2.15pm: Baguette run
It's a 15-minute break for the players here at the end of level 11 and with 31 players left the thought of that final table must be starting to creep into players' minds. Our minds, however, are on the baguettes waiting for us in the bar. See you back here in quarter of an hour. -- RD

2.15pm: G-man out
Tony G never recovered and is out to the same man that crippled him. He moved in with ace-five and was called by Dori Yacoub with ace-ten. Two tens on the flop and that was that. --MC

2.10pm: Downward spiral
Tobias Reinkemeier hasn't had the best of starts today. He's lost lot's of pots without show down and he's just lost another pot to Olivier Busquet to drop down to 260,000. The German opened with a raise from the button and was called by Busquet to see the [3c][as][qc] flop. Both checked before Busquet led out for 10,000 on the [9d] turn. Call. Both players went back to checking on the [9h] river and Busquet took the pot with [ad][3h] as Reinkemeier. Busquet on 265,000 now. -MC

2pm: Brown does well not to value cut himself
Chad Brown called a 7,600 raise in the big blind from a William Thorson cut-off open raise. Both players checked down to the [9s][5d][4s][ks][ah] river where Thorson bet 14,000. Brown didn't consider raising for that long before calling.

Thorson: [ad][qd]
Brown: [ac][jh]

Thorson takes the pot with his kicker shortly before their table was broken. We now have five tables left. -- RD

1.50pm: Bari willing visitor of Value Town
After Allen Bari check called the 33,000 bet from Tom Marchese on a [2h][qh][6s][ad] turn his fist tapping check on the [7d] river may as well have spelt out in Morse code, 'Don't bluff STOP I will call STOP.' Marchese bet 48,200 and Bari made the call. Marchese showed his top pair [ah][9h] and Bari mucked his hand. Bari is down to 230,000 as Marchese stomps up to 360,000. -- RD

1.40pm: Tony G crippled
Tong G is down to 32,000 after his opponent hit a two-outer on the river to stay alive. All the chips went in on the [5h][5d][2d] flop with Tony G holding [5c][6s] for trips. His opponent was Dori Yacoub and he was drawing thin with [tc][th]. The turn blanked but the river came [tc] to save the man from Lebanon. He's up to 190,000 now. -MC

1.30pm: Hansen the true high roller
Gus Hansen has to be considered the true high roller in this event for one reason. He hasn't even bothered to turn to finish playing his 62,200 starting stack. The Dane has already blinded down to around 35,000 in the €25,000 event as the action gets increasingly short-handed. Phone calls have been made but Hansen is still nowhere to be seen.

Apparently he's on his way but it will have to be an incredible comeback if he makes it all the way back from here. -- RD

1.20pm: 'I could beat the five'
A fascinating pot just played out between ElkY and Ronny Kaiser. Daniel Negreanu found out yesterday what a pain the young Swiss star can be when sat to your left. ElkY has that little something different about him though that no-one else in the poker world possesses. It's not tangible and would be hard to describe. It's just ElkY.

ElkY opened the pot with a rise to 5,500 before Kaiser does what he does, a three-bet to 12,900. ElkY then four-bet to 27,7000 before Kaiser five-bet to 60,400. ElkY was going nowhere and made the call to go to the [jh][as][5h] flop. Surprisingly both players checked though to the [7h] turn where ElkY led for a small 33,300. Call. The river came [jd] and ElkY upped the pressure with a 88,800 bet. Kaiser sat in the tank for a few minutes and then slid his cards over the line in a fold. ElkY raked in the pot but before that he showed [9c]. ElkY up to 315,000, Kaiser down to 110,000. "I could beat the five".
said Kaiser and let out a broad smile. --MC

1.15pm: BLINDS UP: 1,500-3,000(ante 3,000)

1pm: Timoshenko all-in
Yevgeniyy Timoshenko shoved from the button for a little over 20,000 and was called in the big blind by Mikael Azoulay in the big blind who was having a lot of fun keeping Timoshenko waiting to see what he had.

Timoshenko:[qh][tc]
Azoulay: [kc][8c]

Timoshenko flopped top pair on the [qs][6s][9s] flop and no king or runner-runner appeared for Azoulay. Timoshenko is still short but has been granted a lifeline. -- RD

12.50pm: ElkY wins even when he loses
ElkY was playing out of the blinds against Tobias Reinkemeier when he check-called 11,000 on a [5s][kd][7c] flop and 13,500 on a [js] turn. When the [ah] appeared on the river neither player wanted to show their hand with ElkY almost mucking his hand before Reinkemeier, who was due to show his hand first, tossed his cards to the dealer.

At the same table William Thorson doubled through Reinkemeier and then Olivier Busquet did likewise to Thorson. Chips are moving fast and free at table 6. -- RD

12.35pm: Three go at the same time
Three players were eliminated at virtually the same time and they were Andrew Feldman, Dmitry Stelmak and Kamar Fady. We missed Feldman's exit but managed to get the details of the other two.

Stelmak was left short after tangling with Markus Golder. They had got to the river with 40,000 in the pot. The board read [4s][5c][tc][ad][2s] and when Stelmak checked from the small blind Golser moved all-in from the big blind. Stelmak smiled and folded, leaving himself with 60,000. That 60,000 was soon in the middle with his holding of pocket queens. Unfortunately for him Harrison Kaczka woke up with pocket kings and eliminated him.

Kamar Fady was the third shortest stack coming into today and he moved all-in after a Paul Berende raise. Berende called with pocket tens which was way ahead of Fady's pocket fives and stayed that way until the end. --MC

12.25pm: Table draws
Apologies for the delay in seat draws. Minor confusions between the draw last night and players seating themselves today meant we wanted to wait all players were in front of their correct stacks. And here they are...

Table 1
1 - Allen Bari - 250,000
2 - Mikael Azoulay - 93,200
3 - Rino Mathis, Team PokerStars Pro - 148,600
4 - Richard Lyndaker - 77,300
5 - Alex Kravchenko, Team PokerStars Pro - 67,900
6 - Ilya Bulychev - 67,000
7 - Yevgeniyy Timoshenko - 47,000

Table 2
1 - Paul Berende - 187,000
2 - Javier Garcia - 116,600
3 - Kamar Fady - 52,500
4 - Greg Dyer - 100,400
5 - Matt Marafioti- 87,000
6 - Sorel Mizzi - 260,500
7 - Dren Ukella - 102,000

Table 3
1 - Gus Hansen - 62,200
2 - Dmitry Stelmak - 91,700
3 - Markus Golser - 291,700
4 - Michael Friedrich - 144,000
5 - Harrison Kaczka - 104,800
6 - Tony G - 168,500

Table 4
1 - Thomas Marchese - 261,000
2 - Andreas Tinbergen - 37,500
3 - Matt Woodward - 159,400
4 - Mikhail Smirnov - 59,700
5 - Leo Fernandez, Team PokerStars Pro - 173,500
6 - David Paredes - 105,300
7 - Marcello Mangliano - 118,200

Table 5
1 - Antony Lellouche - 136,200
2 - Anthony Guetti - 81,900
3 - Dori Yacoub - 59,700
4 - Peter Jetten - 73,600
5 - Antoine Saout - 224,600
6 - Luke Schwartz - 300,300
7 - Najibullah Salamzy - 140,900

Table 6
1 - Andrew Feldman - 20,600
2 - Tobias Reinkemeier - 457,300
3 - Chad Brown, Team PokerStars Pro - 55,000
4 - Olivier Busquet - 171,400
5 - ElkY, Team PokerStars Pro - 196,500
6 - Ronny Kaiser - 195,400
7 - William Thorson, Team PokerStars Pro - 79,900

12.18pm: We're off
Play has got underway for today. The full seat draw will appear here like magic very soon. --MC

Reinkemeier leads from Schwartz
Welcome back for day 2of the EPT €25K High Roller event. 41 players made it through from the starting 113 players and German Tobias Reinkemeier tops the lot with an impressive 457,300. It's impressive due to the sheer size of his stack but it's more impressive because of the quality of the players he had to contend with to compile it.

Today the field is more condensed but still star studded. Reinkemeier will have his work cut out staying ahead of the likes of Luke Schwartz (300,500), Markus Golser (291,000) and Sorel Mizzi (260,400). Six Team PokerStars Pros remain in the hunt and they include ElkY (196,500), Leo Fernadez (173,500) and William Thorson (79,900).

