Maximilian Senft Leads as 230 of 389 Advance from Day 1b
Day 1a of the Season 10 European Poker Tour London Main Event drew 209 runners and saw Dhru Patel finish the night as chip leader of the 105 survivors with 241,000 in chips. On Monday, 389 players took their shot at EPT glory on Day 1b. After eight 75-minute levels of play, 230 players survived with Maximilian Senft and his stack of 223,000 leading the way.
The tournament attracted some of the biggest names in the game, and they wasted little time in mixing things up, including Senft. In Level 1 he get off to a dream start when he opened for 300 from the hijack and the player in the cutoff three-bet to 700. Yann Dion proceeded to four-bet to 1,800 from the button, the blinds folded, and Senft, who was participating in the Skrill Last Longer Competition, pushed back with a five-bet to 4,400. The cutoff got out of the way and Dion opted for a six-bet to 7,100.
Senft thought for well over two minutes before making the call, and the two saw a flop of 
. After two checks, the 
turned and Senft seized the initiative by leading out for 4,000. Dion made the call, the 
completed the board on the river, and Senft took his time before whispering, "All in."
Dion hit the tank and stared down his Austrian opponent, who was donning sunglasses and a scarf. After 90 seconds or so of contemplation, Dion made the call and Senft proudly turned over the 
for a full house. Dion shook his head as if to say, "It figures," and then flashed the 
before sending them to the muck. Dion was eliminated minutes later.
Others who joined him on the rail as the day progressed were Max Silver, who had just finished runner-up to Vanessa Selbst in the UKIPT High Roller; Martin Finger, who took down the Season 10 European Poker Tour London ��50,000 Super High Roller a day earlier for ��821,000; British pros James Dempsey and Chris Moorman; the well-respected Raj Vorha; current EPT10 Player of the Year leader and November Niner David Benefield; Robbie Bull, who had just won the UKIPT London the day before; and former EPT champs Kevin MacPhee and Kent Lundmark.
On the same token, Team PokerStars Pros Ivan Demidov, Nacho Barbero, Angel Guillen, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Chris Moneymaker, David Williams, Jason Mercier and Vanessa Selbst all failed to survive the night. The same applies to Full Tilt Poker Tour Ambassadors Jonathan Karamalikis and Andras Nemeth.
While many fell on Day 1b, some managed to thrive including Paul Volpe, who was the recipient of some advantageous doubles throughout the day. The first came in Level 3 (100/200) against the aforementioned Nemeth. With 8,000 or so in the pot and a board reading 
, Volpe had check-raised all in for 17,100 and Nemeth thought long and hard before making the call. Volpe rolled over the 
for a straight, and a frustrated Nemeth sent his cards to the muck unseen.
Volpe��s other double came in the last level of the night (Level 8: 300/600/75) when he fired a 2,000 bet on a 
flop. Andrew Lowe made it 4,800, the rest of the field folded, and Volpe called to see the 
turn. Volpe checked, Lowe bet 12,000, and Volpe moved all in. Lowe snap-called with the 
for a flopped set, but Volpe showed 
for the straight. The 
river changed nothing and Volpe went on to finish the night with 96,200.
Others who made it through to Day 2 are Shannon Shorr (88,100), Anton Wigg (88,000), Kyle Julius (86,000), Vanessa Rousso (85,100), Daniel Negreanu (77,800), Dario Minieri (75,600), Marvin Rettenmaier (69,600), Ludovic Lacay (63,800), Andre Akkari (59,300), Barry Greenstein (56,100), Liv Boeree (51,800), Mike McDonald (42,900), Lex Veldhuis (37,200) and Phil Hellmuth (12,600).
The surviving players from both Day 1a and 1b will combined for Day 2 action on Tuesday at Noon local time. Registration is open until the start of play, and we expect a few players to take advantage. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to capture all the action, so be sure to join us then for all the latest and greatest from the EPT10 London Main Event.