The second starting day of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event drew a crowd of 205 players, bringing the total for this event to 420. Just 115 players survived the day with none other than Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier on top. These players will meet with the 115 that survived Day 1a, and a total of 230 will see poker action on Day 2.

Like in every tournament here in Cannes during the WSOPE, the tables were filled with top poker professionals. Two of those from France had very short days as both Guillaume Darcourt and Roger Hairabedian were eliminated quickly. Hairabedian has no reason to complain though, as he won the €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha and finished third in the €10,000 Mix Max earlier this week.

Marvin Rettenmaier, John Tabatabai and Marc Convey also didn't last long. The latter made his WSOPE debut, but could not get anything going. A turned set ran into Bruno Fitoussi's turned flush, and Kristijonas Andrulis hit a gut shot straight against Convey's flopped set. Jon Aguiar and Brandon Cantu played till late last night in the finals of the €10,000 Mix Max, and both players entered the Main Event today. It didn't work out for either of them, however, and they will get back at it tomorrow in their heads-up match. You can follow all that action here.

Arnaud Mattern is a feature a the WSOPE every year, and once again he showed off his skills. The former EPT Prague winner has cashed in the Main Event in the previous three years, but he's not going to add a fourth. Timothy Adams won the $2,500 4-Max during the 2012 WSOP, and he had a great starting day. He finished the day with 134,475, and that was a lot more than what his buddy and WSOPE bracelet winner Tristan Wade (33,075) finished with.

Daniel Negreanu was singing and winning on Day 1B as his stack kept rising. After getting Ilan Boujenah to fold a set he seemed in full control. Later he busted Brandon Adams with a flush versus a set of eights, and Negreanu ended the day with 137,500. You can have a good day like Negreanu, but that doesn't mean you're going to beat Betrand 'ElkY' Grospellier on the leader board. The French superstar closed out the day with 190,400 and is the tournament chip leader. Daniel Weinman is in second with 169,000 and also Phil Hellmuth cracked the top 10 with 116,150.

Play will resume tomorrow at 12:00 PM GMT, make sure to tune back into PokerNews as we bring ou all the action from the Majestic Barrieré in Cannes, France.

The night was almost over, but not for Liv Boeree and Ashton Griffin. The latter was nowhere to be found, and Boeree explained what had happened on the third to last hand of the night.

Boeree raised to 1,200 with and Andrey Gulyy called in position. Griffin three-bet to 5,200 from the big blind after which only Boeree called. The flop brought out with one heart. Griffin bet 5,000, Boeree called.

On the turn the hit and Griffin moved all in for 25,000 chips. Boeree called with top two pair, and Griffin showed . Boeree was close to ending the day as the chip leader, but the hit on the river. Griffin won a big pot, and left the tournament room.

Liv Boeree	94,650	41,650
Ashton Griffin	80,000	68,000

October Niner Steven Gee got his last 8,000 or so in preflop and was racing against Phil Hellmuth.

Showdown

Hellmuth:

Gee:

"That's a good flop for you," Hellmuth said after the dealer put out the . "That's a good turn too," he added when the turned. Gee was on his feet and just needed to dodge an ace and queen on the river. The dealer burned one last time and put out the . With that, Gee's pursuit of a bracelet will have to wait until the Main Event final table at the end of October.

Steven Gee

0

-6,500

The remaining players will play six more hands before play is done for today.

There was already 50,000 in the pot and a board reading when we picked up the action. Ekrem Sanioglu had bet 10,000 from the small blind only to have Tianna Nguyen move all in for 12,450 more.

Sanioglu was in the tank for a few minutes and knew a call would cost him most of his chips. Eventually he showed and folded. Nguyen did not show.

Jason Mercier raised to 1,000 and was called by the cutoff and Sam Trickett from the big blind.

The flop was and Trickett led out for 2,000. Mercier called and the cutoff folded. Fourth street brought the and Trickett took about thirty seconds before checking. Mercier checked behind.

The paired the board on the river and Trickett fired a rather large bet of 16,000. Mercier was confused by the size of the bet and began talking the hand out.

"Why did you check the turn?" asked Mercier.

"I can't tell you things like that," replied Trickett.

"It doesn't make sense," said Mercier. "I've got to figure out how you have anything....King-seven? King-six?"

Trickett's only response was a smile.

"This is so dumb," said Mercier as he finally released his hand. The pot was awarded to Trickett who, despite other at the table asking, did not show his hand.

Dimitar Dancev opened for 1,100 from middle position and cleared the field all the way to three-time bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari, who defended from the big blind. The saw Esfandiari check, Dancev bet 1,500, and "The Magician" check-raise to 3,575.

