Leonard Leads Final 27 Players in the PokerStars Blowout Series: $109 NLHE – The Big Blowout!
Day 2 of the PokerStars Blowout Series: $109 NLHE – The Big Blowout! has come to an end after a mere five hours of play with 27 players out of the 588 who started the day making it to Day 3. The tournament attracted 37,673 entries on Day 1 which meant that the $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool wasn't surpassed.
Coming back for Day 3 with the chip lead is a very familiar name. The eliminations of "Kolli1987", "z4muz", and "Vermaraa" contributed to the more than double average stack of Patrick "pads1161" Leonard who finished the day with 74,722,108 which equals 74 big blinds at the start of Day 3. Completing the podium spots are "n3kt" (65,249,152) and "leonardoc01" with 63,481,314.
Other familiar names to have made it through to the final day are Jack "JBHInfinity" Hardcastle, Rodrigo "rodrigorpv" Valente, and Andreas "derbegott" Ponath.
PokerStars Blowout Series: $109 NLHE – The Big Blowout! Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick "pads1161" Leonard | United Kingdom | 74,722,108 | 75 |
| 2 | "n3kt" | Canada | 65,249,152 | 65 |
| 3 | "leonardoc01" | Brazil | 63,481,314 | 63 |
| 4 | "Dannywilbier" | The Netherlands | 51,751,752 | 52 |
| 5 | "king2173" | Austria | 51,641,411 | 52 |
| 6 | "savr1984" | Russia | 49,880,168 | 50 |
| 7 | "pilaa" | The Netherlands | 46,228,898 | 46 |
| 8 | "Eldarion90" | The Netherlands | 45,992,916 | 46 |
| 9 | "NessV" | Canada | 40,145,823 | 40 |
| 10 | "TOMBATLE" | Romania | 40,056,050 | 40 |
Today's Action
The eliminations on Day 1 came in at a fast pace and it was no different on Day 2. By the time the first break came around, more than 200 players were already gone with notables like Dietrich "2pacnrw16" Fast and Sean "MonkeyBudg" Prendiville done for today in this tournament.
Leonard claimed the chip lead just before the second break when he took out "elikarl94" with a turned straight against the flopped set of the latter. Day 1 chip leader "ZERGA_77" ran their ace-nine into the ace-king of Iulian "1ul1an" Tataru but they couldn't keep hold of their chips as he was eliminated in 36th place himself.
Leonard lost the chip lead for a bit but claimed it back for the fourth break and didn't look back. "n3kt outkicked "pEtazorsenwow" with ace-king versus king-jack for a big stack and by the time the fifth break started, only 29 players were left. Five minutes later, "cheeky4714" fell to "Dannywilbier" before "laeti29Mich" was busted by "pilaa" to end the day.
Plan for Day 3
The 27 players will return at 6:05 p.m. GMT on Tuesday, December 29 to play down to a winner. They will finish the remainder of Level 50 which features a small blind of 500,000, a big blind of 1,000,000, and a running ante of 125,000. After this level, the duration will increase to 20 minutes each. They have all secured $6,249 but will be trying to win $485,827 as that is the first-place prize that comes with the victory here.
PokerNews will be there from the first raise until the final all-in so make sure to keep following along.
for "pilaa" to flop the set immediately to bust "laeti29Mich" in 28th place and get the tournament to break for Day 3.
for "cram66" to hold with the rockets and even improve to a set on the river to bust Correa in 31st place.
, "alstonsloft" shoved for 5,535,608 which "CoolBadBeat" called with the bigger stack.
on the turn and the 
on the river for "CoolBadBeat" to hold and bust both opponents.
for "FAT3333" to flop top pair immediately to score the huge double-up.
on the turn and the 
