The final table started as they all have lately, very slowly. Players were tight and nobody dared call an all in for fear of being the first one launched from the table. It took about 30 hands before any significant action happened and then finally both Traply and Mikkelson looked down at a couple of monster hands and the fireworks started.

Traply and Mikkelson started the day in 3rd and 1st place respectively and if Mikkelson were to take down this hand he would have a 4:1 chip lead over the next closest player. Mikkelson called the all in with his QQ and saw one of three hands you don’t want to be up against in that position, AK. Luckily, the ladies held up for once and the chips were shipped. Now with over 12,000,000 in chips, he was clearly in control.

Mikkelson picked off one more player, Daniel Zink, to get it down to seven and then turned the duties over Mikhail Tulchinskiy. Starting the day with a little over 3 million, he welcomed the action from the short stacks and took out Alem Shah and Eric Qu. With the new chips, he was over 7,000,000 and now putting pressure on Mikkelson for the lead.

However, as shorthanded poker tends to do, everything changed quickly and the momentum of the table started to swing to the players that had been merely spectators at that point. Pieter DeKorver started to make his move and his cards allowed him to do so by slamming Mikkelson’s stack time and again. From the penthouse to the outhouse he went and 4th place was all he could muster with that giant stack to start the day off.

Matt Woodward then stepped up and took out Tulchinskiy and they players were finally heads up for the largest payout in EPT history. The players started the round back and forth until DeKorver had enough and started to get super aggressive. He took advantage of Tulchinskiy’s passive style and continued to scoop up chips.

At the start of the final hand, DeKorver held about a 3,000,000 chip lead and looked down at 96s to start the hand. The flop came out 10-6-5h and both players hit the 6, but while Woodward was sitting with a weaker kicker, he was also looking at the only flush draw as he held 6c4h in his hand. Figuring he was good on the flush draw, he fired out a bet of 700,000 and DeKorver tried to push him around again and immediately went all in. Woodward had the right read and called having to know he needed to hit the flush in order to win. The board never improved and he watched the €2,300,000 get shipped to the other side of the table.

This was another great tournament with a lot of the major players in poker going out early. The amateurs continue to target the pros and make their road to the final table more difficult. The WSOP is getting ever closer and it should be another great series with a lot of new faces becoming instant millionaires.

Dragon Galic continued to have his name atop the leader board and is benefiting from playing great poker and magical cards. He continued to use his monster chip stack to bully small stacks and force them into situations that they did not want to be. This was big stack poker at its finest and it seemed to pay off at every turn of the cards. There were more than a few hopes that were shattered as the day to a close and the money was finally in sight.

Day 3 brought more of the same. However, there was finally one weak link in the chain, or at least we thought, of Dragon Galic. For the first time in what seemed forever, he lost the lead in the tournament. That was rectified by the end of the day though as he once again claimed the top spot. While he continued to play solid, Constant Rijkenberg had more than a few eyebrows being raised.

He got out of the gates quicker than anyone else in Day 3 and was the player to take over the leader board for a brief moment. It seemed like it was going to be his day from the very beginning as he covered as all in with pocket deuces that held up. By the end of the day, there were only 32 people left standing and Galic was tops among them all.

Galic continues to look the ‘child of destiny’ as after his brief break from being the chip leader, he has refused to let anyone else get above him again. It is a rare occasion that you see a chip leader hold the title each and every day of the tournament, but that is what we are seeing here. His one brief stumble came in day 3, but at the end of the day, the leader board still had his name atop it.

With only 24 players standing in the way of the final table, everyone was out for blood. Galic continued to be merciless and had a few allies in his campaign. The day ended when Neuville got a little too greedy with a Kc10s preflop and ran into QQ. The board never improved him and he went out in 9th place and collected €78,800 for his time.

We now have our final table and Galic continues to lead the field. His lead is not as large as it once was, but you can only assume he is happy with the 400,000 chip lead he has on his closest competitor. It is going to be a long road for anyone other than the top three as they hold over 73% of the chips is play.

It is becoming tougher and tougher for big name Poker Players to succeed in these large fields as they always have a target on their head. No-name players have no qualms about putting their stack up for grabs against a pro just to be the person who took the out and gain their 15 minutes of fame on television during the airing of the tournament. Greg Raymer was the early victim this time around as yet another WSOP Champion falls on the first day of a major event.

At the end of day one, the board was littered with names that only friends and family would be able to recognize. There were still some professionals left, but it was the grinders and internet players that were making their marl Dragan Galic went to bed on the opening night with a comfortable lead of almost 30,000 chips and a stack of 107,800. Not a bad day of work.

Day 1b seemed to have a lot more star power in it and the chips were flying. With a prize pool of €5,713,000 and the first place winner becoming an instant millionaire, the amateurs and pros alike were slinging their chips in hopes of getting the early stack and play dominating poker.

One player of prominence that this backfired on was the infamous Poker Stars player, Dario Minieri. You may remember him for the WSOP as the flamboyant youngster that wore the large sunglasses and scarf at all the events. He also gained prominence for earning enough points on PS to cash them in for a car. He chose the wrong time to get aggressive as he moved all in with AQ and stood face to face with AA.

After two day ones, there were 469 players remaining for what looks to be a very lively tournament. The massive chip count of Dragan Galic held up to the second session, but second place overall was captured by Ljubomir Josipovic with 83,200. A few days from now, we will have yet another millionaire poker player. It would be no surprise to see a teenage internet player hoist yet another championship.