9:40pm: Hundred Billion hits as DaWarsaw doubles
Grzegorz "DaWarsaw" Mikielewicz moved all-in from the small blind with two black fives, and raced against the button's [Kd] [Qd]. The flop came a sweaty [Th] [8d] [4s]. The turn was the nut-out-adding card,the [Td]. This would not be the end for DaWarsaw however as the river [3s] was a true brick. As this was happening the Team Online member got word that at a 2c-5c table somewhere in the intertubes, one won $103,800 for hitting the 100 Billionth hand jackpot. Did Grzegorz regret not grinding online today?
"No not at all. I play Zoom anyways and they don't count those hands."
His stack is back to a healthy 32,000.
9.31pm: Rivero busts two in monster pot
Daniel Rodriguez Rivero and two of his tablemates had a three-way war moments ago - Rodriguez coming out a big winner once the dust had settled on a sizzling sequence of raises.
We joined the hand on the flop of a [Kh][6s][7d] board, Rivero checking to his two opponents who also elected to check behind.
This gave no indication of the fireworks to come on the [7c] turn.
Rivero led for 3,200, only for opponent 1 to now shove 16,250 into the middle and opponent 2 (Richard Evans) also slid his similarly sized stack across the line.
Rivero looked shocked and didn't look like he loved making the call but did so nonetheless for a big chunk of his stack.
Cards on their backs:
Rivero - [7h][4d]
Opponent 1 a sneakily-played [Ad][Ac]
Richard Evans - [Kc][2c]
Needing to dodge a king or ace, an irrelevant rivered [9d] was bad news for his opponents as they both hit the rail simultaneously whilst Rivero looked relatively calm as he scooped the giant 50k+ pot.
He is now up to a well-above average 67,500.. -- RS
9:19pm: Unusual play
Try this for a hand reading exercise, dear reader. Thomas O'Shea, easily the most intimidating looking player today (tattoos, biceps, no nonsense demeanor) opened to a regular 2,100 in the cutoff and was flat called by the button, one Renzo Cambianica.
The flop [9d] [6c] [3s] went check-check. Know anyone's holding yet?
The turn was a [6d], which led to another check from O'Shea. This weakness would not stand for the older Cambianica, who decided to move all-in for five time the size of the pot. O'Shea, possessing repose in excess, didn't bat an eyelash. Cambianica's cards are anyone's guess.
9.11pm: Double trouble for Mestre
Raul Mestre has a number of significant cashes to his name - the Spaniard having amassed close to a million in tournament winnings.
It looked like he was destined to fall out of contention here however - his 16BB re-shove with [Ac][9s] called by initial raiser Mark Goodchild's pocket jacks - after a short pause to consider his options.
When the jacks were turned over Mestre indicated with his gestures he felt he was nit rolled - though his surprise turned to delight as a board of [Ah][Ad][Qh][5s][2d] saved his dominated bacon and he doubled through to just over 30k.
8.55pm: Level eight in effect
We enter the final few levels of the day with ten scheduled. Players are well fed and rested after their one hour recuperation so there's no excuses not to pull out their A-game.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800 ante 100
8:01pm: Race em off
Green 25 chips are being coloured up and taken out of play, quite the task actually, as some (ok, most) tables didn't collect them in one player's stack, as they were instructed. Thankfully the staff here has an hour to purge the room of the unwelcome green scourge.
7.50pm: Dinner break!
Level 7 is history and that milestone means the players are now preparing to scatter the local eateries with euros. We are off to eat as well so see you back in an hour for levels eight through ten.
7.45pm: Notable chip stacks
Here are some players with burgeoning chip stacks as we approach the dinner break.
Jake Sharpe --- 68,000
Athir Kamal Ali --- 48,000
Kevin Williams --- 32,225 -- RS
7.34pm: Pearce rains on Victor's parade
Victor Fernandez Fernandez (We assume that isn't a copy paste typo) was relatively short and looking to make a move. When Darren Pearce raised it up from early position he viewed this as a good time to get busy, making a ballsy re-steal with [Th][7h]- only for Pearce to pick him off quickly with pocket aces.
Whoops.
A board of [Ks][Td][4c][3h][9d] couldn't turn things round for Victor and he shrugged resignedly as he gathered his belongings and scarpered.
Pearce in contrast has been on quite a rush - now up to 70k, which won't be a mile off the chip leaders. -- RS
7.15pm: Adeniya doubles
Juan Herrera opened under the gun and was three-bet by Martins Adeniya in the small blind. When Herrera responded in kind with a four-bet, the British pro decided to just call. On a flop of [Ac] [5h] [5s] Adeniya check-called a quick bet of 4,500. The [8h] turn didn't change much, and when checked to, Herrera cut out 9,500 quickly. Playing the fool, Martins took a long time to call. So ponderous was his act, in fact, we wondered with what hand he would show such overt weakness. Well those questions were answered when his river check on the [Kd] river led to Herrera launching 20,000 chips all-in. Adeniya didn't hesitate to reveal the slowplayed pocket aces, and Herrera was left with just a handful of big blinds. -- GC
7.05pm: Zweifel's kings reign supreme
Peter Zweifel is going about his business quietly and effectively, his latest coup seeing him re-raise to isolate following a shove from Kirit Patel, forcing folds from the rest of the table.
His kings were in good shape versus Patel's ace-jack and a series of baby cards peeled off to maintain the status quo and leave Patel hand-shaking his erstwhile tablemates as he departed.
