In order to better capture the fast and furious action here, we're reverting to time-stamped, level-by-level commentary.

This post contains the latest action from level 17, with blinds at 2,500-5,000 (500 ante). Latest chip counts are on the chip count page.

5.45pm: As we work on the day report, here's the final table line up for tomorrow:

Seat 1 - Arnaud Mattern, France, 328,000
Seat 2 - Ludovic Lacay, France, 296,500
Seat 3 - Andrea Benelli, Italy, 100,000
Seat 4 - Michael Muheim, Switzerland, PokerStars qualifier, 89,000
Seat 5 - Joao Barbosa, Portugal, 123,000
Seat 6 - Dario Minieri, Italy, Team PokerStars Pro, 359,500
Seat 7 - Nico Behling, Denmark, 343,500
Seat 8 - Sergey Shcherbatskiy, Russia, PokerStars qualifier, 349,000
Seat 9 - Atanas Gueorguiev, Bulgaria, PokerStars qualifier, 186,500

5.34pm: Final table set.
In one of the first hands of level 18 a quick-fire all-in finds Uffe Holm and Michael Muheim, two of the short stacks, with their chips in the middle. Muheim shows Ah-9d to Holm's Ts-7s. Despite Holm's pleading for "at least a seven" nothing comes to help the Dane and he exits in tenth place, the last elimination of the day.

5.30pm: Swiss on the ascent
Michael Muheim doubles up with nut flush, up to 70,000.

5.25pm: Down to ten
It’s the end of the road for Eduard Kapitonov and it came on a river card that gave Frenchman Ludovic Lacay a straight. Kapitonov had been ahead when all in holding Ad-9d to Lacay’s Js-4s. But the board 6s-3d-5s-5h-2h saw him off. Just ten players remain.

5.20pm: 150,000+ pot for the Russian
Big pot for the overnight chip leader Sergey Shcherbatskiy and possibly enough to get him back to the top of the leaderboard. Michael Muheim, the PokerStars qualifier from Switzerland, raises from the button and Shcherbatskiy calls in the big blind. The flop comes Ks-4c-2s and Shcherbatskiy checks, which prompts a bet of 20,500 from Muheim. Shcherbatskiy calls. The turn is the Jd and Shcherbatskiy now comes out firing, 25,000 to be precise. Muheim calls. Shcherbatskiy repeats the bet on the 2d river and once again Muheim calls. Shcherbatskiy flips K-10 for flopped top pair and Muheim knocks the table and mucks.

5.10pm: The all important numbers
The latest chip counts are now availabe. You can also find the results so far on our prizes page.

5.05pm: Down to 11
A bet of 15,000 by Brian Jensen called by Arnaud Mattern in the big blind. On the flop Qs-Qd-4h Both checked for a turn card Jd which prompted Mattern to bet 20,000 which Jensen, who was bashed around a little by another Frenchman Ludovic Lacay in the hand earlier, called. The river came 7h and Mattern moved all-in, easily covering Jensen who after a short pause for reflection called, showing aces. Mattern showed Kc-Qc - Jensen leaves in 12th place.

4.51pm: De Wolfe out
There's only one former champion remaining, eliminating the other. Roland de Wolfe is now on the rail thanks to Arnaud Mattern, a straight forward nines against fives, leaving 12 players.

4.50pm: Things change
In the space of two hands Bulgarian Atanas Gueorguiev did his tournament hopes no end of good, first doubling up against Brian Jensen when he caught an ace onthe river to beat Jensen's pocket fives. Then he jetted up to 200,000 from 50,000 by eliminating Moises Parilla, aces over A-T. Down to 13.

4.45pm: Minieri moves
Dario Minieri has been moved and now fills the seat left empty by Martenssen's departure.

4.40pm: Martensson reaches the end
Patric Martensson's day just ended, puching all of his tiny stack in behind A-6 and getting a call from Roland de Wolfe. De Wolfe had A-8 and although the flop gave Martensson some split possibilities with three high cards, the turn and river were both low and De Wolfe's eight played. Down to 14.

4.35pm: Champions clash
On a flop of Ad-Th-5d the two former EPT winners contended a hand. Arnaud Mattern bet 19,000 from the button which Roland de Wolfe called for a turn card 6c. De Wolfe checked to the Frenchman who bet again, this time all-in. Roland passed, Mattern now has around 100,000.

