Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Main Event
Day 2 Completed
It was moving day in the 2021 partypoker MILLIONS $5,300 Main Event, as all remaining 160 contenders out of 1,084 entries had locked up a portion of the $5,420,000 prize pool. Ten levels of 30 minutes each were scheduled and once the final river showdown was completed, only 28 hopefuls still had chips at their disposal.
Among them are also two partypoker representatives in Dzmitry Urbanovich and Jaime Staples, both of which can be found in the middle of the pack.
The honor of being the Day 2 chip lead belongs to Ukraine's Valentyn Kazantsev with 68,852,752 in chips. Little is known about Kazantsev as there is only one recorded live event cash to his name.
Plenty of other notables in the overnight top 10 are, however, well-known names of the international online and live poker circuit. German High Roller regular Oliver Weis finished the day second in chips with 66,475,886, followed closely by Endrit Geci with 62,331,105. WSOP bracelet winner Jerry Ödeen bagged up a very healthy 60,600,259 and 2021 partypoker MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event Justin Ouimette will aim to achieve an unprecedented double as he advanced with 59,028,336.
The 2020 WSOP Main Event international leg finalist Dominykas Mikolaitis also claimed a top 10 stack to his name and finished Day 2 with 55,041,104 in chips.
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valentyn Kazantsev | Ukraine | 68,852,752 | 86 |
2 | Oliver Weis | Germany | 66,475,886 | 83 |
3 | Endrit Geci | United Kingdom | 62,331,105 | 78 |
4 | Jerry Odeen | Sweden | 60,600,259 | 76 |
5 | Justin Ouimette | Canada | 59,028,336 | 74 |
6 | Timothy Ulmer | United States | 56,275,337 | 70 |
7 | Dominykas Mikolaitis | Lithuania | 55,041,104 | 69 |
8 | Richard Mullen | Canada | 53,305,689 | 67 |
9 | Martin Brinkmann | United Kingdom | 48,994,828 | 61 |
10 | Christopher Brice | United Kingdom | 48,047,296 | 60 |
Just outside of the top ten is WPT Barcelona champion Vitalijs Zavorotnijs (47,348,859) while partypoker sponsored pro Urbanovich sits in 14th place with 39,376,294. Twitch streamer Staples isn't far behind as he made it through with 30,667,945 in chips.
Plenty of other notables advanced including the Day 1 chip leaders Peter Jetten and Daniel Dvoress, 2018 partypoker MILLIONS Online champion Manuel Ruivo, Juan Carlos Vecino, Christian Rudolph, and Joris Ruijs. All 28 remaining contenders have $27,724 locked up for their efforts and the next pay-jump will be reached at 23 players left.
Before the start of the day, Twitch streamer Staples shared all but a short "It’s time. I’m hyped" on Twitter. He was then busy for the next five and a half hours, during which he chipped up significantly. Early on, Staples knocked out High Roller regular Sergi Reixach and also won a flip to bust Aki Virtanen a few levels later.
The Canadian boosted his stack to more than 50 million at one point before dropping back just below the average during the late stages. After the final hand was over, it took a while for Staples to gather his thoughts, which he then shared via Twitter as follows:
"$892,000 for the win and there are 28 left in the @partypoker Millions Main event! 28!!!! I've been working 11 years for this moment."
partypoker sponsored pro Urbanovich was among the shortest stacks in contention when the action resumed but scored two early double-ups to gain traction. He then went on a hot streak to eliminate several opponents and joined the top five in chips mid-way through the day. The meteoric rise culminated in a big double with a turned flush, which saw Urbanovich soar above 50 million in chips. Like Staples, he lost some chips towards the end but is right in the mix.
The partypoker ambassadors Jason Koon and Kristen Bicknell were among the early casualties of the day. Bicknell got it in with a flopped set only to see the top pair of Sosia Jiang improve to a runner-runner straight. Moments later, the UK's Martin Bremner departed in 123rd place. He had qualified for the Main Event after starting his journey in a $5 satellite and parlayed that into an $11,490 cash. Alan Ford also risked just $5 to enter the fray and made ut even further, bowing out in 76th place for $13,931.
