3pm: End of the level
That's the end of level 10, the second of the day. We're on a 15-minute break, folks. -- SY

2.59pm: Kings into kings
Both Andreas Van De Venne and Pierre Mothes were starting to get short with less than 30,000 and so were equally happy to get it in with a premium hand. There had been one small under the gun raise before Van De Venne shoved and Mothes moved in behind him. Both tabled kings, Van De Venne with the red ones and Mothes with the black. The rainbow flop stalled the hopes of any improbable four flush. Chop. -- RD

2.58pm: Talkin' Italian
On a board of [2h][ah][4c][5s][3h] David Williams had bet 20,000. Still involved was Italian Fabrizio Ascari, a talkative player who makes noise to fill quiet parts of the day. He eventually called Williams for a split pot, both players playing the board, then began to suggest things to Williams in an Italian dialect even Luca Pagano, seated to the left of Williams, couldn't understand.

Williams instead busied himself by paying for the bottle of water that had been brought to him while Ascari continued in English-as-a-second-language poetry. Williams, still on around 70,000, tapped his head and said "smart," perhaps hoping it might end the conversation there. But I'm not sure the conversation ever ends for Ascari. -- SB

2.55pm: Mattern getting thumped
Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern is having a tough time of it. He tells us of a succession of hands that cut his stack in half to around 65,000. He called a short-stack all-in holding [k][10] and was up against [7][9], the shortie flopped two pair; he called a "maniac" with deuces but the other guy hit an eight on the river for the bigger pair; he got in a 50,000 pot race with [a][k] against sixes, but missed. "Awful day," he concluded. -- SY

2.50pm: Matias home in style
As mentioned below, last year's EPT Vilamoura champion Antonio Matias is out. But he'll get over it - I just spotted him in the car park getting into his gleaming Porsche to drive home. -- SY

2.42pm: Reigning champ out
Antonio Matias won EPT Vilamoura here last year but we've just seen him moving away from the tournament floor with his wife. It will be no double for Matias. -- RD

2.35pm: Ace high was good
Allan Baekke is a very happy chap right now as he's up to 130,000. He said his day took a turn for the better when he doubled-up to 100,000 with ace-high. He moved all-in on the turn on a board containing two spades and two diamonds. His opponent took five minutes to call and when he did the Dane said "nice hand," and tabled the drawing [as][ts]. But to his joy his opponent revealed [5s][6s]. -- MC

2.30pm: Stand-offs and eliminations
Stephen Chidwick opened for 2,600 which Marton Czuczor raised on the button to 7,600. If that was an irritation to Chidwick Konstantin Bucherl's re-raise to 14,500 ruined everything. Chidwick passed leaving them to it, but after a short but tense stand-off Czuczor folded.

A table along it was curtains for Jose Severino. He moved in with ten-nine only to be called by Bruno Pedro Fonseca Pocas (he may be known by some shorter version) with ace-king. Predictability reigned on a blank board sending the Panamanian to the rail. -- SB

2.28pm: Boeree bashes the button
Jose Maria De Noronha limped from middle position and the action folded to Liv Boeree on the button who raised to 3,700. The limper called but quickly mucked to a 3,600 bet on the [qh][ad][6h] flop. Easy game. -- RD

2.25pm: Riding the wave
Fresh from busting Dario Minieri and claiming the chip lead, Grzegorz Cichocki has not slowed down one bit. He's taken a chunk out of Stephen Chidwick's stack to extend his lead with 285,000 chips. He opened the pot with a raise to 2,600 from first position and was called only by Chidwick from the next seat. The Pole then emptied the clip with a 3,800, 10,000 and 22,200 bet on each street and was called all the way.

The final board read [th][7c][7d][8s][qh] and Chidwick mucked upon seeing his opponent's [7s][5s]. Chidwick down to 85,000 chips as a result. -- MC

2.22pm: Team Pro up
Team PokerStars Pro Pieter de Korver is on a roll and now up to 205,000. He open-raised under the gun with [qd][10d] and got two callers. The flop was a happy [kd][5d][3d] for the Dutchman, and he bet 4,500. But Barkat Matan* had flopped a set of fives and re-raised to 12,000, de Korver made it 27,000, all-in from the Greek, call. The flush held and sent de Korver among the leaders. -- SY

* Our apologies, Bartak Matan was earlier incorrectly identified as Alexios Zervos.