4.25pm: Play is due to resume in level 17 at around 4.30pm local time. A full chip count will be available then, but the two chip leaders, by a comfortable distance, are Dario Minieri and Sergey Shcherbatskiy.

In order to better capture the fast and furious action here, we're reverting to time-stamped, level-by-level commentary.

This post contains the lates action from level 16, with blinds at 2,000-4,000 (400 ante). Latest chip counts are on the chip count page.

4.15pm: Martesson moving in the right direction
Patric Martensson just doubled up through Atanas Gueorguiev, getting it in with the massive 7-3 and hitting a seven to oust the Bulgarian's Q-J. That's the way to play them. That's also the break, and a new level starts in 15 minutes.

4.10pm: Isabelle Mercier busts
One of two Team PokerStars Pros making the money has just bust. Isabelle Mercier had A-2 and flopped a deuce, but Brian Jensen flopped a pair of kings. That was that for Mercier, who takes just more than €10,000 and leaves Dario Minieri flying the flag.

4.02pm: Potential double winner doubles up
Arnaud Matterm just doubled up from Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier, keeping his slim hopes of the double alive. Even with the added chips the Frenchman still has just 50,000.

3.50pm: The redraw.

Table 17
1. Sergey Shcherbatskiy
2. Eduard Kapitanov
3. Dario Minieri
4. Andrea Benelli
5. Joao Barbosa
6. Uffe Holm
7. Michael Muheim
8. Nico Behling

Table 18
1. Isabelle Mercier
2. Brian Jensen
3. Atanas Gueorguiev
4. Patric Martenssen
5. Moises Parilla
6. Arnaud Mattern
7. Ludovic Lacay
8. Roland de Wolfe

3.40pm: Down to two tables
PokerStars sponsored player Juan Manuel Pastor is the next to go in 17th place. His departure leaves just 16 players who are now redrawing for seats at the remaining two tables.

3.38pm: Puro purged
Mika Puro's day just ended. The PokerStars sponsored player pushed in with Ks-Js and was called by Michael Mulheim with pocket tens. No help on the board for the Finn who departs in 18th.

Ahead of the day, Puro talked to the video blog team and described his realistic expectations for day three:

Watch EPT Wasrsaw 08: Interview with Mika Puro on PokerStars.tv

3.32pm: Behling building
And another double up. This time Nico Behling got it in with 7-7 against Mika Puro's A-K. No help this time for the big slick and Behling doubles up to about 100,000.

3.30pm: Stand up for Denmark
Uffe Holm just doubled up through Juan Manuel Pastor, flopping an ace and seeing his A-K outdraw the Spaniard's queens. Cue vocal celebrations from Holm, standing on his chair.

A raising war of sorts between Sergey Shcherbatskiy and Frenchman Arnaud Mattern had everyone’s attention for the full ten minutes it took to play. The wait came on a board already dealt and showing 8c-6s-Kc-2-s-Ts. Shcherbatskiy bet 25,000 on the river, a move that sent Mattern into the tank for several painful minutes.

Mattern had the call counted, a tower of reds topped with a single yellow chip, he just couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. He checked the clock for the tournament average (115,000) and then asked if Shcherbatskiy would show if he folded. The Russian, a sporting type, agreed and with great difficulty Mattern laid down his hand. Shcherbatskiy showed his pocket queens, meriting a pat on the table from the Frenchman, now down to 70,000.

It’s been a good few minutes for Russian players and bad for former champions. A few moments ago Eduard Kapitonov doubled up through Roland de Wolfe to the tune of about 50,000.

Stefan Rotach just became the latest player to be Minieri’d, moving all-in after first Christoffer Egemo raised and Minieri re-raised, making it 21,000 more for the Italian to call. Whilst Egemo folded Minieri thought for a while, expressed the opinion that he couldn’t fold and called instead, showing Qs-4h. Rotach tuned over A-J but must have feared the worst, a nightmare come true when a four hit the flop. Just 20 players remaining.

No wait, 19 - and it’s Dario Minieri again. Christoffer Egemo felt the force this time, all in with A-Q against Minieri’s pocket fours. An ace on the flop. A four as well. Another player gone.

