It's been a brutal past hour in Baden, particularly for Team PokerStars Pros. Dario Minieri, Luca Pagano and Andre Akkari have all perished, leaving Katja Thater and RaiNKhan carrying the hopes.

Andre Akkari in happier times

Sebastian Ruthenberg, a PokerStars player from Germany, is still involved, however, while PokerStars qualifiers Thierry van den Berg, John Shipley and Mats Iremark are still comfortable.

The first player through the 100,000 mark seems to be Acar Mazlum, who was on Patrik Antonius's table. Antonius is no longer there, but Mazlum was seen stacking chips as Antonius headed out. It was a nut flush versus top pair encounter, according to other media reporters.


Acar Mazlum

Meanwhile, former EPT champions Pascal Perrault and Andreas Hoivold have found their way next to one another. Each has around about 80,000 in chips -- and a lot of conversation.


Pascal Perrault, left, and Andreas Hoivold