Janusthor23 chases PPT package... again

Janusthor23 is again in the running for the Fantasy Poker top prize after his whole team remarkably progressed to Day 2, but there could be further heartache in store thanks to borvely11.

Janusthor23 narrowly missed out on victory in Vienna, finishing joint second behind dvinyard, but while all three of his picks are still in the running come 4pm CET, two players need the help of a hot deck.

Having been in a strong position for most of the day, Ronnie Espensen suffered a series of beats in the final two levels to leave him teetering on 10,400 chips, while Niklas Karlson has just 18,200 at his disposal.

That leaves fantasy rival borvely11 in pole position, thanks to a team that not only boasts three players still with chips and a chair in the Card Casino, but Jorgen Fries, Peter Vang and Márk Jakab combine for a 182,500 stack.

There are still over 90 teams with active players, but with the top 50 - and with it the Fantasy Poker points - looming, it seems certain that the winning team will come from a side still featuring two or more.

Leading Teams:

borvely11
Jorgen Fries - Denmark
Peter Vang - Denmark
Márk Jakab - Hungary

Janusthor23
Nicklas Karlson - Sweden
Peter Vang - Denmark
Ronnie Espensen - Denmark

manafluid
István Szabó - Hungary
Tomáš Straka - Czech Republic

jerrykks
Tomáš Straka - Czech Republic
Niklas Karlsson - Sweden

pocholini
Jan Jensen - Denmark
Michal Lubenik - Czech Republic

tomisanchez
Sven Karlson - Sweden
Michael Almstrand - Sweden

KongRon9
Ronnie Espensen - Denmark
Jacob Irsberg - Denmark

tomals
Tibor Boros - Hungary
Jørgen Fries - Denmark

piszczek
Jaroslav Vajgl - Czech Republic
Berjar Rustom - Denmark

PLBanan3xL
Jaroslav Vajgl - Czech Republic
Peter Vang - Denmark

olssi1
Martin Musil - Czech Republic
Michael Almstrand - Sweden

morgan89
Michal Lubenik - Czech Republic
Thomas Jensen - Denmark

HAW
Thomas Merved - Denmark
Sven Karlson - Sweden

blowgame
Ronnie Espensen - Denmark
Łukasz Gębica - Poland

mazibyk_AA
Mariusz Chruściel - Poland
Niklas Karlsson - Sweden

Łukasz
Daniel Zakrzewski - Poland
Jaroslav Vajgl - Czech Republic

suunnshine
Tomáš Straka - Czech Republic
Thomas Merved - Denmark

razzymazzy
Istvan Szabo - Hungary
Sven Karlson - Sweden

Shabrus87
Sven Karlson - Sweden
Peter Vang - Denmark

Mariusz23
Sven Karlson - Sweden
Ronnie Espensen - Denmark

Savage888
Kamil Jamroż - Poland
Tomáš Straka - Czech Republic

morZsolt
Zoltan Kapitany - Hungary
Thomas Jensen - Denmark

zoltan888
Jan Petermann - Germany
Martin Musil - Czech Republic

domi13
Thomas Merved - Denmark
Stefan Behring - Germany

Day 2 Chip Count

Day 1 wrapped up late on Friday night but with just 70 players remaining, the money hunt will soon be under way at the Card Casino Prague.

Native player Oldřich Trávníček holds the overnight chip lead with a 143,100 stack - nearly three times the average - while Gokhan Donmer, Zoltán Kapitány (pictured) and Stefan Behring are also into six-figures.

2010 PPT Prague champion David Huspeka is still in the running, but will return with just 20bbs to face 600/1200 blinds plus a 100 ante when play resumes at 4pm CET.

