They played until nearly sunrise, and by the time Day 1b of The Colossus €550 No-Limit Hold'em at World Series of Poker Europe ended at nearly 5 a.m. local time at King's Casino, just 12 players remained out of 210 entries.
Ozan Guruz leads the way after turning his 10,000 starting stack into 365,500, but the name that will catch everyone's eye on the leaderboard is second-place John Racener, who bagged 334,000 for a wide lead over third-place Karel Kratochvil (214,000).
Racener, who collected his first bracelet in this summer's WSOP, finds himself in the thick of the WSOP Player of the Year race and now has put himself in prime position to rake in a pile of points. He trails only Chris Ferguson and Ryan Hughes, both of whom are busily grinding here — and both of whom busted in this flight — in the standings.
Racener built a big stack in the latter stages of the 18-level grind, and he won a late race with an ace on the river when his ace-king got there against the pocket sevens of Gisle Olsen. Racener also eliminated Rex Clinkscales with just a few tables remaining, ace-nine over ace-six.
Alex Foxen (189,000), Viliyan Petleshkov (165,500) and Ryan Leng (141,000) also made it through.
Meanwhile here's a look at those who made it into the 32 paid places but went bust in advance of bagging time:
Place
Player
Prize
13
Sasa Stancic
€1,182
14
Gisle Olsen
€1,182
15
Vlado Sevo
€1,182
16
Erel Ozgar
€1,007
17
Roberto Romanello
€1,007
18
Roland Israelashvili
€1,007
19
Erol Gunenc
€884
20
Damiano Nigro
€884
21
Sven Lorenz
€884
22
Petr Gaydos
€884
23
Eilert Eilertsen
€884
24
Rex Clinkscales
€884
25
Albert Santander
€884
26
Aleksandr Pantiukhin
€884
27
Lee Richard
€884
28
Jan Mach
€800
29
Kristen Bicknell
€800
30
Tomas Soderstrom
€800
31
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
€800
32
Michal Drha
€800
Saturday will see two more starting flights go off, once again at noon and 6 p.m., with coverage here on PokerNews.
Zurab Ejibia raised to 12,500 in the cutoff and got action from Ozan Guruz on the button. The big blind shoved all in for 59,000, and Ejibia reshipped after getting a count. Guruz tanked a few minutes until Alex Foxen called a clock. When he was told he had 30 seconds, Guruz flicked in a chip, calling off about 160,000.
Big blind:
Ejibia:
Guruz:
The big blind had the best of it, but an flop was a dream for Ejibia as he took the lead for the massive side pot and had outs to scoop the whole thing. The was a brick, but the hit the river and Guruz pumped his fist in celebration.
We didn't see the action, but as related by a player at the table, a player bet 10,000 from early position on a flop, Daniel Granov called, and a third player moved all in. The bettor committed the requisite chips and proceeded to get stacks in against Granov, who had flopped trips with . The bettor had an overpair with and everyone was behind the third player, who had for a boat.
The turn was an and the river the , bringing quads for Granov and a better full house for the player with jacks. Granov covered everyone though and the double elimination means the tournament is in the money.
Zurab Ejibia was under the gun and playing a pot against both blinds when we got to his table. He bet 5,200 when they checked a flop, and only the small blind called. Both players checked the and and the small blind opened for top pair. Ejibia had though, and his kicker played to earn him the pot and add to a stack that's in contention for the lead.
Rex Clinkscales made it 3,800 from middle position after Roberto Romanello put in an open to 1,400 on his right. Romanello came back with 8,900 and Clinkscales shipped it for a little over 26,000. Romanello called off.
Romanello:
Clinkscales:
The flop brought a flush draw for Romanello and he filled it right away with the turn. Clinkscales had him covered by 1,600.
The American shoved that in next hand. The player on the button reshoved for what looked like about 9,000 and Kristen Bicknell woke up with in the big blind and put everyone at risk. Clinkscales had and the third player .
The board ran out , giving Clinkscales the main pot with kings up and Bicknell the larger side pot.
After that hand finished up, Romanello told us that Clinkscales had already survived when he jammed over a button open by Romanello for 12,600 and won with against . The end of the roller coaster left Clinkscales with about 10 big blinds.
Tu Tuan was all in from under the gun for 9,600 and had been called by a player in middle position when we got to their table. Tuan opened , and his opponent could only chuckle and show a dominated , to the shock of many players at the table.
"Gamble, gamble," Tuan said.
The board ran out , locking it up on the turn for Tuan. He got a full double, while his opponent abandoned his remaining few chips.
It's just a few short years old, but any time the World Series of Poker fires up — be it in Europe, Las Vegas or anywhere else — The Colossus is certainly one of the most anticipated events on the schedule. There are 10 starting flights this time around and a €2 million guarantee for the €550 buy-in.
One flight is winding down, and it's time for another flight to get rolling as Day 1b is set to kick off as the dying embers of Day 1a flicker out and the chips go in the bags for the players who remain in the event.
Just like Day 1a and all of the rest of the flights for this event, the schedule calls for either 18 levels lasting 30 minutes apiece or play down to wherever Day 1a ends, which appears likely to bag before the scheduled levels. Players get 10,000 chips in their starting stacks and they may reenter once per flight. Breaks will be every four levels and last 20 minutes apiece.
Stay tuned to PokerNews coverage here at King's Casino as this marquee event continues to unfold.
flop was a dream for Ejibia as he took the lead for the massive side pot and had outs to scoop the whole thing. The 
was a brick, but the 
hit the river and Guruz pumped his fist in celebration.
for a boat.
, bringing quads for Granov and a better full house for the player with jacks. Granov covered everyone though and the double elimination means the tournament is in the money.
flop, and only the small blind called. Both players checked the 
and 
and the small blind opened 
for top pair. Ejibia had 
in the big blind and put everyone at risk. Clinkscales had 
and the third player 
, giving Clinkscales the main pot with kings up and Bicknell the larger side pot. 
, and his opponent could only chuckle and show a dominated 
