26.

6.20pm: Tome’s up for Levi
Tome Moreira opened with a raise from the button and then called Nicolas Levi’s all in push from the big blind with [ac][kd]. Levi was up out of his seat as he tabled [ah][5h] knowing he was in bad shape and it got even worse as the board came [jd][9s][3h][4c][kh] to confirm his exit. The look upon Levi’s face told the story better than we could but as we’re not allowed to take pictures inside the casino we had our artist run after him to show you as best we could.

6.10pm: That rhymes
Play is under way in the last level of the day.

They called “Shuffle up and deal” at the stroke of noon, with many Team Pros, qualifiers, and local players still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and shaking off the effects of last night’s welcome party. The registration line winds out the door of the convention center of the Paradisus Playa Conchal, poker luminaries like Jean-Robert Bellande waiting to buy in and take their seats.

Though there are still a number of empty seats at the tables, they are quickly being filled in with the likes of Andre Akkari, Angel Guillen, Felipe Ramos, Christian de Leon, J.C. Alvarado, Leo Fernandez, Gualter “stockcar99″ Salles, and Maria “maridu” Mayrinck. Victor Ramdin flew in yesterday, as did Veronica Dabul, who took down Humberto Brenes’ “Shark Hunt” tournament last night, which raised $9,650 for charity, a sum that will be matched by Brenes and matched again by PokerStars.

Speaking of the first family of Costa Rican Poker, no fewer than five Breneses have been spotted on the premises, including Alex, Eric, his son Eric Jr., Humberto, and his youngest son Roberto, who made a deep run Season 2’s stop in Vina del Mar, Chile. Family last-longer honors are once again up for grabs.

PokerStars player Shirley Rosario made the long trek to Guanacaste from her native Los Angeles, as did U.S.-based players David Plastik, Paul “X-22″ Magriel, and George Lind III. We have also spotted at least one Season 2 champion in the room– Vina del Mar winner Fabian Ortiz, who made one of the greatest comebacks we’ve ever witnessed in tournament poker, rallying from half a big blind to take down the title.

The PokerStars video blog team put together this reel highlighting our luxurious new venue, the Paradisus Playa Conchal. Check it out below:

Watch LAPT S3 COSTA RICA: Welcome to Paradise on PokerStars.tv

When the sky above Playa Conchal exploded, we knew the LAPT’s third season was underway.

We stood above the water of a small lagoon and underneath a blanket of red light and the steady buzz of Costa Rican Imperial. Men with the name Brenes surrounded us. It was like a family reunion with an Eric, an Alex, and a godfather named Humberto. This was, in fact, the opening party of LAPT Playa Conchal, the place where players and their families mill about eating meat on a stick and sipping fruity cocktails before the first of this four days of championship poker.

And then, yes, the sky exploded.

Across the lagoon, two men with blowtorches ran like soldiers in a firefight, from mortar to mortar, ducking and covering with each explosion in the sky. For five full minutes, the bomb blasts shook the the 2,400 acres of the Paradisus Playa Concha, the signal that, in the parlance of our time, it was on.

When the party started to wind down, the crowd worked its way toward the poker room, where Humberto Brenes hosted his signature ‘Shark Hunt’ Bounty Charity Tournament. The $100 rebuy event drew a solid crowd and raised nearly $10,000 in buy-ins which Brenes matched and then PokerStars matched again. When it was all said and done, one of PokerStars own, Veronica Dabul walked away with the title (and apparently, an inflatable shark).

Now, we’ve all had a bit of rest and are settling down for the first hand of the main event. The 240 or so players expected to show up for this $2,700 buy-in event have four days of play ahead of them. If they bust out today, they probably won’t be too happy, but we’ve found there is something to comfort them. It’s about a five-minute walk from the poker room and is sitting under a sunny sky.

Action begins at high noon CT. We’re tableside and ready to roll as soon as the cards go in the air. Now, if we could just find those fireworks guys, we could make this joint really pop.

Updates from level 12 of EPT Vilamoura, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Blinds:
Level 11: 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)

6pm: Blacked out
All other players had already left the room for their break except for John Eames and Andy Black, who were locking horns on a queen high flop with two clubs. All the chips went in the middle; Eames holding king-queen to Black’s ace-nine of clubs. No club came but an ace fell on the river to bust Eames. That’s the break.

