Big One for One Drop - €1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em

One of poker's enduring myths is the curse of the chip leader and here at the stunning Casino de Monte-Carlo that came true as Al De Carolis, who began the day in top spot, was the last man out today. In keeping with the day, it was a cooler as De Carolis ran queens into Rick Salomon's kings for his final 25 big blinds.

When the final eight return tomorrow at noon to play for the first prize of €11,111,111 this is how they'll stack up:

It took just under five hours of play to go from 24 to 8 and for most of that time, Andrew Pantling, who started the day seventh in chips, held the chip lead. He survived a couple of early dents in the opening hour before his stack began trending upwards.

While Pantling was leading at the first break, the truth is that the opening two levels were all about Paul Phua. In that 90-minute period, Phua took care of Patrick Madden (aces versus kings), Tony Bloom (jacks versus ace-nine), Mark Teltscher (jacks versus ace-ten) and, most notably, Guy Laliberté. The One Drop founder got his final 15 big blinds in with ace-queen and was in great shape against Phua's king-queen. However, the former Macau junkiteer flopped top two pair and the turn and river bricked to send Laliberté to the rail.

Quickly the final three tables became two and up on the feature stage we saw, potentially, a tournament-defining pot play out between Bob Safai and Pantling. The chips flew in on the turn of a      board. Safai had the nuts with queen-ten and Pantling had two-pair with nine-eight. An eight on the river filled Pantling up and sent a shell-shocked Safai tumbling out. "So sick," said Antonio Esfandiari, who was watching on as Safai's coach. That pot gave Pantling almost a quarter of the chips in play and he upped the aggression accordingly.

Whilst that was undoubtedly the hand of the day it was far from the end of the action as big pots were the order of the day. Paul Newey and Talal Shakerchi had been eliminated by the time Al De Carolis briefly reclaimed the chip lead. An accidental flop re-raise from De Carolis worked out pretty well as Pantling set him in holding top pair and De Carolis called with a backdoor straight and flush draw. He hit the straight draw on the river, which knocked Pantling down to second spot.

The final dozen players soon became nine as Sean Dempsey, Paul Phua and Jason Strasser were eliminated by Elton Tsang, Rick Salomon and Brandon Steven respectively. Just like that the unofficial final table was set. Jack Effel offered the players the chance to play down to six which would mean everyone who would come back on the final day would've been in the money, but a couple of players objected and wanted to stop with eight left as planned.

On just the twelfth hand of the unofficial final table, a kings versus queens encounter between Salomon and De Carolis meant the latter bubbled the final table and play was done for the day. Two players will leave empty handed tomorrow, that much we know.

The elite eight will return at 11:45am local time and many of them may will be wearing a tuxedo as there's a company providing them if they've not traveled with one of their own. We're also promised a theatrical entrance and beginning to what's shaping up to be a fantastic final table, during which levels will increase to one-hour in length. This is what the final eight will be playing for tomorrow:

Join us from noon local time for what promises to be a thrilling conclusion to this very special tournament.

Hand #12: From the hijack, Rick Salomon opened for 750,000. The cutoff folded but Alfred De Carolis on the button moved all in for what appeared to be a little over 7.5 million. Both blinds released instantly.

"How much is that Al?" asked Salomon seconds before he called, "I have kings."

Rick Salomon:   
Alfred De Carolis:   

The start of day chip leader was in trouble, and would find no help from the board:      .

Jack Effel asked how the table was feeling and James Bord was very clear he wanted to quit for the day because he was tired. Salomon agreed, as he hadn't slept yet he said.

And so it was agreed play was done for the day, even though Voulgaris wanted to play on till the bubble was done for.

Alfred De Carolis

0

-7,800,000

Hand #1: The button was with Andrew Pantling and he called after Al De Carolis had opened to 1,200,000 from under-the-gun. The two of them saw a     flop and De Carolis check-called a bet of 1,400,000. The   hit the turn and De Carolis check-folded to Pantling's second barrel of 2,600,000.

Hand #2: Andrew Pantling raised to 650,000 and won the blinds and antes.

Hand #3: James Bord raised to 700,000 from the cutoff and met no resistance.

Hand #4: Andrew Pantling raised it up to 650,000 from middle position and called after Anatoly Gurtovoy three-bet to 1,500,000 from the small blind. A bet of 1,500,000 from Gurtovoy on the     flop earned him the pot.