Normally at an EPT tournament we have the money bubble and then the official final table bubble. In this tournament they are one and the same thing. Eight places get paid and eight players will come back tomorrow for the final table. We expect the action to be fast and competitive as these players aim to build a chip winning stack before we reach the critical final stages of the day.

Play is due to start at 12pm CET join us back then for the action.

The final table for the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo has been decided.

At noon on Friday, the following eight players will compete for the first prize of €1,700,000.

Winners to date are on the prizewinners page.

You can follow all the action from the Main Event and the High Roller at PokerStars Blog. The latest chip counts will be on the chip count page.

1: Herve Costa, 47, St Paul de Vence, France - 1,590,000



Costa is a local to Monte Carlo and comes from the Provencal village of St Paul de Vence near Nice. He is a recreational poker player and runs a bureau de change as his day job. Costa finished second at the JoaRoyale Poker Tour Final in Antibes in June 2009, winnning €20,000. Two months later he won €13,500 for 44th place at the Grand Final of the Partouche Poker Tour II in Antibes.

2: Roger Hairabedian, 55, Cannes, France - 1,130,000



Hairabedian is a French professional who has been playing the circuit in France and Morocco for many years. His best result to date was winning the €10,000 Grand Prix De Paris tournament in 2008 for €419,520. The former martial arts practitioner only plays live and was ranked the #1 tournament player in France in 2009 by LivePoker magazine. The award was presented at the France Poker Awards during EPT Deauville in January.

3: Aleh Plauski, 26, Minsk, Belarus - PokerStars qualifier - 1,695,000



Plauski has had few live results in addition to a 13th place finish at the WPT Cyprus event won by the Team PokerStars Pro Thomas Bichon. His best online result was in the Sunday $100 re-buy and says he prefers no limit hold 'em re-buy tournaments.

4: Dominykas Karmazinas, 22, Vilnius, Lithuania - PokerStars player - 2,285,000



Dominykas Karmazinas is a student from Vilnius and set himself up for a deep run here when his pocket kings beat the nines of the Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes for a pot of 1.2 million chips on day three. He has been playing on the EPT for two seasons and although he hasn't had any main event cashes before, he came sixth in the EPT Berlin High Roller event for €24,000 and also went deep (8th and 9th places) in two EPT London side events. His favourite game is six max no-limit hold 'em.

5: Josef Klinger, 42, Vienna, Austria - PokerStars player - 1,170,000



Klinger rose to fame in Austria as a chess player in the 1980s, but quit chess in the 1990s in favour of poker. When asked what his best results were, he said: "I have no success." But this is far from the case, as he has taken down several large tournaments in Vienna and his biggest live cash to date was for €85,000.

6: Mesbah Guerfi, 34, Paris - 3,670,000



Guerfi is an unfamiliar name on the EPT circuit but no stranger to tournament poker. The 34-year-old Parisian has numerous live cashes, his biggest to date being seventh place in the 2009 Grand Prix de Paris for €52,440. His favourite game is Omaha, but he's proving here in Monte Carlo that he's got some skills in no limit hold'em too.

7: Nicolas Chouity, 23, Beirut, Lebanon - PokerStars qualifier - 10,280,000



Chouity has been playing on the EPT for the past two season and made it into the top 50 at last season's EPT Grand Final for a €31,000 payday. He also came 124th for €8,000 at EPT Berlin this season. He's won numerous online tournaments including a deep run in last year's WCOOP Main Event.

8: Andrew Chen, 22, Ontario, Canada - PokerStars qualifier - 3,670,000



Chen is a well-known Canadian online pro who seems almost certain to win a major live title soon. He has come close many times. After making the final of the PokerStars LAPT Event in San Jose, Costa Rica in 2008, he then final tabled EPT Prague the next month and came third for €257,000. Last summer he was runner-up in a $1,500 WSOP side event for $412,632. This EPT season he has cashed at the EPT London main event and a side event as well as a deep run at the PokerStars.net NAPT Venetian tournament in February.

Year on year, tournament to tournament, records continue to tumble on the EPT. Just when you think there are no new grounds to tread, new ground is found. Today another tournament record was broken; an EPT High Roller event attracted three figures for the first time. 113 players including Monte Carlo millionaires and poker millionaires stumped-up €25,000 each to create a whopping prize-pool of €2,825,000 and a cool €1,000,000 for first.

The thought of coming to Monte Carlo is very attractive and initially the grandeur and wealth to be seen in the form of luxury cars and boats is seductive. Throughout the week though the mood changes and players start busting from tournaments and suddenly players start to ignore the spend lure around them and begrudge paying €20 for a cheeseburger or €12 for a beer. It was most surprising then when 113 of these players managed to put these qualms aside to find the €25,000 needed to enter today.

It's no surprise to tell you that today's field was chocker block full of the best poker talent this planet has to offer. Every table was a table of death. By the end of 11 fraught levels action 41 players were left standing and Tobias Reinkemeier had navigated his way to the summit with massive 457,300 stack. The chasing pack include Luke Schwartz with 300,500, Antoine Saout with 224,600 and Tom Marchese with 261,000. Team PokerStars Pros still hanging are ElkY on 196,500, William Thorson on 79,900, Leo Fernandez on 173,500, Rino Matthis on 148,600 and Chad Brown on 55,000. In the pack but definitely not to be counted out are Sorel Mizzi on 260,400, Anthony Lellouche on 136,200 and Markus Golser on 291,000.

There was a lot of attention surrounding Viktor Blom today and he managed to build a six-figure stack with ease. His reputation as an aggressive player preceeded him and he always seemed to have it when players bluffed into him or tried to pick him off. Unfortunately he picked the wrong player to try his most adventurous bluff on and lost most of his stack to Tobias Reinkemeier. After a five minute tank the German made the right call and never looked back from that point on. Blom would ultimately bust as did many of the other early pace setters such as John Duthie, Mike McDonald and Dario Mineri.

Tony G and November Niner Antoine Saout also got off to a fine starts but they managed to ride that wave all the way to the end bagging up 168,500 and 224,600 respectively. Later bloomers included Luke Schwartz, Allen Bari and Tom Marchese, who after slow starts set themselves up well for Day 2.

Vanessa Roussa, Jason Mercier, Humerto Brenes and Daniel Neagreanu were amongst the 17 Team PokerStars Pros who turned out but fell. Team PokerStars SportStar Boris Becker also played but busted when his two-pair ran into a bigger two-pair. Erik Seidel, Phil Laak, PCA High Roller Champion Will Reynolds, John Juanda and Nick Shulman fresh from his 18th place finish in the Main Event were other notable casualties.

Play will resume at 12 noon CET tomorrow and our final 41 players will fight it out all the way down to the the final table of eight. To catch-up on all the action today please follow the links below. Full overnight the counts are available on our chip count page here.

Levels1&2
Levels 3&4
Levels 5&6
Levels 7,8&9

2.25am: Bagging and tagging
Chips are being counted. A full wrap review of the day is on its way. -- RD

2.15am: Negreanu out
On a nine-high flop Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and Paul Berende got it all-in. Negreanu had queens and Berende aces. Negreanu's exit pushes Berende up to 160,000. What a comeback. -- RD

2.10am: Mathis cracks aces
Rino Mathis has just got it all-in with eights against pocket aces. A spiked eight on the river doubled him up to 180,000. -- RD

The last four hands of the evening have been annouced. -- RD

2.05am: Berende doubles again
Paul Berende will finish with the overnight chip lead at this rate. He's just got it in with [as][qs] and binked an ace on the river to hit 100,000. 'Champion,' said Tony G , sat next to Berende, with a shake of his head, 'You're a champion.' Berende had only recently doubled with [5c][6c].

Players we have recently lost include Isabelle Mercier, Viktor Blom and John Duthie. Just over 15-minutes left before the bagging and tagging. -- RD

1.50am: Liv Boeree flips out
'Let me win my first race of the day,' asked Liv Boeree as she tabled [8s][8c] to Michael Friedrich's [as][js]. An ace appeared on the flop and no miracle two-outer came on the turn or river. Poor old Liv Boeree couldn't win a flip or fade a draw today - but considering she won €1.3m at San Remo last week I'm sure she'll survive. --RD

1.35am: Berende finds his luckbox button
Paul Berende moved all-in for 20,000 with [5c][6c] and was called by pocket tens. He was open-ended on the flop and got there on the river. The Dutchman is on 45,000 with some chips and one chair. --RD

1.25am: Ummer wishes the break didn't end
Per Ummer is out barely after arriving back at his seat getting it in with [2h][2s] to Luke Schwartz's [as][kh]. The flop was a very unfriendly [ad][8s][ac] and Ummer was gone. --RD

1.10am: Berende does Blom a favour
Paul Berende raised from early position with [ah][jc] to 3,800 and was called by Liv Boeree before Viktor Blom three-bet to 12,400 from his 53,000 stack. Berende moved all-in. Boeree quickly folded before Blom insta-called showing [qs][qd].

