Just 26 players return for day three of the EPT Warsaw where our final table will be decided. Spain’s Juan Lapido Maceiras leads into today, the PokerStars qualifier finishing on 388k last night, a full 43k ahead of second place Claus Nielsen, a press room blogger in a previous life, who starts today on 345k. They are the only two players with over 300k and will start as favourites to make it through to the last nine.

A few places back is another of the five PokerStars qualifiers still in the running, 20-year-old Ken Hicks Jr who, as we pointed out on the blog yesterday, has a name that often features on an EPT player list. He cashed in Dublin and is looking to improve on his 13th place there. Then there’s Daniel Woolson, another PokerStars qualifier, making his first EPT cash finish whilst local representation comes in the form of Poland's Janusz Petlic, hoping to win on home soil from a position of 50k today.

One of the big stories of yesterday was the progress of Andy Black. The Irishman plays with what some would call a rock and roll style; a speed freak one minute, a pensive and reflective soul at others. His early progress yesterday that had taken him to over 100k was cut short by a bad spell, triggered by an aces mugging. He was all set to exit before making the money but flipped his fortunes in the later levels, turning it around, and finishing the day on 85k.

PokerStars sponsored player Sebastian Ruthenberg is set for his best result since his tenth place finish in Baden a few months ago – he starts today with just under 100k, whilst the last Englishman Craig Hopkins, who made the final table at the PCA in January, flies the union flag on 69k. A tall order for him to challenge the likes of Maceiras and Nielsen but incredible things can happen at this stage – a reassuring thought for Raul Paez Corral of Spain, last on the chip count list with just 28k.

A full list of chips at the start of day three...

Juan Maceiras -- Spain -- PokerStars qualifier -- 388,000
Claus Nielsen -- Denmark -- 345,500
Mathias Viberg -- Sweden -- 284,000
Ricardo Sousa -- Portugal -- 239,000
Kenneth Hicks Jr. -- USA -- PokerStars qualifier -- 225,000
Daniel Woolson -- USA -- PokerStars qualifier -- 188,500
Dan B. Pedersen -- Denmark -- 178,000
Henrik Gwinner -- Denmark -- 165,000
Willian Johnson -- USA -- PokerStars qualifier -- 158,000
Christian Oman -- Sweden -- 147,500
Piergiorgio D'ancona -- Italy -- 138,000
Antonio Battisti -- Italy -- 105,500
Mehdi Ouakhir -- France -- PokerStars qualifier -- 95,000
Michael Schulze -- Germany -- 95,000
Jari-Pekka Juhola -- Finland -- 95,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg -- Germany -- PokerStars sponsored player -- 93,500
Niclas Svensson -- Sweden -- 89,500
Andy Black -- Ireland -- 85,000
Trond Erik Eidsvig Norway -- 79,500
Christoffer Sonesson -- Sweden -- 76,000
Craig Hopkins -- UK -- PokerStars qualifier -- 69,000
Seppo Parkkinen -- Finland -- 64,500
Jean Claude Perrot -- France -- 62,500
Janusz Petlic -- Poland -- 50,000
Andreas Hagen -- Norway -- 48,000
Raul Paez Corral -- Spain -- 28,000

The first two players to leave today will each receive €8,130 before the payouts start to increase...

1st -- Zl2,154,000 or €609,782
2nd -- Zl1,220,600 or €345,543
3rd -- Zl718,000 or €203,261
4th -- Zl538,500 or €152,445
5th -- Zl437,980 or €123,989
6th -- Zl344,640 or €97,565
7th -- Zl272,840 or €77,239
8th -- Zl201,040 or €56,913
9th and 10th -- Zl122,060 or €34,554
11th and 12th -- Zl100,520 or €28,456
13th and 14th -- Zl78,980 or €22,359
15th and 16th -- Zl57,440 or €16,261
17th to 24th -- Zl43,080 or €12,196
25th to 32nd -- Zl28,720 or €8,130