EPT Monte Carlo: 539 Players On Day 1B

Day 1B of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo saw a much larger field compared to Day 1A, as 539 players showed up for the tournament.

The overall field has thus risen to an amazing 935 players and even though the official prize pool has not been announced, it is estimated that the top prize will be close to €2.5 million.

At the end of the day, only 312 players remained of the original 539. Last year's champ Glen Chorny won't be defending the title, as he hit the rail halfway through the day.

Many more pros were seen packing their bags, including Gus Hansen, Gavin Griffin, Jeff Madsen, John Juanda and many more.

Team PokerStars Pros didn't do as well as Lee Nelson and Luca Pagano on Day 1A, as Ivan Demidov (pictured left) was holding the highest rank with 73,000 chips. Meanwhile, Johannes Strassman and EPT Dortmund winner Sandra Naujoks both ended the day with over 100,000 chips.

The PokerStars Ambassador Boris Becker also fought his way to Day 2, as he has been quite successful lately at live tournaments, cashing in the recent WPT Championship.

Other celebrities didn't make it through the day, amongst them was Nelly who made a half an hour appearance before busting out. Nelly was also seen in Ante Up For Africa as well as high stakes tables in Monte Carlo during the past days.

Survivors from Day 1A and Day 1B will continue their race for the title on Day 2 with levels increasing from 60 to 75 minutes. Here are the top 10 chip stacks entering Day 2:

EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final  Standings Before Day 2
Rank	Name	Chips
1st	Lee Nelson	253,600
2nd	Amicha Barer	207,800
3rd	Dan Dyke	179,700
4th	Niccolo Caramatti	176,500
5th	Dag Palovic	173,200
6th	Luca Pagano	169,600
7th	Anthony Donald Venturini	160,000
8th	Thiago Nishijima	159,000
9th	Steve Berdah	156,000
10th	Faraz Jaka	155,900