Another partypoker ambassador made a deep run and that was Mikita Badziakouski. The Belorussian was well above the average mid-way through the day but eventually ran out of steam. It was a classic flip for Badziakouski, who held ace-king and failed to beat the pocket queens of Peter Jetten. Right before that, poker philanthropist Scott Wellenbach had departed in 49th place.
Among the late casualties on Day 2 were notables such as Francois Billard, Christian Jeppsson, Andrei Chernokoz, Andreas Christoforou, and Alexander Ivarsson. Many other big names of the international poker circuit could be listed among those who walked away with a cash prize on Day 2, as the field was filled with bracelet winners and High Roller regulars from all over the world.
All remaining 28 players will return to their virtual seats after a good night's sleep on March 2 at 7.05 p.m. GMT.
Here is what they are still playing for:
Place | Prize |
---|---|
1 | $892,275 |
2 | $614,523 |
3 | $422,422 |
4 | $276,128 |
5 | $189,320 |
6 | $146,300 |
7 | $115,425 |
8 | $91,542 |
9 | $72,260 |
10-11 | $54,542 |
12-15 | $43,335 |
16-23 | $35,084 |
24-28 | $27,724 |
The blinds at the start of Day 3 will recommence at 400,000-800,000 with a running ante of 100,000. The penultimate tournament day will play down to the nine-handed final table, which will then be streamed with cards-up coverage and commentary the following day. Stay tuned for more as the PokerNews live reporting team will be there to provide all the action until a champion has been crowned.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Valentyn Kazantsev |
68,852,752
-175,000
|
-175,000 |
|
||
Oliver Weis |
66,475,886
13,182,225
|
13,182,225 |
|
||
Endrit Geci |
62,331,105
6,457,500
|
6,457,500 |
|
||
Jerry Odeen |
60,600,259
13,310,500
|
13,310,500 |
|
||
Justin Ouimette |
59,028,336
5,201,875
|
5,201,875 |
Timothy Ulmer |
56,275,337
1,225,000
|
1,225,000 |
Dominykas Mikolaitis |
55,041,104
-2,152,500
|
-2,152,500 |
Richard Mullen |
53,305,689
2,257,500
|
2,257,500 |
Martin Brinkmann |
48,994,828
-671,875
|
-671,875 |
Christopher Brice |
48,047,296
7,445,835
|
7,445,835 |
Vitalijs Zavorotnijs |
47,348,859
-2,751,875
|
-2,751,875 |
|
||
Hermogenes Gelonezi |
47,249,097
-3,966,725
|
-3,966,725 |
Douglas Ferreira |
40,942,293
-4,755,625
|
-4,755,625 |
Dzmitry Urbanovich |
39,376,294
-12,222,500
|
-12,222,500 |
|
||
Jonathan Proudfoot |
39,302,804
8,883,500
|
8,883,500 |
Peter Jetten |
38,750,141
-14,605,500
|
-14,605,500 |
|
||
Espen Uhlen Jorstad
|
35,938,389
5,683,125
|
5,683,125 |
Juan Carlos Vecino |
33,475,566
11,162,500
|
11,162,500 |
Jaime Staples |
30,667,945
-8,393,000
|
-8,393,000 |
Francisco Correia |
28,892,401
-4,987,500
|
-4,987,500 |
Kolja Luecking |
22,600,826
-1,662,500
|
-1,662,500 |
Jiri Kocab |
19,649,340
-175,000
|
-175,000 |
Daniel Dvoress |
17,684,505
-6,125,000
|
-6,125,000 |
|
||
Christian Rudolph |
15,779,386
-8,211,000
|
-8,211,000 |
Joris Ruijs |
14,976,112
-525,000
|
-525,000 |
Play has ended with 28 players making it through to Day 3.
The chip counts and a recap are to follow.
Jiri Kocab was all-in from the cutoff for 9,430,920 and called and covered by Joris Ruijs in the big blind.
