It was late last night when Denes Kalo closed the days play in the PokerSars.com EPT Grand Final, by virtue of a pair of kings which struck two players down in the prime hours of this morning. It left 39 to return today for what will be a tense step-by-step progression through level after level, at the end of which eight players will face the most important final table in European Poker. Expect no hastiness or carefree moves today.

Today also marks the start of our EPT Live coverage. You can watch every hand of the feature table, which will feature in the early stages Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano and Freddy Deeb, from the comfort of your home computer. In addition to the PokerStars blog you’ll get a glimpse of the players and the magnificent tournament room here at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel.

There was no mistaking which player finished the closest to that goal of EPT glory. American pro Antonio Esfandiari swaggered north on the chip list, the first and only player to make it beyond seven figures yesterday, finishing as he did with 1,198,000. Behind him on 916,000 is Englishman Robin Keston who scored numerous big pots yesterday to send players to the rail and inch closer to the lead.

But all that can change in the space of a day’s play. We’ve seen it before – the surprise collapse of a once mighty stack, or the triumph of the guy who started with next to nothing - just a few days ago in San Remo eventual winner Jason Mercier had been towards the tail end of the competition before wrapping up the week holding victory cards and a suitcase full of money.

But as far as anyone returning today is concerned all that will be decided today. From 39 player to eight, five tables to one in as long as it takes. To recap on the overnight standings you can following this LINK which will also have updated chip counts throughout the day. You can also check in on results so far as well as detail on the payouts.

Players have arrived, their de-bagging their chips and play will begin shortly.