2.20pm: Team Pro down #2
This time it was the German Sebastian Ruthenberg making his exit. He was down to his last 14,000 and pushed from the cut-off with [kc][9c]. Unfortunately Johan Berg woke up on the button with [ah][kd] and moved all in. The blinds got out of the way and the board ran [ad][10d][8h][9h][as] to knock out the former EPT Barcelona champion. -- SY

2.17pm: Team Pro down #1
A little while ago Dario Minieri lost the majority of his stack to Grzegorz Cichocki - and now the rest of his chips have gone that way, too. Cichocki open-raised to 2,300 from the cut-off, and Minieri re-raised to 7,500 from the small blind. Cichocki then moved all-in, covering Minieri, and the Italian made the call:

Minieri: [10c][10d]
Cichocki: [2s][2c]

Minieri, with his 35,000 in the middle, was in great shape to double up. Even more so when the flop came [2h][8s][10s], giving him a set over set. But watch out for those spades - the turn was [as] and the river [6s], meaning Cichocki raced into the lead on the river with a flush. Ouch. - SY

2.14pm: Dempsey doubles
No details on this one yet, except to say James Dempsey doubled up to 95,000 thanks to flopping a set of eights, well ahead of Pedro Vieira's top pair. -- SY

2.10pm: Kelly's hero
JP Kelly just rivered a much needed double up against Alexandru Cezarescu to keep his tournament hopes alive. The Team PokerStars Pro made it 8,000 to go pre-flop from the small blind which Cezarescu raised to 19,000 from the big. Kelly moved all in and Cezarescu called showing [as][ks] to Kelly's [qs][ad].

The board ran [2h][4s][tc][8s][qc] to send the chips to Kelly. Cezarescu said nothing but looked unhappy. He's down to 22,000 while Kelly jumps to 130,000. -- SB

2.05pm: Ticking down
Two more names for the missing list. Paul Berende and Bryn Kenney have both been eliminated.

Elsewhere PCA High Roller winner William Reynolds is down to 33,000 after a bad hand against Janos Toth of Hungary. Reynolds opened for 3,000 which Toth called, as did Eliran Argelazi in the big blind.

On a flop of [ts][2d][6s] Reynolds bet 6,700 which Toth raised to 19,000, leaving Argelazi to fold. The action came back to Reynolds who sat thinking for a few moments, the only sound to be heard being the riffling of chips and Fabrizio Ascari on the other side of the room. Eventually Reynolds folded. For his efforts Toth is up to 115,000. -- SB

2.01pm: Round two
After doubling-up through William Thorson, Dominik Traeger has returned the favour. Thorson limped from under-the-gun and then called a 3,200 raise from the German to see a [ac][6s][5s] flop. He checked to face a 3,000 bet that he min-raised to 6,000. Traeger looked confused about what to do but eventually decided to put his opponent all-in. Call.

Traeger showed [kh][kd] but Thorson was all over it with his [as][7s]. It only got better for the Swede too as the board ran out [2s][7c] to put him back up to 35,000. -- MC

1.55pm: Trickett leading from the front
Sam Trickett is right up there with the chip leaders and doesn't look like he wants to stay out of the chase. Playing from the small blind Trickett led 6,700 into Tim Finne, who had opened from early position. Finne called. Trickett took some time before betting 11,600 into the [4h] turn. This time the American wanted no further part of it and passed. -- RD

1.52pm: Brilliant news... we're off!
It's our lucky day here in Vilamoura. An email has just arrived with PokerStars Blog from a nice lady called Elizabeth Johnson, offering us riches beyond our wildest dreams. It's actually a very sad story, as it seems poor Elizabeth, who lives in exile in Senegal, has recently lost her father to a tragic accident. Happily, though, he left her $5.5million in a secret finance company.

We're not sure why, but Elizabeth has sent an email to blog@pokerstars.com asking for our help in getting hold of the dosh, promising a huge cut in return. If Elizabeth saw how we wasted money on curry and beer, we're certain she would rethink.