5.55pm: Lellouche destroys Mercier, enters chip leaders’ club
Jason Mercier is out, having, it’s fair to say, bluffed himself to the rail. It was a crazy hand against Antony Lellouche, and is worth putting into context. Mercier raised three hands on the spin, on button, cut-off and hijack. On the first two, his raise to 4,800 took the big blinds of Alexander Dovzhenko and Rob Yong but then he found Lellouche waiting to pounce.

Far from folding, Lellouche made it 11,600, Mercier made it 22,200, Lellouche made it 40,000 and Mercier moved all in, for what was about 175,000 total. Lellouche called instantly and showed [kc][kh] to Mercier’s [qc][jd]. Anyone who has watched these two play would know they could have had absolutely anything in this spot, and this was pretty standard. Anyway, Mercier couldn’t find an outdraw despite a queen flopping. The full board was [qs][2d][2c][4c][ah] and Lellouche now has close to 400,000.

5.50pm: Battle of the short stacks
Having moved all-in himself with no takers Allan Baekke just called the same move by António Martins who shoved for his last 6,700. Baekke obliged showing [kh][7d] to Martins’s [as][5c]. The board ran: [ad][qd][2c][5s][kd]. A double up for Martins. Baekke has less than 30,000.

5.45pm: Cry me a river
Nicolo Calia raised from under-the-gun before Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser three-bet from late position. Very quickly Calia moved all in for 80,000 and Visser snap called with [kc][ks]. He was in great shape against Calia’s [ah][qd] and all was looking good with the first four cards [4c][4s][5d][9d] but the cruel river fell [ad] to snatch the pot away from him. That sends him down to 125,000 now.

5.40pm: Visser caught with hand in the till
When they work, bluffs are highly satisfying. When you get caught out, they’re a little embarrassing. Ruben Visser opened with a 4,600 bet from the button, called by Guillaume Da Silva in the small blind. The two saw a [4h][10c][4c] flop, Da Silva check-called Visser’s 6,400 bet. When the [ah] hit the turn, Da Silva called Visser’s 15,600 bet. On the [qc] river Da Silva again checked, then went into the tank when Visser bet 35,600.

A call was for nearly all his chips, but he made it anyway. As soon as he did, Visser quietly said: “Jack high,” and mucked. Da Silva tabled [5d][5h] for a superb call.

5.35pm: Sousa cuts off Abecassis on the button
A long hand just played out over six or seven minutes without any cards being seen. Rogerio Sousa opened for 7,000 in the cut off which Michel Abecassis on the button raised to 19,000. Eventually, and it was eventually, Sousa moved all-in for more than 100,000 getting a quick fold form the Abecassis. Sousa up to 130,000.

5.30pm: Wendt fills up to take chip lead
A big big pot goes to Martin Wendt, doubling up through Matthew Nieberg. There was betting all the way, led by Wendt and called by Nieberg, on a board that came out [jc][10d][7s][10s][8d]. Wendt’s river bet was 45,000 and Nieberg shoved all in, covering Wendt. Wendt said: “Well, if you have pocket tens then so be it. I call.” Nieberg responded, with some dismay: “You’ve got jacks?” Nieberg showed [10c][8c] for the rivered boat, but was sent down the river when Wendt did indeed table [jh][jd] for the bigger full house.

The all in was 154,000 and Wendt’s stack is now that of the chip leader: he is closing in on 400,000. Nieberg is cut down to about 75,000.

5.28pm: Bluffing with the best hand?
There were already a lot of chips in the pot and new PokerStars Team Pro Jude Ainsworth was heads up with Flavio Pinhota. The turn was out giving the board a [qc][5c][qd][qs] look. Ainsworth checked to face a 27,500 bet and after a think he moved all in for around 50,000 more. Pinhota then had his own think and folded. Ainsworth
then tabled [ac][9s] and raked in the pot to make his stack worth 180,000.

5.15pm: Mercier takes a hit
With the board already showing [6h][8s][2c][qs] Luis Rodriguez had bet 22,900 with only Jason Mercier left to take him on. Mercier thought for a long time. While he did Rodriguez read a text message and bought a drink. Mercier folded, down to 140,000.

