PokerStars SCOOP 2020

Day 1 of SCOOP-73-H: $2,100 NLHE [Sunday Warm-Up SE] is in the bag, and so are the virtual chips of the 37 remaining players from a total field of 501. Though the tournament began nine hours ago with fewer players in their seats than survived to Day 2 (36), late registration brought interest that comfortably surpassed the $750,000 guarantee: the final prizepool totalled $1,002,000, with $177,965 set aside for the eventual winner.

Leading the Day 2 players (who will reconvene to play to a winner at 6:05pm WET/1:05pm ET on Monday) is “zivziv” with 3,684,880 chips, half a million clear of current second place“boerni21”. The latter had risen to the top of the counts mid-way through the day, only relinquishing his grip on the top spot during the last levels. Stefan "baeks22" Schillhabel lies in third, with 2,933,699 chips; the only other players to have finished the day with over two million chips are Mustapha "lasagnaaammm" Kanit and Pavel "silentm0de" Plesuv. Kanit had an especially dramatic end to his Day 1 run, out-flipping Joao "Naza114" Vieira in a huge ace-king vs. queens pot (all in preflop). His spike of two pair eliminated Vieira in the closing minutes of the day and propelled him into fourth in chips overall.

The unenviable bubble spot went to Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger in Level 22 (out of 24); his far-from-short-stacked blind on blind clash with "XxJoaoFeraxX" left the latter with 1,809,126 chips going into Day 2.

Other well-stacked notables moving into the business end of this event tomorrow are Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz (1,823,227), Tyler "Wonderboy222" Goatcher (1,734,235), Christian "eisenhower1" Jeppsson (1,634,204), Alex "dynoalot" Difelice (1,587,117) and Ignat "0human0" Liviu (1,362,158). Returning shortest stacked, with 155,983, is Ivan "Negriin" Luca, who spent hours vying (successfully, for the most part) for the chip lead today but finished with under five big blinds.

All 37 Day 2 players will return guaranteed at least $5,910 in total prize money, having already been paid out $1,384 each as play paused for the night. Rejoin PokerNews from 6:05pm WET for live coverage of the final five tables as they fight for a spot on the final and the potential for a six-figure payday.

Just 37 of 501 entrants remain after nine hours of play on Day 1 of SCOOP-73-H: $2,100 NLHE [Sunday Warm-Up SE]. All are guaranteed a payout of at least $5,910 (with $1,384 awarded immediately upon finish). After a turbulent time at the top of the counts, it's "zivziv" in front overnight with 3,684,880 chips; full chip counts and a recap of the day to follow.

Joao "Naza114" Vieira opened to 72,100 preflop, and Alex "dynoalot" Difelice three-bet to 175,000. Over to small blind Mustapha "lasagnaaammm" Kanit who made it 402,500 to see a flop, calling when Vieira shoved for 798,816 total (Difelice folding). It was a big flip: for Kanit vs. the of Vieira. A tournament-changing two pair fell for Kanit on the flop, the board running out fully ; Vieira exited in 38th place ($5,910).

Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro raised to 70,000 in mid-position, called by big blind "vovo_leo" alone. Both players were to hit a pair on the flop, leading to a check-raise all in (395,827 total) from "vovo_leo". Kelopuro, who'd bet 63,855 with , made the call and found his opponent with second pair - . No change over the turn and river; "vovo_leo" collects a prize of $5,910,having made the first payout jump.

Ignat "0human0" Liviu raised to 70,000 preflop and Alexander "Sussie Smith" Roumeliotis three-bet from the big blind to 245,000 (with 686,855 behind). Liviu made the call and both players checked a flop of . On the turn, Roumeliotis check-called a 130,440 bet from Liviu, bringing the on the river. Roumeliotis checked and Liviu set him all in. After a dip into the timebank, Roumeliotis gave up the hand.

Two players with fewer than ten big blinds found themselves neighbours in the blinds - Dinesh "nastyminder" Alt and "Kungfumonk." Alt shoved for 194,600 when it folded to him with and big blind "Kungfumonk" made the call with . The board ran out , making both players heart flushes; "Kungfumonk"'s was bigger and Alt collects $4,525.