The board furthered the cause of neither player's hand with a [8h][2s][6c][5d][8d] board and Blom doubled to 110,000.

That's level 10 over. The players are going on a 15-minute break before playing the last level of the day. We have 51 players left from a starting field of 113. You can expect some more big bust outs in the next 60 minutes. Play starts again at 1.25am.-- RD

1.05am: Duthie doubles
Team PokerStars Pro John Duthie stack had gotten very low of late but he's just doubled-up, luckily, to 63,000. He opened with a raise and was flat called by the small blind before the big blind three-bet. Duthie moved all-in for 28,900 total and found himself up agianst [ks][kd]. Duthie opened [ac][9s] and flopped a two-outer ace to take the pot. Two-outer, you say? The small blind said he folded ace-queen. --MC

1am: Allen on Allan
Allan Baekke has been eliminated by fellow Allen of the Bari variety. Bari raised and was called in three spots before Baekke three-bet to 20,000. Bari then four-bet to 46,000 forcing the three callers to fold but the Dane moved all-in and was called. It was queens for Baekke and kings for Bari. Kaiser had folded queens so Baekke was drawing might thin and not surprisingly he was eliminated. Bari up to 285,000. -MC

12.50am: Daniel doubles
Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu has doubled-up through Per Ummer. His king-ten managed to come from behind to beat the Swede's ace-queen. He's still short on 67,000. --MC

12.45am: Azoulay makes a hero call.. and mucks
Gus Hansen has a certain reputation, I think that's fair to say, and that's something that must have been in the back of Mikael Azoulay's mind when he decided to call a large 49,500 bet from Hansen on the river of a [as][jc][ac][ks][6d] board. He had already called 17,000 on the turn and with the six being irrelevant if he wasn't drawing Azoulay felt he had to make the call. Hansen showed [ad][4d] for top trips. Azoulay instantly mucked his hand and is down to 100,000. Hansen is up to 180,000. --RD

12.40am: Battle of France and the blinds
Fellow Frenchmen Anthony Lellouche and ElkY just did battle in the blinds with Lellouche coming out on top. The action had made the river with the board reading [td][2s][2d][as][ks] and 42,000 had made it's way into the middle. Lellouche led out for 21,000 and after some thought ElkY threw in the chips to call. Lellouche tabled [ac][3s] and took the pot as ElkY folded. Lellouche up to 119,000, ElkY down to 45,000. --MC

12.35am: Hansen calls time on McDonald
Gus Hansen has just knocked out Mike McDonald with [th][tc] to 'Timex's [ad][kd]. Hansen very nearly picked up a massive call from Mikael Azoulay who really seemed to want to call with his ace-jack for Hansen's 80,000 isolation shove. McDonald was all-in for 20,000 at this point. Azoulay, after a lot of play acting, folded. The board ran out [9h][4h][9s][7h][3h]. Hansen is up to 110,000. -- RD

12.25am: Not so Dyer now for Greg
Greg Dyer is up to 100,000 after doubling through Richard Lyndaker. Lyndaker opened the pot with a raise to 3,500 from mid-position and then called the 11,000 three-bet from Dyer in the small blind. The flop came [7d][5d][tc] and when Dyer led out for 15,500 Lyndaker set him all-in. Call.

Dyer: [td][8d]
Lyndaker: [kd][qd]

Dyer though diamonds were good for him but not any more. The turn came [8s] and river [8c] to make a boat for Dyer and stack to really maneuver with now. --MC

12.15am: Schwartz moves into second spot
Luke Schwartz just took down a monster pot to move into second position on the chip leader board. Fredrik Keitel raised and then called the Brit's three-bet to see an eight high flop. It was here that the rest of the chips went flying in with Keitel being the player covered. He tabled pocket jacks but Schwartz opened pocket queens. The queens held and Schwartz is up to a massive 310,000 now. --MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600, ante 200

12.10am: Fernandez flops monster
Mike McDonald must have been pretty happy when Leo Fernandez put most of his stack across the line on a [2d][ah][4c] flop. McDonald held [4s][4d] for middle set while Fernandez had flopped the wheel with [3d][5c]. McDonald set the Argentinian all-in for his 57,700 stack and Fernandez made the call. The turn and river didn't pair and the Team PokerStars Pro doubled up to 115,000. --RD

12.05am: Tom making his Marchese
Tom Marchese has dispatched Nikolay Evdakov. We don't have the details I'm afraid but it puts him up to 270,000. --MC

12am: Boeree bounces back
It didn't take long for Boeree to get the rest of her stack in the middle. When the action folded around to her on the button she moved all-in for around 30,000 and was called by Markus Golser in the small blind. Boeree tabled [9c][9s] and was dominating Golser's pocket sixes. The board ran [kh][ad][5d][qh][qc]. She's up to 63,000 now. Golser's down to 115,000. -MC

11.55pm: Battle of the B's
Liv Boeree had Kings. Viktor Blom had Aces. You do the math. Okay, in case you're not so hot with logic... a relatively short stacked Blom doubled through Boeree, our most recent EPT winner, who wasn't quite so short stacked. She is, however, pretty low on chips now. Blom is on 45,000 and Boeree around 30,000. -- RD

11.45pm: Kravchenko grinding it out
Mike McDonald raised to 3,100 from middle position picking up callers from everyone and their brother (Alex Kravchenko, Dennis Phillips, Gus Hansen and the big blind). Kravchenko was the first to bet the flop to the tune of 7,900 and was called by Phillips. The ultimate blank appeared on the river in the shape of the [2s] and Kravchenko continued his battery upon the board with a 22,000 bet. Phillips folded without so much as a whimper. --RD

11.40pm: Four hand journey with Viktor Blom
We followed the journey of Viktor Blom over the course of four hands he played in a row, the last being a double-up to 33,000 for the Swede.

Hand 1.
Viktor Blom raised to 3,000 from the hijack and was called by player on the button to see a flop. Blom continued with a 4,800 bet and the button folded.

Hand 2.
Blom raised from the hijack and Tony G called from the big blind adding "Some ones got to double you up."

The flop came [jc][qh][5s] and Blom continued with a 4,800 bet when checked to him but folded when Tony G put him all in. Tony G showed king-ten and said "King was probably good there."

Hand 3.
Blom raised to 3,000 and then called Tobias Reinkemeier's 8,000 three-bet. The flop came down [jc][6s][qh] and Blom check-folded to a bet from his opponent even though he only had around 13,000 back.

Hand 4.
Markus Golser raised from under-the-gun to 3,1000 and Blom moved all-in for 13,100. Isabelle Mercier then four-bet to 23,500 forcing Golser to fold what he said was pocket eights. Showdown:

Blom: [kc][kh]
Mercier: [jh][js]

The board ran [8d][5c][3c][qd][3s] to double Blom up to 33,000. -MC

11.25pm: Long goodnight for Langmann
Team PokerStars Pro Florian Langmann has played his last hand of this High Roller tournament after getting it in to a five-bet from Tom Marchese. Langmann was racing for his 85,000 stack with ace-king and failed to spike. --RD

11.20pm: Shorty doubles shorty
William Thorson has doubled-up the other short-stack at his table Andrew Feldman. Thorson raised from under-the-gun and then called the push from Feldman in the small blind. Feldman tabled [ah][qh] to Thorson's [as][9s] and the board ran [td][4d][5c][ks][8c]. Feldman up to a still short stack of 24,000, Thorson down to 55,000. --MC

11.10pm: The big boys are back
We have 64 players left which is approaching half the 113 starting field gone over 8 hours of play. We still have three more to play (starting now) and with plenty of big names left you really should stay with us to the end. --RD

PokerStars Blog reporting team on the €25k High Roller in Monte Carlo (in order of height): Rick Dacey (6') and Marc Convey (6' also as it turns out)

There were two sides to day four of the EPT Grand Final, and you were either on the good side or the bad. It may have been determined by something as random as table draw, or something more rudimentary, like how many chips you had when you first took your seat this afternoon.