“What did you have?” said Jim Collopy to Rodriguez.

“Two cards,”replied Rodriguez.

5.10pm: Deeb done, Sarwer the slayer
Jeff Sarwer has just knocked out Shaun Deeb. There was an early position raise to 5,000 and Deeb called, also in early position. Sarwer defended his big blind with 8-9 and loved the flop: 7-10-J. All the money went in: Deeb had about 50,000 and A-J for top pair, top kicker. But Sarwer’s straight sent Deeb to the rail.

As previously mentioned, photography is not permitted inside Casino Vilamoura, but our artists were on hand to preserve the memory of Deeb’s bust-out.

And here’s what they really look like:

5.05pm: Sarwer the merciless
Jeff Sarwer opened for 4,800 and was called by Shaun Deeb for a flop of [8d][td][7s]. Both checked the flop and the [qd] turn. On the [7d] river Deeb made it 6,300 which Sarwer took his time over before calling. Deeb immediately said “you win” and turned over [9h][ah]. Sarwer showed [2c][2h].

“Have I beaten you in a showdown yet?” asked Deeb.

“Ever?” replied Sarwer.

“Ever…” said Deeb.

“Never…” replied Sarwer.

“Never…” said Deeb.

Deeb down to 60,000 while Sarwer is up to around 280,000.

5.00pm: Fate changed in an instant
A very strange hand just played out that saw the demise of Team PokerStars Pro Henrique Pinho but thing could have and maybe should have been very different for him. As the cards were being dealt out one of Pinho’s cards (a king) accidently turned over making it the burn card, as is the norm. The hand continued to play out as normal and before long Pinho was all in versus Marco Della Tommasina. Pinho tabled [ah][ks] but was in big trouble against Tommasina’s [ac][ad] and the board ran [9h][kd][2s][3s][6c]. It was a sickening end for Pinho as if his card hadn’t flipped over he would’ve had pocket kings and flopped a set to out-draw his aced up opponent.

4.50pm: Chips
The chip beavers are beavering and will bring you their wares within the next 15 minutes. Then we’ll put them on the chip count page. Matt Nieberg took a bit of a slide in the latter stages of the level, with Jesus Sanchez seeming to be the main beneficiary. It looks as though Ljubomir Josipovic, Ruben Visser and Pierre Neuville will still be right up there though. My, I can hardly contain my excitement.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

4.50pm: Hard to believe?
Jeff Sarwer is up to 250,000 and just scooped another pot uncontested, turning over tens. “Come on, that’s the second best hand I’ve had all day!”

4.45pm: Play restarts
Two more levels to go as players return from the break to play level 12.

by Joe Hachem

The courage of a sportsman takes him through some of the most difficult moments a person can face, and he needs to face them again and again. The courage to get back out on the field or the floor after you’ve taken a hard knock. The courage to push yourself further and the audacity to believe you can be the greatest.

When your sport is poker, you also need the courage to risk your chips, even when you can’t guarantee the outcome. While there’s many things a poker player can do to determine what the most likely result of the next hand will be – read his opponents, play the odds, understand the room – even for the greatest and most informed player, there is always that small percentage of the unknown that requires a leap of faith.

A leap of faith can be both a terrifying and an invigorating prospect, but either way it requires a big dose of courage to propel you forward. Perhaps you find yourself down to the final two in a leading tournament; you’ve beaten your way through a field of thousands and accumulated a hefty chip stack. Your opponent has done the same and you’re both feeling the pressure of the past four days of play. One wrong move and the whole game could be lost. The natural temptation is to protect yourself – play small, play close, not make any big movements or take to many risks.

However, to move the game forward, for someone to claim victory you will need to pick your moment, draw on your reserves of courage and go all in. Whether you’re at a home game with your mates or the final table of a major tournament, the decision to go all in is one that brings with it a surging rush of adrenaline. A great poker player will calmly find their way through that adrenaline rush to play out the hand, and hopefully be able to celebrate when it comes to the river card.

I’ve always found taking that big step exhilarating, but I also know how important it is to manage that rush, which is why on The Poker Star show this week, I was looking for a contestant who felt the same. To discover who had what it took to conquer their fears and go out on a limb, I took the contestants on a heart-pumping tightrope walk between two sixteen-storey buildings.

