A quick spin around the tournament floor yielded a handful of news nuggets from the end of level two.
From the Department of Bust-Outs: Antony Lellouche, Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes, and Andy Black are early fallers.
From the Double Up Department: "I was up to 24K in the first level." This from Maria Mayrinck. She had pocket fives in a multi-way pot and flopped a set on a board of 5-2-J, with two clubs. The big blind player led out, two players called, Mayrinck made it 1,650 and the big blind made it 6,000. Ruling out pocket jacks, Mayrinck shoved and was called by the nut flush draw: Ac-10c. The turn was 8s and the river a second jack to give Mayrinck the full house and a double-sized stack.
From the Department of Image Undermining: Passing by Luca Pagano's table, the Italian Team PokerStars Pro was raking a small pot on the button having tabled 9-4 off-suit; a nine was on board.
Pagano is the most steady player on the EPT, with a record nine cashes, and he enjoys a solid reputation. Nine-four off-suit, ladies and gentlemen. Nine-four off suit.
From the statisticians: Level two has just ended with the players heading off for their first 15-minute break. Registration is now closed, with the board showing 343 entrants on day 1B to add to yesterday's 302. This is still unofficial, but it looks like we've got ourselves a 645 player tournament.