Two big pots on adjacent tables, one going all the way to showdown, the other stopping short. The first featured the notably aggressive Roland de Wolfe being handed a spoonful of his own medicine by Michael Muheim, the PokerStars qualifier from Switzerland.

Muheim raised pre-flop from the cut-off -- a standard three-times the big blind of 3,000 -- and De Wolfe re-raised from the button, making it about 22,000 with a formidable pile of red chips. Muheim moved all in, about 60,000 more. De Wolfe tanked for a long, long time before folding.

All this was playing out as Ludovic Lacay and Uffe Holm were looking at a board of 8c-7d-6d-3c-10h and significant piles of chips were in front of them. Lacay had moved in, Holm was pondering, but ceased pondering and announced a call. Lacay showed K-9c for a straight and Holm mucked.

More bust-outs are coming, and then a chip count. It's speedy stuff so far.

Talking of Dario Minieri he’s responsible for the first elimination, seeing off Josh Gould. Minieir had made a typical stealing move on the hand prior and now raised on the button with Gould moving all-in behind him. The Englishman showed pocket fives to Minieri’s K-Q, the king dutifully arrived on the turn.

Following Gould was Irishman Marty Smyth, under calling an all-in from Atanas Gueorguiev and showing A-K to the Bulgarian’s pocket queens. Nothing changed on the flop, turn or river and we were down to 22 - soon to be 21, however, when PokerStars sponsored player Julien Lang Van departed in 22nd place.

Elsewhere Kevin Macphee is an early all-in pusher, getting no takers. He was keen though, raising on the next hand to 8,500 before Michael Mulheim moved all-in for 25,000 more. Macphee counted and called, turning over his Th-9h to Mulheim’s A-K. Nothing but blanks on the river left Macphee with less than 20,000.

Ouch. Ludovic Lacay has just put a huge dampener on Juan Manuel Pastor's afternoon, moving all in pre-flop in what seemed to be a battle of the blinds and was called by Pastor, who had conveniently woken up with aces.

It was looking bleak for Lacay, who meekly tabled 8-2o, and he was massively odds on to be our 24th placed finisher. But a two on the flop and another on the turn had the Frenchman chuckling and the Spaniard cursing and Lacay doubling up to the 150,000-odd mark.

Here we go with the statistics: we’re in level 15 with the blinds at 1,500-3,000 with a running 300 ante and 24 players remain.

In terms of the one player lighting up the room yesterday it would have to be Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri.

There was more to it than his explanation “I got many hands” to account for his gallivant through a tournament field, something that left some players jumbled in his wake. He didn’t always get hands, just as Joao Barbosa, who was crushed late last night by a Minieri move with T-8.

“The guy was raising and re-raising and very often three betting” said Minieri. “He was being very aggressive because of the bubble, so I knew I could show him the bluff.

“I don’t know about how I’ll play today, I don’t have a plan, I’ll wait to see the table draw. I just want to play well and be lucky, because you need to be lucky!”

Although if there was ever a player who creates his own luck it’s Minieri. “Yeah”, he smiled, quoting a couple of hands he lost yesterday as if to make himself sound like a mere mortal like the rest of us. But it takes more than luck to turn up on day three with 211,400.

The good news for each and every one of the 24 players returning to Casinos Poland today is that they are all in the money. The first one out will take the zloty equivalent of €7,038 for their trip to Warsaw, something close to double their buy in for two days' work.

But such is the nature of tournament poker that a walk to the cashiers' cage today will seem like a disappointment. The prize in view is the final table, where more than €20,000 awaits the ninth placed finisher and more than €360,000 the winner. Having come this far, the 15 who must depart will feel as though they're missing the party.

That makes for another tense day on the EPT; only the strongest will survive. With the likes of Dario Minieri near the top of the leaderboard, any nerves are likely to be seized on and weaknesses will be punished.


Dario Minieri

The PokerStars qualifier Sergey Shcherbatskiy, from Russia, has been flawless and fearless to date, rising to the very top of the ladder and enjoying the final few levels last night with a tumbler of what looked like whiskey beside his moutains of chips.


The chip-leading Sergey Shcherbatskiy

Today, though, Shcherbatskiy has to deal with the attentions of the chipped up and experienced Scandinavian duo of Uffe Holm and Patric Martensson, as well as the Spanish player Juan Manuel Pastor, enjoying his first appearance in PokerStars colours. Minieri, for his part, shares a table with his fellow Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier.