A small plank placed between the two buildings and a safety rope were all the contestants could rely on to get them from one building to the next. Tensions ran high as players discovered what I already knew – the first step out into dangerous territory is always the scariest, but with a bit of courage you can make it the rest of the way.

As Josh, the first player to cross, made it safely, and gratefully, to the safety of the opposite building he smiled and grabbed onto the steadying wall with relief. As I smiled at him and told him that he’d done well, but now he had to turn around and come back again, he looked at me incredulously as though I was joking. When he realised I wasn’t, his face fell as he turned and steeled himself to complete the terrifying walk a second time.

I’m proud to say that Josh pulled himself together and drew on his courage to turn around and cross back over one more time, as did his fellow contestants.

Because having the courage to make a brave move once is impressive, but having the courage to push yourself to make those challenging leaps again and again is what makes a true professional. And that’s what I’m looking for in The Poker Star.

Updates from level 11 of EPT Vilamoura, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Blinds:
Level 11: 800-1,600 (200 ante)

Another level over
Another 75 minutes has passed us by. Break time.

4.30pm: The end of the world is nigh
That is what seemingly was happening by the look on Paulino Subtil’s face when he got the last of his chips in with pocket tens versus the ace-king of Michel Abecassis. Has anyone explained the term “coin flip” to him? Obviously not as he was up out of his chair cursing the heavens in Portuguese (assumption made there) before a flop had even been dealt. To be fair to him though he might have some sort of sixth sense as the killer ace fell on the river to seal his fate.

4.20pm: Little vs very little
On a flop of [6c][7s][9h] Stefan Mattsson, Ross Boatman and Ricardo Sousa each checked for a [3h] turn. Mattsson bet 3,200 forcing Boatman out but Sousa was harder to shake, calling for a [9d on the river. Mattsson checked. Sousa, who'd been grinning all the way through the hand, made it 4,000. Mattsson called. Sousa didn't want to show but reluctantly turned over [qh][jh]. Mattsson took it down though, showing [qs][7h]. He’s up to 45,000 while Sousa sits around the 60,000 mark.

4.15pm: Pagano put out of his misery
It’s been a tough – and relatively quiet – tournament for Luca Pagano. And now it’s over. Having never had many chips since early on day one, he just got his last 15,000-odd in pre-flop with [ah][10h]. André Moreira had [as][kh] and although Pagano picked up a straight draw on the turn (the first four cards were: [7c][5s][8c][9c], the river [2h] wasn’t good enough and Pagano was out.

4.10pm: Look at me, I’m Shauny D
Gotta love Shaun Deeb. After Andre Santos raised from the cut off, Deeb re-raised to 10,300 from the button. It was folded back to Santos, who now made it 23,000, sending Deeb deep into thought. He peered at length at Santos, who did his best to hide his face behind his fist. But Deeb re-raised anyway, setting Santos all in. Santos folded and Deeb showed him the [4d] to general chuckles.

4.07pm: Out of the Black
Ryan Franklin opened the pot from early position with a raise to 3,800 before Andy Black three-bet to 8,400 and Ruben Visser four-bet to 25,000. Franklin moved out of the way pretty quickly but Black moved all in for 52,000 and after a shrug of his shoulders Visser called with [jh][jc]. Black had him dominated with [ah][as] and the board ran [kc][2d][6d][qc][8c]. Black doubles to 115,000, Visser down a little to 245,000.

4.05pm: Mercier gets there
Jason Mercier, Marco Mattes and Robert Willis all get to the turn – [8c][8h][ah][2s], and on the [7h] river Mattes and Willis check and Team PokerStars Pro Mercier bets 10,600.

Mattes gives it up but Willis wants to take a look and calls. He’ll wish he hadn’t, as Mercier turned over [kh][10h] for the winning flush.

4.05pm: Pagano on the ropes
Luca Pagano has been struggling all day, never able to improve a stack that had taken an early hit. He’s been folding miserably for a couple of levels, but now finally seemed to have picked up something worth playing. He put out 4,100 but things are never easy, especially when Rumen Nanev decided this was the time for a re-raise, making it 15,000.

Down to only 20,000 or so, this was a critical moment for the Italian, but after a long time in the tank, he decided he could find a better spot, and folded.