Four players arrived at the Salles des Etoile with more than two million chips. Of those four only one, Nicolas Chouity, remains tonight, and he is chipped up with 10,280,000 to lead in tomorrow's final. Kevin Eyster, Matt Perrins and Jean Francois Talbot had high hopes but each kissed goodbye to their Grand Final dreams.

Nicolas Chouity

At times today there was a touch of the Fellini. On the TV stage a table of lights, camera and action all the way through. There were all-ins, calls, double ups, celebrations, commiserations and strangely, most of today's eliminations.

The TV table

Contrast that with the outer tables, a dark and difficult place, with only a handful of bust outs, a place of raise-and-take and hanging on as long as humanly (or inhumanely) possible before the blinds and antes took their last bite.

The outer table

But we needed eight men and eight men we got, survivors by finesse or by fortune who'll return tomorrow to do battle in the following shape:

Seat 1: Herve Costa, 1,590,000
Seat 2: Roger Hairabedian, 1,130,000
Seat 3: Aleh Plauski, 1,695,000
Seat 4: Dominykas Karmazinas, 2,285,000
Seat 5: Josef Klinger, 1,170,000
Seat 6: Mesbah Guerfi, 3,670,000
Seat 7: Nicolas Chouity, 10,280,000
Seat 8: Andrew Chen, 3,670,000

Chouity returns to a massive chip lead with the talented Andrew Chen his closest rival along with Mesbah Guerfi. At the other end Herve Costa miracled his way into a new day, while Roger Hairabedian will have the toughest task of all, surviving with little.

Andrew Chen

For each of the eight, two players had their ideas of EPT glory smashed to pieces.

To his credit Paul Berende wasn't prepared to go down without a fight, even if it did mean departing on the second hand of the day. He pushed with gamble against Claudiu Saizu who showed ace-good. Berende, who went deep in San Remo last week, consoled himself with a trip across the rail and into the high roller event.

Paul Berende

From there it was all about the feature table. Manuel Bevand went soon after Berende before Martin Hruby, David Sesso and Claudiu Saizu followed. Ramsi Jelassi played fearlessly in the early stages but would fall in 19th, while Nick Schulman followed in 18th and Talbot in 17th.

Martin Hruby

Down to the last 16 and anyone with a ticket to the feature table seemed to be facing a death sentence. Kevin Eyster was sent on his way from the outer but that was it. The other seven, including Sami Kelopuro in 12th and EPT double winner last hope Salvatore Bonavena, 11th, all faced elimination in glorious Technicolor, along with Matt Perrins in tenth and Craig McCorkell, who busted on the TV bubble, to bring an end to the day.

Salvatore Bonavena

That then is your final eight. It's European poker's ultimate prize and it's now only seven eliminations away from being decided. Will Andrew Chen be able to avenge his premature demise in Prague two seasons ago> Could Nicolas Chouity become the first Lebanese player to win an EPT since Joseph Mouawad? The combinations are endless.

See for yourself how things transpired today, complete with the official chip counts and results, with the links below. They'll take you all the way from Berende to McCorkell and back again.

Day four seat draw
Level 23 & 24 updates
Level 25 & 26 updates
Level 27 & 28 updates

All photography today was courtesy of Neil Stoddart who uses a viewfinder, focus and copyright approach to his art as opposed to point, fire and forget you may find elsewhere. You can also visit our foreigner-friendly blogs, written in German, Italian, Dutch, French and Swedish. Moving images, although not the emotional kind, can be found on PokerStars.tv.

We're now just a day away from finishing the sixth season of the European Poker Tour, the first page of which was written from Kyiv a full eight months ago. Don't miss the last page tomorrow from Monte Carlo starting at noon. We'll see you then.

Goodnight.

9.40pm: Chips
Here's how our final table will sit down tomorrow. A full wrap of today's play will be with you shortly. -- SY

Seat 1: Herve Costa, 1,590,000
Seat 2: Roger Hairabedian, 1,130,000
Seat 3: Aleh Plauski, 1,695,000
Seat 4: Dominykas Karmazinas, 2,285,000
Seat 5: Josef Klinger, 1,170,000
Seat 6: Mesbah Guerfi, 3,670,000
Seat 7: Nicolas Chouity, 10,280,000
Seat 8: Andrew Chen, 3,670,000

9.25pm: Fin
That, folks, is that. Just after Thomas Kremser announced an increase in the blinds to 40,000-80,000 with a 5,000 ante, Craig McCorkell looked down at his stack and, at 65,000, it probably looked more paltry than ever.

He moved it in and Andrew Chen isolated with a raise to 250,000. Chen took the small side pot once everyone folded, and the cards were on their backs:

McCorkell: [qh][4h]
Chen: [ah][10s]

The board, which has not been kind to McCorkell during these crucial later stages, didn't decide to start helping him now. It came [jc][6s][2c][7h][9s] and it was over.

McCorkell joins all the others on the prizewinners page and the other eight - who feature still on the chip count page are going to tomorrow's final.

A full wrap is on its way.-- HS

BLINDS UP, NOW 40,000-80,000, 5,000 ANTE IN LEVEL 28

9.15pm: Not done yet...
...although Craig McCorkell almost is. This one was pretty brutal. Aleh Plauski moved all in for 830,000 and Craig McCorkell moved all in over the top, isolating. McCorkell had Plauski covered by about 80,000, so this was critical for both of them.

Plauski: [kd][jc]
McCorkell: [ad][qd]

McCorkell might not have minded the [jd] on the flop because there was also a [qs] and a [3c]. The turn was also a bloank: [3d] but the river was the [jd] completing the outdraw and all but booking Plauski's spot at the final, at the direct expense of McCorkell. -- HS

9.05pm: Double up straight away
First hand of the last table and Herve Costa doubles up to 1.6million, getting all in pre-flop with [ah][ks] and finding a call from Craig McCorkell holding [ad][qs]. It was one of those "oooohh" flops, coming [qc][5s][kd], and the [9d] turn and [jd] river secured Costa the goods. -- SY

9pm: Draw and counts
While we wait to get going again, here is the seat draw and current chip counts. Stand by. -- HS

1 - Herve Costa, France, 805,000
2 - Roger Hairabedian, France, 1,260,000
3 - Aleh Plauski, Belarus, 830,000
4 - Dominykas Karmazinas, Lithuania, 2,450,000
5 - Josef Klinger, Austria, 1,200,000
6 - Craig McCorkell, UK, 1,700,000
7 - Mesbah Guerfi, 3,790,000
8 - Nicolas Chouity, Lebanon, 10,130,000
9 - Andrew Chen, Canada, 3,290,000

8.50pm: Matt Perrins out in tenth
We're down to one table. Not the final table, of course, just the last one. By that we mean we have a table of nine players left. Once we lose one more, then we'll have our final table of eight set for tomorrow.

How did we get here? Well the young Brit Matt Perrins completed his quick downfall by busting out to runaway chip leader Nicolas Chouity. Chouity had open-raised and Perrins moved all in over the top for 1,270,000 - Chouity called quickly and found his [ad][qh] was well ahead of Perrins' [ah][8s].

The board ran [jh][3c][10d][7h][7d] and Perrins was heading for the cage to bag his €100,000.

There will be a short break while the remaining players get seated around the feature table. Chips will be updated shortly. -- SY

8.40pm: Kling-ing on
Josef Klinger was staring at the exit, but true to his name klung on. He shoved all in from the cut off - it was for about 600,000 give or take - and Aleh Plauski called on the button. Klinger was dominated with [jd][ks] against Plauski's [qs][kd].

The dealer had other ideas though. The flop came [10h][jc][4h] and Plauski couldn't re-draw on the [5c][kh] turn and river. We stay 10 handed and it's Plauski now on fumes on the outer table. -- HS

8.35pm: Double up for Guerfi
Matt Perrins and Mesbah Guerfi saw and checked a [7h][3s][2h] flop. On the [ad] turn Perrins bet 175,000 and Guerfi re-raised to 940,000, effectively committing himself. Perrins moved all in and Guerfi called.

Guerfi: [as][2s]
Perrins: [2c][7d]

Perrins' flopped two pair had been overtaken on the turn, and he was drawing might thin on the river - only a 7 could help. It was [10h].
Guerfi went up to 3,785,000 after that - Perrins tumbled to 1,270,000. -- SY

8.30pm: Herve Maria
The punishment continues, it's just not clear who's being punished the most. Herve Costa has doubled up. This has implications for player fatigue as Costa has long since entered a self-preservation mode, being blinding off willingly in a last ditch effort to make the final table. Or maybe ninth.