Anyway, we're now in deep discussions at Team PokerStars Blog HQ about how to spend our promised millions - cars, yachts, houses, the works. First we've got to send our bank details off to Elizabeth, which should not be a problem. Then we'll be off. We're sure you'll understand. -- SY

1.50pm: Another joke? Un ouef is un ouef
News from Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern during the break. Well, news of sorts. He tells us that two eggs were recently being fried in a pan. One said to the other: "Crikey, it's hot in here." The other egg replies: "My goodness - a talking egg!" Arnaud is here all week, folks, and taking stand-up routine requests. -- SY

1.48pm: On the rail
Two Team PokerStars Pros have been banished to the rail, both before the break. Alex Kravchenko was heading to the sidelines thanks to a set of sixes, while Joao Nunes followed him soon after. We're down to 175 players in the main event. -- SB

1.45pm: Back from break
The players are scurrying back from the horrid 30 degree Celsius heat of outside back into the tournament room. David Williams was the sole player wandering the floor during the break (he'd arrived late and had been unable to find where his stack had been moved to after his starting table had broken). -- RD

1.40pm: Leonid leading?
Leonid Bilokur left here last night as chip leader and now, a level into day two, he remains the chip leader. Or just about.

Typical of a man intent on cementing his lead, Bilokur is ruining it for everyone else at his table, raising every hand in a silent, white-rimmed-sunglasses-attack on the stacks around him.

He's taken pots from Christofer Williamsson, although in Williamsson's defence he's taken some back. He's also taken chips from Veldhuis in a hand before the break. On a flop of [ts][9c][6h] Velduis made it 3,200 from the small blind and Bilokur called. The checked the [2d] turn and Veldhuis did the same on the [9s] river, which Bilokur bet at to take the pot, moving up to around 170,000.

But wait, who's that breaching the 200k mark? It's Martin Jacobson of Sweden. It's always a Swede. He's the leader as players return for level two. -- SB

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200, ANTE 100

1.26pm: More bad news for Minieri
Today is just not going Dario Minieri's way. Not long after losing a huge pot with jacks into aces he has just had to fold a three-bet to a shove that came from the direction of Konstantin Bucherl. The German had opened from late position to 2,400 and Minieri had three-bet to 6,900. Burcherl moved all-in for 37,000 total and the aggressive Italian was forced to muck his hand.

That's the end of the level and the players, including PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo, have a 15-minute break. -- RD

1.22pm: Thorson feeling the cold
William Thorson is down to 11,000 chips after losing a cooler hand to his neighbour Dominik Traeger. The action folded around to the Swede in the SB who completed and then called Traeger's raise to 3,000. The flop came [jc][8c][qs] and Thorson check-called a 2,000 bet. The turn came [5c] and a series of bets and min-raises took the hand to a showdown with the German at risk. He wasn't worried though as he had his opponent drawing dead with his [ac][4c] to Thorson's [qc][2c]. -- MC

1.20pm: Lacay on the loose
Ludovic Lacay has doubled up. The Frenchman got his 15,500 chips in with [ac][8d] against the pocket tens of Daniel Moller of Sweden, and the board was kind to him, coming as it did [js][7s][as][ad][jc]. -- SB

1.15pm: Champ down
Kevin Stani, who won EPT Tallinn just a few weeks ago, will not be performing any back-to-back title heroics, he's just been seen leaving the tournament room. -- SY

1.14pm: Pagano quads!
Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser was down to just 10,000 and found a perfect spot to push with pocket eights. Unfortunately (for him) fellow Team Pro Luca Pagano was lurking a few seats along with pocket kings, which went on to make quads by the turn. Pagano up to 35,000 now, Visser off to the pool. -- SY

1.10pm: Mini-eri
Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri started the day in happy mood, sitting with 130,000 chips. But it all went wrong just now when he lost a huge hand to Grzegorz Cichocki. The man from Poland open-raised to 2,500 before Minieri made it 6,200. Cichocki was not done with that - bumping it up again to 17,000. This time the Italian called.