Dancev made the call and then called a bet of 5,425 on the turn. Both players proceeded to check the river and Esfandiari rolled over for top pair. Dancev mucked.

Antonio Esfandiari

60,000

15,000

Phil Hellmuth opened to 1,550 from under the gun. It folded around to the blinds and they both called.

"White magic!" shouted Daniel Negreanu from across the room. Hellmuth flashed back a smile.

The flop fell and there were two checks to Hellmuth. He continued for 4,000 and the small blind folded. The big blind moved all in for roughly 10,000 more and Hellmuth called.

Hellmuth:
Opponent:

Hellmuth was ahead but needed to dodge diamonds on the subsequent streets. The on the turn brought him one step closer to victory and the on the river sealed the deal.

Hellmuth has been slowly trending upward since he first took his seat today and is currently sitting around 80,000.

Phil Hellmuth

80,000

8,000

Phil Hellmuth check-called a bet of 1,600 from World Series of Poker Octo-Niner Steven Gee on the flop. The turn was the , and Hellmuth checked. Gee fired 3,500, and Hellmuth called.

The river was the , and Hellmuth fired 10,000. Gee only had 6,500 behind and tank-folded to give Hellmuth the pot.

Phil Hellmuth	72,000	27,000
Steven Gee	6,500	-1,200

We didn't catch the betting, but we do know that Michael Swimelar got his stack all in preflop and was at risk against Ognjen Sekularac.

Showdown

Sekularac:

Swimelar:

It was a race, but Swimelar needed to improve in order to keep his bracelet hopes alive. The wasn't overly encouraging, while the turn left Swimelar in need of either an ace or king on the river. The dealer burned one last time and put out the , the last card Swimelar would see in the 2012 WSOP Europe Main Event.

Ognjen Sekularac	85,000	37,000
Michael Swimelar	0

Mathew Frankland raised to 1,050 before Alex Bilokur reraised to 2,600 from the next seat. Play folded back to Frankland, and he put in another raise to 6,625. Bilokur called.

The flop came down , and both players checked to see the land on the turn. Frankland bet 5,300, and Bilokur folded.

We happened upon the table on an flop with quite a bit in the middle from preflop action. It appeared Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier had checked from the cutoff and Steven Gee, who won a bracelet in 2010 and is a member of this year's coveted October Nine, put out a bet of 5,000, leaving himself just 7,700 behind.

Grospellier then put in a check-raise to 11,125, essentially enough to put Gee's tournament life on the line if he were to make the call. The October Niner thought about it for about 30 seconds before folding. Grospellier allowed Gee to pick one and Gee grabbed what turned out to be the . "I can't call," Gee said as Grospellier was pushed the pot and increased his already massive stack.

Bertrand Grospellier	186,000	30,000
Steven Gee	7,700	-17,900

We came upon four players staring at a board of . The small blind led out 2,700 and Sam Trickett called from the big blind.

Jason Mercier had moved all in for 10,950 total and action was on a late position player. He called Mercier's all in bet and the small blind and Tricket got rid of their hands.

"The five hit you?" Trickett asked to the late position player.

Mercier showed for a turned set of fives.

"Oh the five hit YOU!" said Trickett.

Mercier's opponent showed for bottom pair and a flush draw. Fortunately for Mercier the rolled off on the river and he was secured a double up.

Jason Mercier

31,500

13,500

Chino Rheem raised to 1,100 and the player to his left, in the small blind, three-bet to 2,700. After the big blind folded Rheem four-bet to 7,100 and his opponent moved all in for right around 20,000 chips. Rheem tanked for a bit and called.

Showdown:
Chino Rheem:
Opponent:

The board ran out , and Rheem added some more chips to his stack.

Chino Rheem

81,000

8,000

After the hijack opened for 1,150 and Maxime Conte called from the cutoff, Matthew Frankland three-bet to 3,725 from the small blind. The original raiser folded, Conte called, and the flop came down .

Frankland wasted little time in betting 3,150, Conte called, and the dealer burned and turned the . Again Frankland bet, this time 7,700, but Conte had decided he'd had enough and gave up on the hand.

Joe Hachem went to the flop with Wei Seng Phua and it came down . Phua led into the pot with a bet of 2,500 and Hachem slowly and deliberately counted out a raise to 5,700.

Phua mulled over his action for about a minute before announcing that he was all in. Hachem sat riffling chips for another ninety seconds before letting go of his hand, thus awarding Phua the pot.

Joe Hachem

14,000

-7,000

Play will resume in 20 minutes.