After twenty minutes of raise and take, Costa moved all-in for 470,000 showing [5c][4c] to Aleh Plauski's call with [ac][th]. We were almost down to nine players when a [4s] hit the flop. The other cards were irrelevant. There were no aces or tens and Costa plays on a little longer. -- SB

8.20pm: Kicker plays
Matt Perrins raised from the button and was called by Nicolas Chouity from the big blind. Chouity then check-called Perrins' 150,000 continuation bet on the [6d][5s][6h] flop. On the [9h] turn it was Chouity who bet first, 220,000. Perrins called. Both then slowed down the [qd] river. Chouity showed A-5, good enough to beat Perrins who had a five with a worse kicker. -- SY

8.05pm: Salvatore Bonevena eliminated
And you know what that means? Yet again we will have a virgin EPT winner, as the Italian was the last previous winner of an EPT still in the field. He can count himself unlucky as well. Nicolas Chouity had opened to 140,000 and Bonavena moved all in for 1,420,000. Chouity, after getting a count, made the call:

Bonavena: [js][jc]
Chouity: [kh][qh]

It was a straight race, and Bonavena lost it early with the [ad][ks][4d] flop. He never regained the lead with the [as] turn and [9c] river. Bonavena, a popular figure on the circuit, collects €80,000 and we're down to ten players. -- SY

8pm: Tank-fold then insta-fold
After a period of tank-folding on the outer table, otherwise known as a slo-mo version of raise and take it poker, Dominykas Karmazinas and Josef Klinger just three- and then four-bet pre-flop. Karmazinas raised to 135,000 from the button and Klinger made it 205,000 more from the big blind. Karmazinas asked for a count, was told that there was about a million more in front of Klinger, and then moved all in. Klinger quickly retreated. -- HS

7.55pm: Klingering on
Josef Klinger checked on the flop of [5d][td][8c] having called Matt Perrins button raise. Perrins raised and that was the end of that. Klinger took another raise and take pot, then took another. Meanwhile there are all-ins, calls, flops and everything on the TV table. It's not fair. We play on. -- SB.

7.45pm: Huge pot for Chouity, extends lead
This was a big one between the tournament's two chip daddies. Craig McCorkell called from the small blind then called Nicolas Chouity's raise to 130,000 from the big blind. McCorkell then check-called Chouity's 175,000 bet on the [9s][10s][kc] flop, and did the same on Couity's 250,000 on the [3c] turn.

To the [5c] river, which McCorkell checked again. Chouity bet 340,000 but now McCorkell reached for a re-raise, betting a hefty 1,120,000. "Back door flush," asked a crestfallen Chouity. But he found the call, and is glad he did. Chen showed [jd][9d] but Chouity had [qs][js] for the flopped straight (and straight flush draw).

Chouity up to 7.8million now, McCorkell drops back into the chasing pack with 1.8million. -- SY

7.40pm: Klinger loses his stick
Josef Klinger raised from under-the-gun, making it 140,000, and Matt Perrins three-bet to 380,000 from the small blind. Herve Costa seemed very keen to get involved from the big blind, but eventually passed. No such thing from Klinger, who called.

The flop came [6h][3h][3s] and Klinger checked. Perrins moved in a tower of orange chips, probably about 400,000, and that was enough to get Klinger out the way. -- HS

7.30pm: Show and tell
Salvatore Bonavena re-raised all in for more than one million, knocking the initial raiser (and chip leader) Nicolas Chouity out of the pot. Bonavena then, oddly, showed his hand - [as][6c]. -- SY

7.30pm: One last push
That's all it's got to take to get rid of three more players, and then our final table is set. 11 are retaking their seats and they'll find blinds have gone up to 30,000-60,000 with a 5,000 ante. That's expensive, and to put it in to context each small blind is equivalent to everyone's starting stack on day 1.

Leader at the moment is Nicolas Chouity, a PokerStars qualifier from Lebanon, who has 6,425,000. To see the full list of current chips, go to the chip count page.

PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order of academic achievement in French): Stephen Bartley ('C' grade GCSE), Simon Young ('C' grade O-Level after a retake - much harder than GCSEs), Howard Swains ("I did not do French" - but he did get an 'A' in German, and was unusually useful in Berlin as a result).

10.55pm: Level over; break time
Level 8 done and dusted. See you in 15 minutes folks.

10.50pm: No third title for Mercier
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier was the first person to win a High Roller event and the last person to win one. He won't be making it three titles though as Matt Woodward had just eliminated him. They saw a [jc][8d][qs] flop before a series of betting and min-raises occurred before they were all-in. Mercier flipped over [qc][js] for top-two pair but Woodward had flopped the nuts with [9d][td]. It stayed that way through the turn and river and Mercier got quietly up and left. Woodward up to 165,000. --MC

10.35pm: 'This is what live poker should always be like'
That's the words of one railer watching the verbal batting back and forth between Victor Blom and Tony G, and I have to say I agree. It is fantastic to watch and the rest of the table seems to be enjoying it too - particularly Tobias Reinkemeier who has his hand across his mouth to stop himself laughing. Blom is down to 31,000 at the moment - details of that hand to follow - and it was that which kicked off the war of words between G and Blom.

Blom had made a huge bluff on the river of a [7c][8d][kd][2s][tc] board which had sent Reinkemeier deep into the tank for four minutes. When the German finally made the call Blom had insta-mucked.

Shortly after Tony G had started needling Blom over his bluff and Blom had been responding as best he could. When G started to tell him, in front of a growing number of railers, why his bluff was a bad one Blom responded,'I think you have no clue.' The table erupted in laughter with a couple of players looking dangerously close to falling off their chairs. Seriously. This stuff is golden. Please, please, please can we get these two heads up for the High Roller title. --RD

10.35pm: 'That'll do it'
Dennis Phillips played pot control in a hand and it turned out to be a good choice as he was sliding some chips over to Eugene Katchalov at the end of the hand. He raised from the button and Katchalov called from the big blind to see the [td][ad][3c] flop. Phillips continued the aggressive line with a 4,500 bet and Katchalov called before both checked the [7h] turn. The river came [2s] and Katchalov took up the betting reigns with a 12,500 bet. Phillips thought long and hard before making the call. Katchalov tabled [ah][ts] for top two-pair. "That'll do it" said Phillps as he mucked. He's still doing well on 140,000. --MC

10.25pm: ElkY doubles up
ElkY has doubled up to around 100,000 with an unconventional hand for the Frenchman; pocket aces. The Team PokerStars Pro got it all-in with [ah][as] against Dmitry Stelmak's ace-queen and will now be a threat. ElkY has some history in these high roller events... -- RD

10.15pm: Blom and Mercier start dancing
Isabelle Mercier and Viktor Blom seem to be playing a lot of pots with each other with Mercier not seeming to mind too much about the fact that she's conceding position to the Swede.

Pot 1) Blom raised from the cut-off to 3,000 and was called by Tobias Reinkemeier in the small blind and Isabelle Mercier three-bet to 11,500 from the big blind. Both Blom and Reinkemeier called.

Flop: [jc][5s][qh]

Mercier followed through with a 12,200 bet to win the pot.

Pot 2) Blom opens another pot, again to 3,000, and is called by Mercier again - this time from the small blind. Blom c-bets 6,500 into the [4h][9c][2d] flop and Mercier folds. --RD

10.10pm:Two hands from Mr Reinkemeier
Tobias Reinkemeier played two pots in a row and he won one and lost one to leave his stack touching 200,000. The first pot saw him raise to 3,000 and was called by Tony G on the button to go to a [8c][as][jd] flop where they checked through to the [ts] turn. The German check-called a 5,000 bet to go to the [jc] river. He checked again and again Tony G bet 5,000. Too much for Reinkemeier and he folded.