Just below the top two are Roland de Wolfe and Arnaud Mattern, both former winners on the EPT and hot prospects to become the first two-time champion. The seat draw has pitched Mattern into the Minieri-Mercier stand off; De Wolfe has the likes of Kevin Macphee and Mika Puro.

Or, to put it another way:

Watch EPT Warsaw 08: Introduction to Day 3 on PokerStars.tv

Play starts in less than 10 minutes. Stay tuned.

***
The young English player Josh Gould has made it through to day three. Our video blog team caught up with Gould yesterday afternoon, when he was fearing playing alongside Dario Minieri. Bad news for Gould: the young Italian is a table-mate today as well.

Watch EPT Warsaw 08: Interview with Josh Gould Day 2 on PokerStars.tv

We came to play down to the money. We got there, but the route was less predictable and featured a few more bumps than anyone had imagined. Attention is always on the chip leaders - the players most likely to shape days three and four - but today their story was one of collapse and elimination as one by one the big stacks from this afternoon had turned to dust by this evening.

Frenchman Antony Lellouche, who was protected behind a chip wall that peaked at 100,000 today, succumbed to a change in luck which, on day one, had favoured him royally, starting with a fortuitous kings against aces double up. Nothing like that luck today for Lellouche, busting from the tournament with panache but empty handed, after a last ditch clash with Andrea Benelli.

The former EPT London champion Mark Teltscher met the same fate, exiting within throwing distance of the money. Teltscher was one of eight former champions playing today, another being the Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand Grospellier who was looking good for a run on the double before he too was shuffled away by a day designed to ruin the wealthy.

That there were so many former champions in the field had the press corps cooing over the possibility of a first double winner. The list was distinguished – Jepson, Ruthenberg, Teltscher, ElkY, Perrault, Griffin. All arrived with hope but all were rail bound, leaving the responsibly on the shoulders of two players.

The EPT Dublin champion Roland de Wolfe looks to be the boy most likely, ending the day by bagging 170,000. There remains another hope in EPT Prague winner Arnaud Mattern, who rallied late on, bursting the bubble, and finishing with 130,000. But if tomorrow is as cruel to the leaders as today there’s no counting out the Frenchman; a cautionary tale for tonight’s chip leader, the PokerStars qualifier Sergey Shcherbatskiy on 265,900.

Poised to cause havoc tomorrow are the remaining Team PokerStars Pros Dario Minieri and Isabelle Mercier. While Minieri spent much of the day being massaged to within an inch of his life, he massaged a stack that yesterday had touched the 3,000 line before lifting off to fly where the air is thin, an altitude of 211,000.

While those kinds of numbers make for sweet dreams, spare a thought for Hans Eskilsson, EPT Warsaw’s bubble boy, who leaves with nothing more than the nightmares of a white knuckle losing battle in Casinos Poland. Eskilsson had done well to have recovered from a crippling hand earlier in the day, but when making his move was unable to steer his A-9 passed the A-Q of Moises Ramos or more crucially the pocket kings of Mattern. With him gone this chapter of the EPT was closed.

Tomorrow the remaining 24 will return and start again, seeking not just a reward for survival, but a coveted final table seat. Will the possibility of a double winner remain alive by that time? And will Team PokerStars Pro Minieri remain a contender to win the EPT title he must feel he deserves? Just another day on the European Poker Tour, and all the specifics are lined up for you below.

Day two begins
Merciless
Champions to your left and your right
Leading the pack
No hanging about
Back where they started
Slicing through the field
More of the same
Puro purring
Down to 45
Dinner break stats
Another table breaks
Crashed and burned
No one is safe
Drama in the closing stages
Staying alive

That’s the English taken care of. Fancy giving Hungarian another bash? Or Swedish? Perhaps now the time is right to try German or Polish? Choose any of these links to help broaden your horizons or take the easier route of a few video blogs on PokerStars.tv which includes this earlier encounter with Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier...

Watch EPT Warsaw 08: Interview with Isabelle Mercier Day 2 on PokerStars.tv

Meanwhile the full official chip count is available on the chip count page. Goodnight!