Day Two under way

The first deal has just hit the baize in the Casino Gran Madrid.

Our 34 remaining players are facing 1,000/2,000 blinds with a 200 ante, but with the average stack standing at 73,823 at the start of play, we can expect a long wait for out PPT Madrid champion.

Follow all the action 'til the last man is standing right here!

34 still standing... Here's your official chip count

FELIPE CORDIDO PERNAS - 207700
MIGUEL ALONSO FERNANDEZ - 157600
RICARDO CALLEJA FERNANDEZ - 144900
OSCAR BLANCO CARRASCO - 138500
MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ - 120500
WIKTOR SZUSTER - 112500
KAMLESH MELWANNI - 91700
DORGDAS ASARAVICIUS - 89000
FRANCOIX FREDJDECES - 84100
ANTONIO LEMOS - 83000
KRISTENSEN KLAUS SLOT - 81500
MARCIN DOLIWA - 80100
HEYI ZOLTAN - 72600
JOSE ROLDAN VICENTE - 67300
MOUNIR BENAL - 66500
MANUEL STAN - 66100
HERVALET THOMAS - 56600
SUNNY KHOSLA - 55600
ANTONIO ROMERO HERRERO - 55600
PEDRO L. PRADO RODRIGUEZ - 54400
NESTOR VASCONCELLOS BENITEZ - 50900
LUIS FERNANDO GARCIA MARTINEZ - 49800
KRESTEN JOHANSEN - 47100
IMANOL AYENZA - 46600
JAVIER ETAYO - 45700
ALEXANDER WEBER - 43000
ALVARO PICATOSTE RUILOPEZ - 42000
DAVID PISHVATAR - 41500
BERGAR RUSTOM - 39600
PEDRO TOLA DOLARA - 39100
FRANCISCO BATUSTA - 38200
ROBERT NORBERT - 33900
INOCENTE GOMEZ - 33800
RICARDO SIMON GALLEGO - 17100

Whether it's time to sleep off your bad beats or celebrate a hot streak, I bid you all goodnight. See you tomorrow!

Online qualifier leads the way at half-time

Sometimes Lady Luck spares a smile for even the most modest among the poker playing community, and in overnight chip leader Felipe Carreño, she certainly found favour.

Carreño played his way into the PPT Madrid via Paradise Poker and far from carrying out the role of small fry in a room full of sharks, he amassed an imposing stack standing over 200,000 chips high.

Speaking to the PPT blog however, there was not a trace of over-confidence or arrogance about his fine day's play - and he was candid enough to admit a mere top 20 target.

"I got the right hands at the right moment," he explained, "I picked up pocket Aces once and pocket Jacks four or five times and always got paid off, so I won all my chips in only a few hands."

With a place in the money still not a certainty (although just 11 players stand between Felipe and the bubble bursting), the chip leader was in cautious mood.

"I didn't expect to do this well and so I'd settle for a place in the top 20. Now I'm chip leader I would love to make the final table - it would make me very happy!

"I won't be changing my style though. I always play tight so I'll be sticking with that plan until the end, because it's got me this far."

La Pua hits a high note

Oscar "La Pua" Blanco might have been a hot tip pre-tournament, but now boasting double the average stack, the man labeled 'Spain's best' by his friends looks in great shape as we approach the final forty players.

La Pua, which in English means 'the plectrum,' strummed a winning tune when his KJ hit the flop hard against an aggressive opponent. Having his lured his man into committing his stack, Oscar doubled through holding trips.

Nacho "Krusty" Guerra hit the rail a little earlier, but after watching his good friend reach 120,000 chips, he is convinced we'll see the Spaniard on the final table.

"That was a big hand, a bit lucky but the other guy shoved with nothing and Oscar had trip Jacks," he smiled, "He's got 120,000 and he's a great player, so he'll be on the final table for sure.

"I only had 25,000 chips, half the average stack, so I had to push with something," added 'Krusty' on his own demise, "I looked down at a queen in first position, shoved all-in and unfortunately somebody in the middle called with Aces.

"I had some nice hands earlier when I was a short stack though. I had doubled up earlier with 9-9 when someone paid me off with A-8. He hit an Ace on the flop, but I turned a 9 to win the pot and double up.

"After that I didn't see too many strong hands and apart from a few steals, I was blinded away until I made my move."

Ante up folks

We're down to 61 players and the ante's are starting to eat into the stacks.

Sure nobody wants to be bubble boy, but outlasting 200-odd opponents and falling short isn't much fun either! Level Ten just took the ante to 100 chips, along with 600/1200 blinds, and you can almost feel the aggression increase across the room.

Buckle up blog readers, there's still some play in the night yet.

A big gun bites the dust in Paradise

Johnny Jensen's bid for three-straight PPT final tables has coming a halt as the self-confessed super LAG made his move at the wrong moment.

The Dane was sitting on around 19,000 chips, around 5k short of the average stack, when he shoved over the top of a pre-flop raise and caller.

When the call came, the Paradise Poker pro's KJ could not have seen a worse hand as his opponent rolled AK, and he crashed to a 116th place finish at the hands of big slick.

"I'm disappointed not to achieved my goal here, especially after playing so well in London and Prague, but hopefully I'll still be top of the leaderboard by the end of the tournament," said a crestfallen Johnny.

"That's the way it goes sometimes when you play an aggressive style, but I'll be back for the PPT Bulgaria and I'm determined to get the points I need to secure the €10,000 leaderboard prize."

Show me the money!

Twenty-seven players will walk away with their bankroll boosted by at least four-figures tomorrow night, with the top prize standing at a whopping €30,000.

The runner-up will have to console himself with €18,500, bad beat or not, while third place will leave with a €12.5k score.

Here's the prize structure in full:
1st - €30,000
2nd - €18,500
3rd - €12,500
4th - €9,100
5th - €6,600
6th - €5,600
7th - €4,700
8th - €4,000
9th - €3,300
10-12th - €2,600
13-15th - €2,000
16-18th - €1,600
19-27th - €1,400