The next hand Reinkemeier called a 3,000 raise from Viktor Blom along with Georgy Kalashnikov on the button and Markus Golser in the big blind. All four checked the [8c][as][jd] flop to go to the [ts] turn. Golser led out for 8,500 and only Blom moved out of the way. The river came [jc] and Golser's 12,000 bet was called by both men. Reinkemeier tabled [kd][qd] for a straight and the pot. --MC

10.00pm: Dyer decides whether to turn his hand into a bluff
Greg Dyer was in that tricky river position of having a hand with some showdown value but one that he didn't think was strong enough to beat Dennis Phillips. Phillips had raised from the cut-off and Dyer called with [7h][9h]. Phillips had continuation bet for 4,000 on the paired [kh][4c][4h] flop. Dyer made the call with his flush draw which was enough to slow Phillips down on the [7s] turn. Phillips checked the river [3s] and Dyer bet 7,300 rather than checking behind. Phillips made the call and showed [td][tc] to win the pot. --RD

9.50pm: Rolling on
The players are back in their seats and ready to go. When we say 'the players' we actually mean 'most of the players' because in true to their high roller nature most of them haven't quite managed to make it back yet. --RD

8.20pm: Time for 'du pain et du vin'
That means time for 'bread and wine' and our high rollers have 90 minutes to shove as much - or as little - of the stuff down their gullets. Barraging torpedoes of French stick down their neck is not necessarily recommended as they'll have four more levels of play once they return at 9.45pm (local time, of course). That's a whole 11 levels of play they'll have played before the day comes to an end. --RD

8.15pm: Last hand of the break
And it's one for Blom. Georgy Kalashnikov limped from early position and Viktor Blom raised to 3,600. Kalashnikov called. The Russian check-called 6,400 on the [tc][jd][3c] flop. It was Blom who pulled the trigger on the [qc] turn however with a large 12,800 bet which blew away the last of Kalashnikov's resistance. --RD

8.10pm: 'yes Yes YES'
Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri has been eliminated in a very big pot. Yohan Azoulay limped along with Leo Fernandez before Minieri raised from the small blind. Both players called to go to the [3h][qh][4h] flop where Minieri led for 6,700. Azoulay, in a surprise move, went all-in for 110,000. Fernadez folded and left the decision to Mineri. "I can't fold this. Can I?' he said to himself. "Let me check. Do you have a flush?" he continued before making the call all-in.

Azoulay did indeed have a flush with [jh][8h]. Minieri needed the board to pair as he had top set with [qc][qs]. It failed to do though on the [ac] turn and [8d] river. Minieri said "Nice hand" and shook Azoulay's hand before leaving.

Azoulay looked in shock and stood up and faced his friends and in an increasingly louder voice went "yes Yes YES". Then he picked up a bottle of water and poured some over his head. He's up to 180,000 now. --MC

7.55pm: No catch for Katchalov
Team PokerStars Pro Dennis Phillips raised to 2,200 from middle position and was three-bet to 5,700 by Eugene Katchalov. Phillips called and called again on the [kd][4h][9d] flop after checking to Katchalov who bet 7,600. Neither player decided to attack the [js] turn. Phillips made a chunky 11,600 bet on the [7s] river and Katchalov passed his hand. --RD

7.45pm: Kostritsyn's stack heading down under
Alexander Kostritsyn's stack is down to 10,100 after a he lost a big all-in showdown to Harrison Kaczka. Kaczka raised from early position to 2,000 and was flat called before the Russian three-bet to 7,200. Kaczka then moved all-in for 35,000 and Kostitsyn called with [jc][js]. His opponent tabled [th][td] and the board ran [6d][9h][7h][8d][7d]. Kaczka made a straight on the river to take the pot. --MC

7.30pm: Kravchenko opens, Hansen closes
Alex Kravchenko is trying to get his stack moving in the right direction. He was down to 28,000 earlier and has managed to get back up to circa 40,000. He opened to 2,200 and was three-bet by Hansen on the button to 6,600. The Russian did a good impression of a stone gragoyle, albeit one with Aviators on, before folding his hand. Hansen is currently on 80,000. Keep an eye on the chip counts by clicking here. Or you can just click at any time on the bit on the right. Yes, that bit that says 'Latest chip counts.' --RD

7.25pm: Negreanu upping his game
Daniel Negreanu is up to 115,000 after winning a three-way pot without a showdown. He raised from early and was called by Per Ummer on the button before the big blind raised to 5,000. Both players called to see the [2h][js][jc] flop where the big blind led out for 15,000. Negreanu raised to 30,000 and that was good enough to make his two opponent's fold. --MC

7.18pm: Break time over
The players are getting themselves seated and settled for the next hour's play after which a 90-minute dinner break is scheduled to take place. A chip sweep of the tables is taking place now but some of our big stacks include William Thorson (140,000), Viktor Blom (160,000) and Antoine Saout (155,000). --RD

PokerStars Blog reporting team on the €25k High Roller in Monte Carlo (in order of coffees drunk today): Rick Dacey (5) and Marc Convey (3)

5.56pmpm: Break time
Players are shuffled out of the room for a 15 minute break.

6.55pm:Hansen doubles bizarrely
Gus Hansen has doubled-up to 104,000 after a set of bizarre circumstances at his table. Hansen went to raise small but accidentally picked up a 5,000 chip instead of a 500 chip so what was meant be 1,600 became a raise of 6,100. A player called thinking it was 1,600 and then folded when the real raised size was pointed out to him. Leo Fernandez then min re-raised from the small blind and Hansen made the call.

The flop came [qh][9s][4d] and Fernandez led out for 13,000 and then called the 27,000 shove from Hansen. Hansen turned up [qs][3s] for top pair to Fernandez's [ks][js] for a gutshot straight draw. The turn came [5d] and river [jd] to keep Hansen ahead. Fernandez down to 7,100 now. All the table, the gathered crowd and Hansen himself were in fits of laughter at how the Dane had managed to win the hand. The only one not amused was Fernandez. --MC

6.50pm: Heartbreak for Boeree
These was some big pre-flop action between Georgy Kalashnikov (hijack), Liv Boeree (button) and Viktor Blom (big blind). Kalashnikov had made a standard raise, Boeree min-raised and was called by Blom, before Kalashnikov - who obviously wasn't keen on going three-way to the flop - made a final raise to 18,000. Boeree and Blom both flat called.

Kalashnikov moved all-in for just under 35,000 on the [jh][9h][tc] flop and Boeree moved all-in behind him. Blom passed.

Kalashnikov : [qh][qs]
Boeree: [ah][ad]

The turn was the [8h] giving Kalashnikov the straight but Boeree held the [ah] giving her eight outs for the win and two queens for a chopped pot. Neither arrived. Boeree is down to 35,000. Kalashnikov is up to 100,000. -- RD

6.40pm: Shark's teeth blunted
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes has been eliminated by Yohan Azoulay. He was getting short and made a move with [as][ts] but ran into the pockets kings of Azoulay. The board ran [9c][6h][4s][6d][2h] to send the shark home. --MC

6.30pm: Wait for me, I'm coming too
Jennifer Tilly has followed Phil Laak out the door. She raised and then put in a really big four-bet. Her opponent called to see a jack high flop containing two spades. Tilly shoved for half the pot with [as][qs] and her opponent called with ace-jack. The spade needed failed to come on the turn or river. --MC

6.20pm: No bad beats just bad spots
Neil Channing has been eliminated. Luke Schwartz hammered the final nail into the Channing coffin when he called Channing's all-in push holding pocket fours. The Brit had [7][9] and failed to hit. Most of the damage to his stack was done a while earlier when his pocket nines had run straight into pocket aces. --MC

6.10pm: Big hand for Boeree?
Pierre Neuville raised to 1,200 pre-flop and was called by Tobias Reinkemeier in the hijack and Liv Boeree in the big blind. The EPT San Remo winner check-called 4,150 from Reinkemeier on a [8d][7s][9d] flop. Neuville got out of the way. What card arrived on the turn? It was, of course, the [jd] completing straight and flush draws. Both players checked and Boeree put out a 6,500 bet. Reinkemeier thought for a little while, not that long, and passed his hand. --RD

6pm: Bust outs
Team PokerStars SportStar Boris Becker has been eliminated by Paul Berende. Berende eliminated in 24th place from the main event earlier today and straightaway registered for the high roller event. All the chips went in on the turn with the board showing [a][5][6][j]. Becker had five-six and Berende had ace-jack. Enough said.

