Ludovic Geilich Leads Final Eight in 888Live Main Event
Coming into Day 2, the plan was to either play down to eight players or play twelve 60-minute levels. It very nearly came down to the latter. However, with just 11 minutes left in the 24th level of the tournament, Bartosz Szafraniec's pocket fours failed to hold up against Niall Farrell's Ace-King, and the final table was confirmed.
153 players returned at the beginning of the day and they were lead by Michal Mrakes, who had a stranglehold on the chip lead for a long while. He was briefly threatened by the likes of Mieszko Bartz, Gerardo Segui and Frank Stumpf, who all faded just short of the final table. Mrakes himself would ladder all the way to 13th (€5,584) after he was left crippled. Bartz (15th - €4,932), Segui (14th - €4,932) and Stumpf (12th - €5,584) all made the money and were unlucky to miss out on the final table.
Earlier in the day, the bubble was broken midway through Level 17 when Robert Ashelm's Ace-Jack failed to catch up to Miroslav Forman's Ace-King. However, Ashlem didn't walk away empty-handed. He collected a bluetooth speaker for his efforts, but you can't help but feel like he was after something a little bit more than that.
As is custom, after the bubble there followed a flurry of bustouts, the biggest of whom being William Kassouf. The Brit came into the day third in chips overall, but things just didn't seem to go his way, and he eventually shoved ace-three into the pocket sevens of Ludovic Geilich to finish in 23rd place (€3,628). It looked to be Ludovic Geilich's day from the outset. Even as early as the first couple of levels, the Scotsman's monolithic chipstacks towered above the table. He used them to great effect, value-betting and forcing players off of hands.
As the pressure ramped up towards the final table, the pace slowed to a standstill. By the time Andrea Iocco was eliminated in 17th position and the redraw for the final two tables were assured, Geilich was already assured of the chiplead, something he wouldn't relinquish until the end of play.
Geilich will headline the final table along with his fellow Scot Niall Farell (2,230,000) to his direct left, but there will be no shortage of characters. Lukasz Tomecki celebrated getting a flip against Niall Farrell to stay alive in the final level of the night. Alexander Dmitrienko has made has second final table of the festival after his 7th place finish in the opening event. Pavel Berka and Bernd Schonwalder may be short in chips, but they held their nerve to secure their place at the final table along with Juan Carlos Vecino and Catalin Pop.
The final table reconvenes at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow (Monday), with coverage via a livestream on a 30-minute delay.