Full Chip Count
1 - Oldřich Trávníček - 143,100
2 - Gokhan Donmer - 125,700
3 - Zoltán Kapitány - 109,900
4 - Stefan Behring - 100,400
5 - Rustom Berjar - 93,800
6 - Thomas Jensen - 91,600
7 - Teodor Krastev - 86,000
8 - Emre Nuhoglu - 84,000
9 - Mark Jakab - 81,800
10 - Petr Kučera - 81,000
11 - Lukasz Gebica - 79,900
12 - Ondřej Kubíček - 78,600
13 - Andor Farago - 70,800
14 - Rumelis Panos - 69,400
15 - Jaroslav Vajgl - 66,900
16 - Petr Hlaváček - 65,300
17 - Peter Vang - 62,400
18 - Jan Kytlica - 61,100
19 - Nikoalos Skiadas - 60,600
20 - Matyáš Poloch - 59,100
21 - Jakob Valsted - 57,700
22 - Salim Alibas - 56,800
23 - Jan Ramík - 56,700
24 - Michal Lubeník - 54,900
25 - Tomáš Balada - 54,900
26 - Jacob Irsberg - 54,200
27 - Thomas Merued - 53,700
28 - Tomáš Straka - 53,400
29 - Jan Bezpalec - 52,900
30 - Ladislav Míka - 52,300
31 - Jan Brandejs - 50,500
32 - B. Petek - 50,200
33 - Jiří Vojta - 48,300
34 - Paul Andersen - 47,300
35 - Luboš Galuška - 46,000
36 - Jan Kováč - 41,800
37 - Radek Průcha - 40,500
38 - Tibor Boros - 40,400
39 - Jan Jensen - 40,300
40 - Ivan Buchbauer - 40,300
41 - Robert Kokoška - 40,000
42 - Rasmus Vejbaek - 39,200
43 - Petr Bohuslav - 38,500
44 - Jorgen Fries - 38,300
45 - Petr Targa - 37,200
46 - Charlier Chavier - 34,700
47 - Pavlos Xantipulos - 30,000
48 - John Taramas - 29,700
49 - Mader Maxmilian - 27,900
50 - Pau Roger - 25,800
51 - David Huspeka - 24,800
52 - Milan Stanislav - 24,800
53 - Jan Petermunn - 24,100
54 - L. Rodrigo - 23,700
55 - Bernard Wachter - 21,000
56 - István Szabo - 20,800
57 - Tim Tepass - 20,500
58 - Aitzol - 20,500
59 - Michal Almrstrand - 19,600
60 - Nikoalos Verras - 19,300
61 - Nikolas Karlsson - 18,200
62 - Decila - 18,200
63 - Martin Musil - 17,300
64 - Dimitrios Tychalas - 17,100
65 - Mariuisz Chrusciel - 16,100
66 - Darek Chojnacki - 12,300
67 - Kamil Jamroz - 11,800
68 - Ronnie Espensen - 10,400
69 - Sven Karlsson - 9,000
70 - Daniel Zakrzenski - 7,100

Day 1 close; 70 still in play

70 players look set to return for Day 2 in the Card Casino Prague as the first day of action has now come to an end.

Still alive are the likes of Lukasz Gebica, Ronnie Espensen and 2010 Prague champion David Huspeka.

A full chip count plus Fantasy Poker update will follow tomorrow before the tournament re-starts at 4pm CET, so log on ahead of the first deal for further details.

For now, the PPT blog wished you goodnight!

UPDATE - Despite earlier reports, Robert Haigh made his exit before the night was out.

Day 2 out of reach for duo

Gøkmen Cetin and Toni Merivuori both missed the Day 2 cut after struggling with short stacks for some time.

Dane Cetin, who made the final table in Vienna, had barely managed to muster a stack all day and eventually found himself needing two double-ups to be a factor.

All-in no less than eight times before he finally earned a call, Gøkmen was crushed to see his opponent's AJ vs his A10 and the villain's hand held up.

Season One Tour League winner Merivuori had seen better times earlier in the day, but confessed his play in a number of blind battles had let him down.

"I was disappointed with my play in the blind battles," he told the PPT blog following his exit, "A few of the players on my table got tricky in those spots and I wasn't getting much respect. Maybe I could have played those hands better."

Both men's exits will disappoint their Fantasy Poker managers, as the duo had been popular picks ahead of the Main Event.

Espensen on the up as rivals falter

Our final break has now passed and as we head into the Day 1 final straight, Tour League leader Ronnie Espensen looks in good shape to add to his lead.

The Dane is now wielding 40,000 chips, comfortably ahead of the average despite losing a big hand not long before the interval, while fellow Fantasy Poker picks Gøkmen Cetin, Carlos Oliveira and Marek Viscak all cling to their tournament lives.

The trio are all below 10k and while they still have more than the warning flag 10bbs, short stack poker is on the agenda in the effort to double up or bust before the new day.

Lukasz Gebica (30k) is maintaining a steady growth in chips despite his famously aggressive style, while the ever-dependable Toni Merivuori has around 20k at his disposal.

Robert Haigh is also making good progress on 44,000 chips as he bids for a second consecutive final table appearance, but fellow German Heiko Wendt was card dead with 14k in chips at the last check.

All of the above are better off than the likes of Christian Schulz and Fernando Martin Blanco, however, as both players made their exits earlier tonight.

Blanco was actually among Espensen's victims, having tried to bluff his way out of bad spot against the Dane, only for Ronnie to make a hero call with pocket threes.

UPDATE - Carlos Oliveira succumbed to the short stack as we reach the 100-player mark.

PPT payouts

The much-anticipated money list is live on the big screen as our remaining 134 players press on towards Day 2 of the €125,000 Guaranteed Main Event.

Of the starting field of 230 players, 24 will be paid with the winner taking down a hefty €30,000 score.

Before the stacks-still-standing can start dreaming of even ParadisePoker Tour League points, let alone a PPT payday, they must do battle with two more blind levels.

Level 7 is currently taking 200/400 blinds plus a 50-chip ante from an average stack of just over 25,700, and Day 1 will draw to a close at the conclusion of Level 9.

Payout Structure
1st - €30,000
2nd - €21,300
3rd - €14,000
4th - €9,150
5th - €6,000
6th - €4,900
7th - €4,100
8th - €3,500
9th - €2,900
10th-12th - €2,400
13th-14th - €2000
15th-16th - €1,700
17th-18th - €1,500
19th-21st - €1,350
22nd-24th - €1,250

Prague pics

Here are the latest shots from the Card Casino Prague...