4pm: No fear for Wendt
Big stack Matthew Nieberg opened with a raise and was only called by Martin Wendt in the small blind before a [3c][qd][7s] flop came down. Wendt check-called a 5,800 bet before check-raising Neiberg’s 11,600 up to 40,000 after the [ts] fell on the turn. It took a while but Nieberg let the pot go. He’s still big on 340,000 and Wendt’s not looking too shabby on 195,000.

3.55pm: Take that
Eduardo Lopez opened for 3,800 from late position. Tome Moreira called on the button, as did Nicolas Levi from the big blind. The flop came [8d][9c][5h]. Levi checked and Lopez made it 6,300. While Moreira folded Levi re-raised to 17,500 total which Lopez called for a [8c] on the turn. Levi now made it 21,000 to play. Lopez looked once more at his cards before folding. The Frenchman now up to more than 120,000.

3.50pm: Collopy accounts for Pomerantsev
Sergey Pomerantsev found a decent spot to get it all in. Jim Collopy had raised on the button and Pomerantsev shoved from the small blind for around 30,000. Collopy called and showed [ah][9c], which was behind Pomerantsev’s [ac][jd]. But the nine turned and Pomerantsev hit the rail, leaving Collopy looking kind of sheepish, but saying: “I had an ace.” He also had Pomerantsev well, well covered and now has about 170,000.

3.45pm: Leaving hell behind; welcome to Hades
It doesn’t get any easier for Christophe Benzimra. The EPT Warsaw champion was moved from the table of fireworks featuring Jason Mercier, Johannes Strassmann and Pierre Neuville, but landed himself right in the middle of Antony Lellouche and Jim Collopy on a table also featuring Rob Yong and Alexander Dovzhenko. Nice.

3.42pm: Nice hit
Shaun Deeb opened for 3,800 from middle position. António Martins called from the big blind for a flop of [8h][qc][qd]. Martins checked and Deeb made it another 3,200 to play. Too rich for Martins who passed leaving Deeb with the lost potential of his [ah][qh] and a stack now breaking the 100,000 mark.

3.39pm: Roll up, roll up if you want to go all in
Robert Willis started the action with an under-the-gun raise to 4,800 that was called by Jurien van Galen two seats along and Johannes Strassmann in the big blind before the flop came down [6c][9s][5s]. When checked to Willis he moved all in for 20,700 and was quickly called by Van Galen before Strassmann quickly moved all-in too for another 34,500. Van Galen shook his head and folded leaving the other two to battle it out.

Willis tabled [8s][8h] to Strassman’s [ts][7s]. The turn came [5d] and river [ad] to see Willis’s hand hold and he’s now up to 80,000. Strassman low on 35,000 and so too Van Galen on 28,000.

3.37pm: Levi times it right
Nicolas Levi was down to 43,000 but found the perfect spot to get all of those in the middle with [ks][kd] against Tome Moreira’s [as][qc]. The flop came with the [ac], but unfortunately for Moreira it also came with the [kc] and [4h]. To rub it in further, Levi made quads on the [kh] turn, and the [6d] counted for nothing.

Levi is back up to a healthy 87,000.

3.35pm: Baekke foiled
On a [10s][3d][as][8d] board Allan Baekke made it 12,500, called by Jan Skampa. Baekke then made it 22,500 on the [2d] turn after Skampa checked. That sent Skampa into the tank, and his response when he emerged was to move all in for around 80,000. Insta fold from the Dane.

3.25pm: End of the road
Team PokerStars Pro Rino Mathis is out. He lost half of his stack a short while ago, jacks against ace-king and now shoved with [qd][qs]. He got a caller in PokerStars qualifier Hugo Felix with [ac][kc]. The board ran: [kh][7h][8s][3s][3d]. It’s all over for Mathis.

3.20pm: Pastor pasted
Juan Manuel Pastor’s day is done. It was pocket tens against the pocket queens of Luis Rodriguez. No help.

3.15pm: Chips
Our army of chip-counting oompa loompas did their stuff during the break and their findings will be on the chip count page momentarily.
CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

It seems as though Matt Nieberg is our clear leader. A royal flush against a full house will do that.

3.10pm: Has play resumed yet?
Yes, play has resumed.