The flop came [10][5][4] and Cichocki continued his aggression with a c-bet of 22,000. Minieri, never one to shy away from that sort of thing, moved all-in and got an instant call.

Minieri: [J][J]
Cichocki: [A][A]

No help on the turn or river and Minieri doubled up Cichocki and fell to 38,000 in the process. -- SY

1.07pm: Pinho four-bets in your face
Henrique Pinho is a Portugese member of Team PokerStars Pro and will be desperately wanting to win this tournament (beyond the normal reasons of having bundles of Euros thrown at him). He's arrived today in full throttle. Julian Stuer opened to 2,200 from the cut-off and was three-bet by Sergio Coutinho on the button to 6,100. Pinho came over the top from the big blind making a large cold four-bet to 14,800. Both of his opponents had to have a long think before passing, but that they did.

Pinho also has Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly and PokerStars SportStars Fatima Moreira de Melo at his table. Pinho is up to 80,000. -- RD

1.05pm: Duthie downed
Team PokerStars Pro John Duthie has been downed in a battle of the blinds with Pedro Guedes. The turn was out and the board read [2c][4s][tc][6c] before Duthie moved all-in for another 19,600 after Guedes led out. Guedes talked to Duthie for a moment and then made the call.

"Have you got a pair?" asked Duthie and after seeing a nodding head he continued: "I'm in trouble then!"

He was indeed in trouble as his [qh][4h] was behind to the Portuguese's [6h][5d] and the [8d] on the river changed nothing. -- MC

1.02pm: Intensive Care
Ruben Visser opened for 2,200 before Daniel Carter raised to 5,400. Visser then moved all-in which Carter called in a flash, showing [kc][kd] to Visser's [tc][td]. The board ran [5s][6c][as][2c][2s], leaving Carter with close to 70,000 while the Team PokerStars Pro Visser is added to the critical list with just 11,000 chips remaining. -- SB

12.59pm: Weekes
Jonathan Weekes opened from the hijack to 2,400 and was called by Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki on the button. An anonymous [2s][3h][9c] flop was enough for Weekes to fire another 4,200. Horecki didn't like the spot enough to carry on and quickly passed his hand.

Weekes proved to be a tough competitor at the recent EPT Tallinn where he made the final table. Don't be surprised if he goes deep again. -- RD

12.58pm: Tothed out
Team PokerStars Pro Richard Toth has been tossed out of the tournament. He started the day with 51,000. -- RD

12.55pm: Losing the Magic
Antonio Esfandiari arrived this morning to a stack of 127,800. Now, just half an hour into the day, he has lost all but 30,000 of it after a succession of hands went the way of his opponent. The latest was against Felix Alves, who moved all-in behind a raise from Esfandiari, showing pocket jacks to Esfandiari's pocket tens. Curses for the American, who now faces the immediate future as a short stack. -- SB

12.50pm: Keep out of my way
Nikita Malinovskiy open-raised and then watched with interest as Team PokerStars Pro Pieter de Korver re-popped to 6,600. Malinovskiy was interested enough to fire again for 12,500. De Korver called. The flop was [4d][3d][3s], De Korver checked and Malinovskiy gently pushed two yellow 5,000 chips over the line. De Korver jumped into action, putting a stack of yellows worth 50,000 into play. That was enough to put the Russian all in, and he elected to fold and wait for a better spot. -- SY

12.47pm: Didn't get any merrier for Mairer
PokerStars qualifier Manuel Mairer came back as one of today's short stacks but now he has no stack. He moved all-in for less than 20,000 from late position with [kh][th] but ran straight into the [ah][ad] of Pedro Vieira in the BB. The board came [8d][9d][ts][8h][ks] to seal his fate. -- MC

12.43pm: Early exits
Even though every player knows that a tournament is a flowing organism that seamlessly moves from hand to hand and level to level there is still a temptation to rock up at the end of any given day. This also means that there is often a sudden splurge of knockouts at the beginning of a day's play and that certainly happened today.