Also out recently were John Juanda and Martin Kabrhel. --MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 300-600, ANTE 75

5.50pm: Laak loses out
Phil Laak's first High Roller event has come to and end and there were no cameras or journalists there to witness it. The man to do the deed was Pierre Neuville and he filled us in on the details. Laak raised and was called by Viktor Blom and Neuville. The flop came ace-high and only Neuville called Laak's c-bet. The turn came a blank and Laak checked and Neuville moved all-in with big-slick. Laak called with ace-nine and failed to hit a nine on the river. Great comeback by Neuville who's up to 75,000 now. --MC

5.40pm: Channing keeps firing
Neil Channing had raised to 1,050 before the flop to pick up two callers. One of his opponents fell away to his 2,500 bet on the [kh][ks][kd] flop and the second was elbowed into touch with a 5,700 bet on the [2d] turn. --RD

5.35pm: No greenbacks for Greenstein
We've just seen Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein walking out of the tournament room post his traditional book signing-and-giving. That's one less tough opponent for the rest of the field to KO. -- RD

5.30pm: Prize pool details
113 players is the final number of entries for the event; a record for any High Roller event held. The total prize pool totals to €2,825,000. Here's the breakdown:

1. € 1,000,000
2. € 625,000
3. € 375,000
4. € 275,000
5. € 200,000
6. € 150,000
7. € 115,000
8. € 85,000

5.25pm: Kalashnikov gunned down
Viktor Blom doesn't get bluffed off a hand easily. The Swede had opened to pre-flop and was called by Tony G in the cut-off and Georgy Kalashnikov on the button. Blom kept up his aggression with a 2,875 bet at the [9d][jd][2c] flop. Tony G folded but our friend on the button decided to stay in to see the [ac] peel off on the turn. Blom fired again. This time Blom's bet was for 7,000, which didn't scare Kalashnikov who min-raised to 14,000. Blom called and then checked the [8c] on the river.

A monster 40,000 stack was pushed across the line by Kalashnikov. Blom sat for a few minutes before calling. Kalashnikov mucked his hand before Blom tabled [qd][qs]. Big call from the slight Swede. --RD

5.20pm: Laak's alive
I was standing in the middle of the tournament area when I heard my name being shouted by Charlie, the dealer, and Phil Laak. I went running over and Phil Laak wanted his potential exit or double-up blogged. "This is first first high-roller event. I love being here. I want to stay here. Oh my god, can I dodge this? Where are the cameras? This should be filmed." came out of his mouth in about two seconds.

The turn was out giving a [qs][4c][8c][2s] board and Laak was all-in with [jd][8d]. His opponent in the hand was Tony G and he was drawing to a straight flush draw with [5c][3c]. The river came [kd] and Laak doubled to 16,000. Tony G still going strong on 115,000. --MC

5.10pm: Veldhuis three-outered
Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis had been eliminated by Justin Smith. All the chips went in pre-flop with the Dutcman holding pocket jacks to the Americans ace-five. An ace on the flop was enough to boost Smith's stack. --MC

5pm: Mineri cracks aces
Dario Minieri has cracked Mike McDonalds pocket aces to move to 130,000. McDonald raised from the cut-off and was called by the Italian in the big blind to go to the [qs][4c][8c] flop. Minieri check-called a 1,800 bet to see the [9c] turn where they both checked. The river came 3,550 and Mineri check-called a 3,550 bet. McDonald tabled [as][ac] but Mineri had rivered a straight with [qd][ts]. McDonald still going strong on 120,000. --MC

4.50pm: Players back in their seats
Registration has just been closed at the end of this break. Late entrants included main event casulaties Paul Berende (24th) and Nick Schulman (18th) who have both anted up half of their €50,000 prize money to play in the High Roller. --RD

PokerStars Blog reporting team on the €25k High Roller in Monte Carlo (in order of EPT's attended): Marc Convey (30+) and Rick Dacey (7)

6.10pm: Dinner time
Level 26 has counted to a close - and that's now a 75-minute dinner break for the Main Event. There are 11 players remaining and their counts are on the chip count page (updated in a couple of minutes).

We'll return to identify the "unlucky" lucky three and we'll be down to our final of eight. -- HS

6.05pm: Klinger takes one
Josef Klinger may have been floating, but Matt Perrins was not prepared to risk it. Perrins had raised under the gun to 110,000 and only Klinger called from mid position. On the [kh][2c][qd] flop Perrins continued with a bet of 130,000 and Klinger called.

That slowed Perrins down and both checked the [7s] turn. Perrins also checked the [6h] river and was forced to fold when Klinger made it 350,000.

Perrins drops to 2.8million and Klinger is up to 1.6million

6.02pm: How well do you know EPT Monte Carlo?
With the approach of the dinner break, now is a good time to see who can name the past five Grand Final champs. Our special guests had mixed fortunes...

6pm: Sal Bon-bon-bon
Salvatore Bonavena has moved all in twice. The first time he moved over the top of Andrew Chen's opener and showed pocket tens once Chen had folded. The second time was an open shove and it also got through. -- HS

5.56pm: Costa calling
Perrins opened with a chunky 500,000 from the small blind knowing it would be all in for Herve Costa to call in the big blind. He did and turned over [th][td]. Perrins showed [tc][6h] and waited for the flop.
[4d][9h][ah][7s][as]
The French players in the crowd went a bit nuts as Costa doubled up. - SB

5.55pm: Hairabedian of the dog
Roger Hairabedian opened for 150,000 from the cut off. Dominykas Karmazinas called from the small blind, seeming to do so accidentally as he didn't initially spot Hairabedian's raise.

Regardless, the flop came [3c][ts][ah]. Both checked for a [jd] turn. Karmazinas bet 180,000 which Hairabedian called for a [qd] river card. Both checked. Karamzinas showed a sheepish [8d][9d]. It was good, much to Hairabedian's irritation. - SB

5.50pm: Kelopuro in action
Sami Kelopuro opened with a request to buy-in to the high roller. The tournament official called but the tournament director re-raised with a "no". Kelopuro folded. - SB

5.45pm: Kelopuro canned
Sami Kelopuro is out in 12th, re-raising all in from the small blind after Craig
McCorkell had opened from the button. Kelopuro's [Ad][5d] was no good against McCorkell's [Ac][7c]. Both missed the flop, but there were two clubs. And another club on the turn finished it for LarsLuzak. --HS

5.40pm: Olive busted
We've lost another. It was folded around to Laurent Olive in the small blind and he bet 225,000. Dominykas Karmazinas, who had him covered, looked down at his cards and announced he was all in. Olive called.

Olive: [as][5d]
Karmazinas: [ah][10c]

The [6s][6c][8s] brought a "no, no" from the man from Lithuania as he feared an approaching chop, but the [9c] turn and [3h] river ensured he took the lot and sent Olive to the rail in 13th place, good for €70,000. -- SY

5.35pm: Klinger can't crush Olive
Laurent Olive has arrived at the outer table to make up the numbers. He wasted no time moving all-in behind a bet of 130,000 from Josef Klinger which Klinger eventually passed.
A few hands later Matt Perrin opened for 105,000 and Klinger fired off a raise of 380,000. Perrin only needed to reach for his chips for Klinger to pass. - SB

5.30pm: Rugini roasted
It's been a bad couple of minutes for Italy as Emanuele Rugini has now joined Domenico Iannone on the rail. Rugini raised to 120,000 from the button and Chen moved all in for 1,550,000 from the big blind. That actually put Rugini all in for his last 750,000 - and he called.

Chen was ahead with [kc][kh] against Rugini's [8s][8c]. The board did not bring any horrors - coming [3d][6d][3h][10c][3s] and Chen's boat was the bigger. Rugini is out in 14th. -- HS

5.25pm: Iannone gone
Domenico Iannone is our 15th place finisher, sent to the rail (and to collect his €60,000) by Britain's Matt Perrins. Iannone had opened for 120,000, Perrins re-raised to 310,000 and Iannone called. Both checked the [6h][ks][jc] flop, then on the [6s] turn Iannone shoved all in for his last 400,000. Perrins snap called, and it's easy to see why:

Perrins: [js][jh]
Iannone: [10c][10d]

The Italian was drawing dead, killed off by Perrins' turned full house, so the [7h] river counted for nothing. Perrins is up to around 2.5million after that. - SY

5.20pm: Guerfi hits river to stay on
Mesbah Guerfi raised from the button to 115,000 and Emanuele Rugini re-raised from the small blind, making it 340,000. Guerfi moved all in and Rugini called. Guerfi was the player at risk, and he had the inferior hand.

Guerfi: [kc][jd]
Rugini: [ad][qc]

But card by card, the dealer kept Guerfi in this one. The board came [10c][10d][8c][7h][9c] and the straight took it. Guerfi has more than a million and, more importantly, is still breathing. -- HS

5.15pm: Kevin Eyster eliminated in 16th place
Roger Hairabedian opened for 135,000. Kevin Eyster then moved all-in from the small blind for 960,000. Hairabedian took some time over his decision, the Frenchman's railbirds getting ever closer. Eventually he called showing [qd][qh]. Eyster showed [as][qc].