Jiri Kocab:
Joris Ruijs:
The board ran out for Kocab to hold with the aces to double up with two pair.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Valentyn Kazantsev |
69,027,752
-3,500,000
|
-3,500,000 |
|
||
Endrit Geci |
55,873,605
2,012,500
|
2,012,500 |
|
||
Richard Mullen |
51,048,189
11,795,000
|
11,795,000 |
Daniel Dvoress |
23,809,505
-1,400,000
|
-1,400,000 |
|
||
Jiri Kocab |
19,824,340
8,853,420
|
8,853,420 |
Joris Ruijs |
15,501,112
-17,410,920
|
-17,410,920 |
Manuel Ruivo |
9,926,185
-350,000
|
-350,000 |
Hermogenes Gelonezi opened the action from the hijack and he then called the shove by Manfred Hermann out of the big blind.
Manfred Hermann:
Hermogenes Gelonezi:
On a board of , Hermann failed to improve and thus became the 29th place finisher.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Hermogenes Gelonezi |
51,215,822
14,753,756
|
14,753,756 |
Manfred Hermann | Busted |
It was one of those big flips that you need to win in order to reach the last few tables in a large MTT and Alexander Ivarsson had a pair against two overcards by Timothy Ulmer in a battle cutoff versus small blind. The pot was worth more than 50.7 million in chips with near identical stacks.
Alexander Ivarsson:
Timothy Ulmer:
The Swede remained ahead on the flop and turn. However, the river was the last card in the deck he wanted to see as Ulmer made broadway.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Timothy Ulmer |
55,050,337
26,318,359
|
26,318,359 |
Alexander Ivarsson | Busted |
Espen Uhlen Jorstad was all-in from the cutoff and called and covered by Vitalijs Zavorotnijs in the small blind.
Espen Uhlen Jorstad:
Vitalijs Zavorotnijs:
The board ran out for Jorstad to improve to a full house on the river to double up.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dominykas Mikolaitis |
57,193,604
3,704,750
|
3,704,750 |
Justin Ouimette |
53,826,461
-3,131,800
|
-3,131,800 |
Peter Jetten |
53,355,641
3,044,300
|
3,044,300 |
|
||
Vitalijs Zavorotnijs |
50,100,734
-18,885,198
|
-18,885,198 |
|
||
Jerry Odeen |
47,289,759
-1,662,500
|
-1,662,500 |
|
||
Douglas Ferreira |
45,697,918
3,976,000
|
3,976,000 |
Espen Uhlen Jorstad
|
30,255,264
20,530,198
|
20,530,198 |
Kolja Luecking |
24,263,326
-2,432,500
|
-2,432,500 |
Christopher Brice started the action with a raise to 1,490,000 in the cutoff and Andreas Christoforou jammed for the final 6,533,797 on the button. As one of the table big stacks, Martin Brinkmann called in the small blind and Brice then went all-in over the top for more than 26.1 million, which forced out Brinkmann.
Andreas Christoforou:
Christopher Brice:
The dominated pair found no help on the board to send Christoforou out in 31st place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Oliver Weis |
53,293,661
504,500
|
504,500 |
|
||
Martin Brinkmann |
49,666,703
17,411,203
|
17,411,203 |
Christopher Brice |
40,601,461
16,449,096
|
16,449,096 |
Jaime Staples |
39,060,945
-13,353,999
|
-13,353,999 |
Hermogenes Gelonezi |
36,462,066
-13,227,499
|
-13,227,499 |
Francisco Correia |
33,879,901
6,080,496
|
6,080,496 |
Manfred Hermann |
15,630,216
-4,590,000
|
-4,590,000 |
Andreas Christoforou | Busted |
Joshua Hoesel was all-in and at risk from the hijack as he was called by Daniel Dvoress on the button with the bigger stack.
Joshua Hoesel:
Daniel Dvoress:
The board ran out for Dvoress to hold with the ace-kicker to send Hoesel out in 32nd place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Valentyn Kazantsev |
72,527,752
34,231,375
|
34,231,375 |
|
||
Endrit Geci |
53,861,105
-19,000
|
-19,000 |
|
||
Richard Mullen |
39,253,189
23,393,248
|
23,393,248 |
Joris Ruijs |
32,912,032
-16,365,248
|
-16,365,248 |
Daniel Dvoress |
25,209,505
6,373,833
|
6,373,833 |
|
||
Jiri Kocab |
10,970,920
-245,000
|
-245,000 |
Manuel Ruivo |
10,276,185
-2,538,000
|
-2,538,000 |
Joshua Hoesel | Busted |