Zweifel however marches up the leaderboard, his stack an impressive 62,000. -- RS
6.50pm: Back for more
Fifteen minute break is done and the players are re-seated for more fun and games.
There's just one brief level before the dinner break for one hour. -- RS
6:40pm: One man club
One player went to break with a stack in excess of 100,000 chips. That was Nikolaj Liljengren of Denmark, who is looking for his first five-figure cash. As was the case yesterday we see low stakes grinders making early moves towards their breakout score. But there are still four levels to play in this tournament, never mind Day 2, 3, and 4. Early days. -- GC
6.35pm: Break time!
Six levels are in the bag, and the players have once more been banished from the tournament area. 15 minutes break and we'll be back with you. See you then! -- RS
6.32pm: The corpulent field slims down
It looks like today's runners will be around 390 in total, though at least 100 of those are no longer in contention as some of the fat has been trimmed off the tournament numbers.
290 remain as we move close to the end of level 6. -- RS
6.21pm: What's the rule?
Yesterday we observed a pot where one-time chip leader Andoni Exposito was caught bluffing the river by the taciturn Joseph Gulas. Exposito mucked his hand and Gulas followed suit. Long story short, the floor was called and it was ruled Gulas didn't need to show his hand to scoop a surrendered pot.
Today, over at table eight, Tim Michels of Germany also decided to muck his hand after being caught on the river. Ninib Messo, the bluff-catcher, looked to keep his top pair, weak kicker to himself, but the dealer had other ideas, to the riotous protests of the table. When she threatened to call the floor over, Messo anti-climactically exposed his hand to move the game along. Michel's tournament took a turn for the worse from there - he's since been felted. -- GC
6.10pm: Margets hits the rail as big draw bricks
Team PokerStars Pro Leo Margets was one of the marquee names on the roster, but her title ambitions have been shelved as she crashes out mid-way through the day.
Her exit hand saw her peel a raise on the button going four way to the flop with [6c][7c].
A board of [8s][7d][3c] was laid out and checked to Margets she led out at the pot and was min-raised.
She made the call, seeing a draw-tastic [5c] hit the turn and moving all-in for her stack when her opponent led out. She'd applied maximum pressure with her big draw and her opponent sweated his decision before finally calling with pocket aces.
A multitude of outs were available to Margets, but she swerved them all and was left packing up her belongings and heading to the rail.
"I think he should have folded, no?!" she said with a touch of exasperation, but in good humour.
Margets' recent case of chicken pox, described earlier, has left her with strict instructions to avoid the sun, meaning cocktails by the pool are off the agenda for now.
"I just want to scratch all my skin off!" she revealed itchily before departing into the shadows to find other diversions. -- RS
5.47pm: Big stacks emerging
With antes and blinds up the players who haven't started the event are starting to bust in accelerating fashion. Some big stacks have been sighted, including perhaps the biggest right now, unknown Guy Itzhaki. We caught Itzhaki in the midst of adding to his 95,000 chip stack with a successful continuation bet in a three-bet pot. We're taking a deep look into the likely chip leader's mysterious past. -- GC
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400 ante 50
5.28pm: Guti shows he's still a top player
Guti might have reached the age where playing football professionally is no longer a possibility but who knows, a whole poker career might be opening up for him.
He has dealt with the opening levels well - his latest coup seeing him contest a four way pot with two tablemates and Chaz Chattha.
A [Jd][Ts][8c] board saw Guttierez lead for 1,100 (around 3/4 pot) and a quick glare from Chattha was the only resistance he met as all folded to leave the Spaniard to show the [Jh] for at least top pair.
Up to 33,000 now - Chattha down to a manageable 26,000. -- RS
5.05pm: Chipped up table of death
Table 32 is producing some fearsomely stacked players - we can only assume several of those 60 to have perished thusfar have been victims of Nikolaj Liljengren and Jun Anthony Longton - the pair having accumulated stacks of 48k and 34k respectively.
Kevin Williams was a late arrival but he too is pushing forward against the tide of blinds and antes to good effect - up to 26k. -- RS
4.59pm: Picking his spots
It's all business for Martins Adeniya today as he has more than doubled his starting stack, to 47,000, "without much resistance." When asked about the prospects of enjoying Marbella the disciplined pro stated, "I hope not to see the sun and the sand. If I bust this I'll probably play the high roller here and some side events."
Live cash, main events, side events, high rollers, he plans to play them all here and across the pond.
"I thought this would be a good tourney to play, with a big guarantee, and all the best players in Vegas," he told us. "It's the reason I delayed my WSOP trip."
Adeniya has traveled to Las Vegas for the full two months each of the past four summers, historically starting out strong before the grind has worn him out.
"If I go out later I'll take the heater at the start - that's the plan anyways."
Focused, relaxed, and clear-headed, he has put himself in a strong position to add to his stellar tournament resume with his first cash on Spanish soil. -- GC
4.44pm: Casualty count rises
We haven't had the official numbers confirmed yet but the early suggestion is that there are around 390 runners total and at least 60 of those have been crushed under the jackboot of variance.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300 ante 25
4.35pm: Back for level five
15 minute break is over - and the staff at the bar might be quietly relieved given the rush of orders thrown in their direction by the throngs of players suddenly liberated from their tables.
Level five now in effect - the blinds 150-300 with a 25 ante.
Click here for updates from levels 1-4
PokerStars Blog reporting team at PokerStars Marbella Festival brought to you by UKIPT and ESPT: Rod Stirzaker and Gareth Chantler. Photos by Eric Vogel.