After handshakes the board ran [9c][7c][3h][9s][ts].
Eyster heads to the rail and Hairabedian adds more than a million to his stack. - SB

5.10pm: Chouity chokes Kelopuro
This is an interesting one from the featured table. Sami Kelopuro opened from mid position, making it 120,000 to go. Nicolas Chouity, our tournament chip leader, three bet to 285,000 and Kelopuro called.

The flop came [2h][7c][5d] and Kelopuro check-called Chouity's 355,000 bet. They both checked the [9s] turn and then when Kelopuro bet 575,000 on the [qs] river, Chouity snap called.

Chouity showed [ah][ac] and Kelopuro's [ad][qd] had hit on the river. But not enough. Chouity takes some more, Kelopuro crumbles. -- HS

5.05pm: Nothing to see here
It might look as though we're being tardy - and sometimes we are. But really there's not that much to report here at the moment.

On the featured table, Craig McCorkell opened to 110,000 and Sami Kelopuro three-bet to 265,000. That was enough. -- HS

5pm: Klinger unchallenged
Two hands since the color up (1,000 chips removed), both times Josef Klinger raised to 130,000, both times everyone else folded. -- SY

LEVEL UP, BLINDS NOW 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ANTE IN LEVEL 26

4.50pm: Chip race
And almost as soon as we restart, we stop again. That's the official end of level 25 so they're racing off the red 1,000 chips. -- HS

4.45pm: Off we go again
Play is restarting, with our two tables looking like this:

Featured table:
1: Salvatore Bonavena - 1,518,000
2: Mesbah Guerfi - 786,000
3: Emanuele Rugini - 1,908,000
4: Craig McCorkell - 3,094,000
5: Laurent Olive - 754,000
6: Sami Kelopuro - 1,778,000
7: Nicolas Chouity - 4,165,000
8: Andrew Chen - 1,937,000

Outer table
1: Domenico Iannone - 798,000
2: Dominykas Karmazinas - 1,100,000
3: Matt Perrins - 1,746,000
4: Herve Costa - 715,000
5: Josef Klinger - 1,561,000
6: Kevin Eyster - 937,000
7: Aleh Plauski - 1,833,000
8: Roger Hairabedian - 1,424,000

4.25pm: Re-arranging
Still on a break, which will likely mean that they will play through the last six minutes of the level and straight into level 26.

4.15pm: Take a break
Players are on a break as the final two tables are re-balanced with just 16 players remaining. -- SB

4.10pm: Jean Francois Talbot, eliminated in 17th place
Talbot opened for 90,000 which Chouity called from the button. On the flop of [th][9s][tc] Talbot bet 125,000 and Chouity raised to 270,000. Talbot moved all in and was called immediately by Chouity who showed [ah][td] which had Talbot's [ac][ad] beaten. The turn came [kc] and river [kh]. Talbot gutted but now out. -- SB

4pm: Nick Schulman bust
Andrew Chen, who recently doubled up, open raised to 90,000. It was folded around to Nick Schulman who looked down and found [ad][9d] - and he moved all in for 320,000 more. Chen insta-called with [10d][10s].

The board ran with no dramatics, coming [6c][2c][2d][6h][ks] and Schulman's work in Monte Carlo is done. Chen, however, continues his extraordinary rise to 1.5million from the 15,000 he had left at the 5,000-10,000 blind level yesterday. -- SY

3.58pm: The short version
Emanuele Rugini raised, Jean Francois Talbot re-raised and Rugini moved all in. End of story. -- SB

3.57pm: Dancing in the streets of Vilnius
Kevin Eyster's day goes from bad to worse as he's just sent another 575,000 over to Dominykas Karmazinas. The Lithuanian moved all in from early position and it was folded back to Eyster in the big blind. He called and they were racing:

Eyster: [kh][qd]
Karmazinas: [4s][4h]

The board bricked - [ah][6s][9s][8d][5c] - and Karmazinas doubles. Eyster is down to 600,000-ish. -- HS

3.55pm: Talbot all-in
Jean Francois Talbot opened for 90,000, was raised to 255,000 by Kelopuro before moving all-in for 1,399,000. Kelopuro mucked. -- SB

3.50pm: Double up for Chen
Someone had to stop the surge of Roger Hairabedian - and that man was Andrew Chen. He had raised to 90,000 and the Frenchman called. Then it all kicked off on the [6c][2d][5d] flop - Hairabedian bet around 400,000, Chen moved all in for 475,000 and got the routine call:

Chen: [ah][ac]
Hairabedian: [ad][4d]

Chen was ahead, but only to the nut flush and inside straight draw.

But he managed to fade both on the [js] turn and [qc] river. Chen now on more than a million - and to think he was down to just 15,000 at one stage yesterday! - SY

3.45pm: Nothing better to do
Paul Berende, who busted in 24th place in the first hand played today, is now playing in the high roller tournament.

3.40pm: The new boy
Craig McCorkell arrives as a replacement player on the feature table. Play will resume shortly.

3.35pm: Ramzi Jelassi is out in 19th place
Ramzi Jelassi is out of the main event. He moved in from under-the-gun with [qd][td] and was called by Jean Francois Tabot with [ad][kd]. Talbot had Jelassi covered by a sliver as the board came [4d][9s][6h][ts][ah]. The turn had flipped things into Jelassi's favour but the river card rescued Talbot, condeming Jelassi to the rail. -- SB.

Ramzi Jelassi

3.30pm: If it's there, take it
That seems to be the attitude of Roger Hairabedian, who just took down a succession of pots uncontested.

Hand 1: He makes it 160,000 from the small blind and Salvatore Bonavena folds the big blind.

Hand 2: He makes it 95,000 from the button, Bonavena folds, as does Andrew Chen in the big blind.

Hand 3: Hairabedian makes it 85,000, folded around to Domenico Iannone in the big, who mucks as well.

Hand 4: This time it's 100,000 and it's good enough.

Hand 5: Roger Hairabdian folds - and Nick Schulman gives him a round of applause (more in sarcasm, I suspect). -- SY

3.24pm: McCorkell takes chunk out of Eyster, assumes lead
Craig McCorkell has just taken over the chip lead with a massive double up through Kevin Eyster. McCorkell made it 91,000 under-the-gun and Eyster raised from late position to 240,000.

McCorkell moved all in - a total of 1,525,000 - and after asking for a count, Eyster called. This was the two big stacks going at it, and they were both packing. But Eyster's queens were behind McCorkell's [ks][kh] and stayed there through flop, turn and river. 

It was 3,100,000, which all goes to McCorkell. Eyster is back in the pack.-- HS

3.21pm: Perrins clatters into Klinger
Matt Perrins raised his small blind, and got it through, but faced much more significant resistance when he tried it from his button. Josef Klinger called from the big blind and they went to a [5c][5d][10d] flop.

Klinger checked, Perrins bet 85,000 - so far so standard - but then Klinger raised 175,000 more. Perrins called. The [5s] turned and after Klinger checked, Perrins bet 210,000, which Klinger called.

The river was [9d] and Klinger counted out a 500,000 chip bet. Perrins certainly considered that too much and folded. -- HS

3.20pm: So long Claudiu Saizu, eliminated in 20th place
Claudiu Saizu is out, moving in with [as][7h] and getting called by Emanuele Rugini with [ac][js]. The board ran [3s][6s][ah][6h][3d]. Rugini sends the Romanian to the rail in 20th place.

Claudiu Saizu

3.15pm: Small pot
Sami Kelopuro wins a hand against Ramsi Jelassi, showing a full house with [ah][7h] on a board of [td][7s][ad][ac][8d] that was checked from flop to river. -- SB

3.10pm: Big stacks go head to head
The two big stacks at the table go at it. Kelopuro opened for 95,000 and Nicolas Chouity raised to 240,000. Kelopuro asked how much and called. The flop came [4d][th][4c]. Kelopuro checked and Chouity made it 325,000. Kelopuro called quickly for a [td] turn. That was checked, as was the [3d] on the river. Chouity showed first [6s][6c] then immense relief as Kelopuro mucked. Chouity into the chip lead with 2.8 million. -- SB

3.05pm: From the off
An all-in from the off. Emanuele Rugini moves in with [qs][qd] and is called by Claudiu Saizu with [ah][ad]. No end to the drama on the TV table with a board of [qh][6c][8d][5c][2s]. Rugini doubles up and Saizu is down to just 126,000. -- SB

2.55pm: Nearly ready
Players are returning to their seats. We should be under way again shortly.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Monte Carlo (In order of spectators removed from the media area): Howard Swains (12), Stephen Bartley (6), Simon Young (a desk based 0).