Hand #5: The action folded to Al De Carolis and he limped in from the cutoff, Elton Tsang completed from the small blind and Cary Katz checked his option. A       board rolled off, Tsang bet 450,000 on the river and De Carolis looked him up. Tsang showed    which was good versus the    of De Carolis.

Alfred De Carolis

7,800,000

-3,400,000

Paul Phua had already got one shove through uncontested but when he shoved again he found a customer. Phua moved in for 4,425,000 from the cutoff and it folded to Rick Salomon in the big blind. He wanted a count and when he'd chewed it over he announced call.

Phua:   
Salomon:   

The     flop meant a chop was now a possibility, but the   turn and   river kept Salomon in front. Just 10 players remain, when one more player is knocked out the final nine players will re-draw for the unofficial final table.

Rick Salomon	18,400,000	7,200,000
Paul Phua	0	-4,975,000

In the first hand after the break, Andrew Pantling raised to 650,000 and Sean Dempsey three-bet all in from the cutoff. The button folded, and action was on Elton Tsang in the small blind. He asked for an exact count, which turned out to be 6,925,000. Tsang thought for a minute, then called, and Pantling folded.

Tsang:   
Dempsey:   

The flop fell    , giving Tsang a flush drawing and stealing two of Dempsey's outs. The turn was the  , and the river the  . Dempsey received no help, and Tsang won the hand with jacks up to send Dempsey to the rail.

Elton Tsang	21,500,000	7,025,000
Sean Dempsey	0	-6,975,000

Cary Katz raised to 600,000 from the cutoff. Two players called, Andrew Pantling on the button and Sean Dempsey in the big blind.

The flop came     and action checked around to Pantling. He bet 750,000. Dempsey quickly folded and Katz called.

The turn was the   and Katz checked again. Pantling continued for 2,000,000 and Katz called.

The   completed the board on the river. Both players checked. Katz turned over   , and Pantling mucked his cards.

Cary Katz

16,200,000

3,600,000

Action folded to Andrew Pantling in the cutoff and he opened for 600,000. The button and small blind folded but Alfred De Carolis in the big blind made the call.

The flop came     and De Carolis carefully tapped the table to check. Pantling made a bet of 725,000 and De Carolis looked at his chips before cutting some out and putting them in the middle while glancing at Pantling's bet.

By accident, De Carolis had taken two 500,000-chips and two 100,000-chips - making it 1.2 million and effectively raising. He was forced to make it 1,425,000 and action was back on Pantling.

"I'm all in" Pantling said without much emotion.

De Carolis thought about it for about 10 seconds before he said "Call!" with a whole lot more passion.

Alfred De Carolis:   
Andrew Pantling:   

The   on the turn didn't bring any cheering or clapping, and neither did the   on the river initially.

De Carolis left his shoulder hanging for just a bit before Haralabos Voulgaris said "Straight". Only then De Carolis realized he had won the hand and he yelled "Yes!"

As the counting started (De Carolis was about to get his 10,545,000 stack back times twice plus the small blind and antes) De Carolis said: "Andrew, you really tried to powerplay me! I really meant to just call."

"That's why you play poker," Voulgaris laughed, "You fuck up and get there."

Alfred De Carolis	21,410,000	11,210,000
Andrew Pantling	17,900,000	-14,600,000

The Doctor is back in good health after doubling up three times in quick succession.

The first occurred when Andrew Pantling opened to 500,000 on the button with    and Dempsey, who was essentially all-in from the big blind called all-in for 460,000 total with   . The       board kept him alive but still left him very short on chips.

Two hands later Pantling opened to 500,000 again, this time, with   , Dempsey shoved for 1,130,000 total with    and Pantling called the extra. The     flop again hit both players but Dempsey held on the   turn and   river.

So Dempsey was now back in 10 big blind territory having turned his micro stack into a short stack. He got it in two hands later from under-the-gun and Al De Carolis looked him up. Dempsey was behind this time with    dominated by his opponent's   . However, the       run out meant Dempsey rivered a flush. He was all-in for 2,780,000 and is now up to 6,120,000 which is basically what he had before he doubled up Cary Katz 20 minutes ago!

Alfred De Carolis	10,200,000	-6,600,000
Sean Dempsey	6,120,000	5,445,000