Day 2 of the €888 888poker Live Madrid Main Event lasted deep into the early hours of the morning in the Spanish capital, but for Jorge Alvarez, it was well worth staying up late.
Alvarez ended up as the only player to cross the 2,000,000-chip milestone, bagging up 2,110,000 and the chip lead over the remaining 23 players who will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time to play down to a champion.
Alvarez began his ascent to the top when he busted Gaspare Triolo with two pair against Triolo’s nut flush draw. He later spiked a ten to come from behind and bust Marco Fideli, but the highlight of his day came on the last level when he jammed the turn in a massive pot against Babak Shahrtash and showed just ten-high. Fittingly, Alvarez brought the night to a close when he busted David Sayago with queens against ace-king.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Alvarez | Spain | 2,110,000 | 84 |
| 2 | Justinas Fiseris | Lithuania | 1,905,000 | 76 |
| 3 | Carlos Diaz | Spain | 1,820,000 | 73 |
| 4 | Angel Perez | Spain | 1,700,000 | 68 |
| 5 | Jonas ten Cate | Netherlands | 1,580,000 | 63 |
| 6 | Tiago Peuguino | Spain | 1,455,000 | 58 |
| 7 | Yakiv Syzghanov | Ukraine | 1,260,000 | 50 |
| 8 | Ian Simpson | United Kingdom | 860,000 | 34 |
| 9 | Michaelangelo Serra | Italy | 700,000 | 28 |
| 10 | Alvaro Murciano | Spain | 665,000 | 27 |
Also in the million-chip club is a player who’s enjoyed success here at Casino Gran Via before. Jonas ten Cate finished fifth in this event two years ago, but it looked like his run would come up short this time when he was all in against Sergio Romero’s kings. The board brought no help until the river when a lucky ace spiked to keep Ten Cate alive. He then rivered a straight to bust David Higuera in a big pot as Ten Cate finished with 1,580,000 and poised for another deep run.
Ian Simpson is flying the flag for the 888poker team heading to the final day. Simpson came from behind to double off Massimiliano Mauceri, then called Mauceri’s river shove with a set of sevens to beat two pair. He ended the night by scooping a three-way all in with aces to bust Gabriele Lepore as he ended up with 860,000. Other players still with a shot at the title include Justinas Fiseris (1,905,000), Carlos Diaz (1,820,000), EPT champion Alexander Stevic (650,000), Tarmo Tammel (525,000), Tom-Aksel Bedell (395,000), and Day 1b chip leader Alejandro Perez (360,000).
A host of new arrivals at the start of the day boosted the field up to 403 entries by the time late registration closed at 5 p.m. Lucia Navarro and popular Spanish Youtube Inaki Angulo were early casualties, while Vivian Saliba was eliminated when she ran top pair into Roman Isaienko’s two pair.
Manuel Ledesma’s downfall came in just two hands, as he lost a flip to double Matteo Montanari, then Montanari hit two pair to bust the defending champion the next hand. Others to bust include Yurii Zabrodotskyi, who built up a big chip lead earlier in the day, as well as 888poker Ambassadors Ricardo Mateus and Alexandre Mantovani.
Montanari’s momentum came to an end at the worst possible moment when he missed straight and flush draws against Alvaro Murciano’s two pair to bust on the money bubble.
The top 48 players were all guaranteed a min-cash, and players to fall in the money included Taago Tamm (42nd), Michael Uguccioni (40th), Stefan Cupic (35th), last year’s fourth-place finisher Borja Diaz (28th), and Iaron Lightbourne (27th).
Level 21 was just coming to an end when Day 2 ended. The remaining 23 players return tomorrow with action picking up on Level 22 with blinds of 10,000-25,000 and a 25,000 big blind ante. Everyone left has locked up €2,435, while the eventual champion tomorrow will take home €62,000 and the coveted 888poker Live trophy.
PokerNews will be back following all the action leading up to the final table and onward toward the crowning of a new champion.