Among those that couldn't enjoy a magic morning resurrection were Michael Hull, John Strzemp, Michael Friedrich, Anthony Wright, Mickey Petersen, Dario Majone, Florian Lehmann and Luis Guerreiro. -- RD

12.40pm: Magic fading
Marcin Horecki has doubled up through Antonio Esfandiari. The Team PokerStars Pro found aces and moved in on a flop of [2d][4s][6s] against Esfandiari's [th][tc]. The turn came [jh] while the river was [ad]. Horecki up, Esfandiari down again. -- SB

12.35pm: One gone
In other news Iranian Mani Rezaei is out, having lost his day two starting stack of 2,500. -- SB

12.30pm: Magician and the king
Antonio Esfandiari's stack just took a dent in a hand against Ronny Kaiser. On a flop of [5s][2c][td] Esfandiari made it 5,100 from the cut off. Kaiser was in the small blind and called, while Guillermo Garcia in the big blind got out of their way. The turn came [5h] which both players checked for a [7c] on the river. This time Kaiser led the betting, 10,800 in total which Esfandiari called. Kaiser turned over [ac][th]. Esfandiari looked at his cards again, a sure sign of defeat, and mucked. -- SB

12.22pm: More from the action table
Eddie Tasbas opened for 2,500 from middle position and Sorel Mizzi three-bet to 7,200 from the hijack. The action folded past Toby Lewis on the button and back to Tasbas who calmly slid his chips across the line in two tall stacks. Mizzi didn't look interested and tossed his hand away. Tasbas is up to 53,000. -- RD

12.15pm: Tough table
Day 2 has thrown up some interesting table draws but the toughest by far (in our opinion) is table 28. Toby Lewis, David Williams, Erik Van Den Berg, Eddie Tasbas, Sorel Mizzi and Ludovic Lacay all have to find some way of extracting chips from each other. Good lucks guys.

Toby Lewis has the best draw in terms of table position and he just used it against Sorel Mizzi to win an early pot. The board was [kd][kh][4d][ad] and Lewis piled on the pressure with a 17,700 bet in to a 23,000 pot. The Canadian thought for a while but open folded pocket queens. -- MC

12.10pm: Cards are in the air
After only a slight delay play has begin on day two.

11.50am: Welcome back to day two
Suspended 200 feet over the ocean, two people flew along the Algarve coast line this morning, attached to each other in para-sailing bliss. Hundreds more beneath them sunned themselves on the golden beaches of the Crown Plaza compound while others splashed around in the pool. Yet more cast a sneaky eye on the pirate ship climbing frame in the Crown Plaza's luxury grounds, wondering whether anyone would really notice a quick run around.

All of that, and more, was available to you this morning provided you were not among the 221 players returning for day two of EPT Vilamoura.

In which case you had a day at the tables to plan for. If your name is Leonid Bilokur that day is a lot easier to plan than most. As chip leader Bilokur's plan is simple - carry on as he left off yesterday. Not that it's as simple as that, for the likes of Andre Coimbra of Team PokerStars Online, and a bunch of others not far off Bilokur's stack of 161,200, as the chip count page will demonstrate.

The exact opposite of Bilokur is not Dinoel Rukolib, but Mani Razaei, from Iran, who returns today with 2,500, and a plan A - win more chips. There's no real time for plan B.

And so to it. Day two of EPT Vilamoura is about to start, with five levels scheduled, each running for 75 minutes. There may yet be time to jump onboard a para-sail after all.

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Vilamoura (in order of average speed this morning): Marc Convey (all ahead full), Simon Young (advancing with caution), Stephen Bartley (slow crawl) and Rick Dacey (dead in the water). Photos by Neil Stoddart.

If you've been following the blog and consider yourself an observant sort then you may have realised that there have been no in situ images of players at the felt, or of Carlos Mortensen's chip stack. The reason that all of our photos here have been taken outside is not because the players are dashing out to get a burst of sunshine each break, a ludicrous suggestion of course, nor is it because our photographer has developed claustrophobia. Due to stringent casino regulations in Portugal no photographs or video recording is permitted inside our host venue, Casino Vilamoura . On the upside this same tightness of legislation has kept this a well structured tournament with the gaming floor clear of random poker fans and railers who otherwise bump and bash into the back of players' chairs.

Let us paint you the picture instead. The tournament floor here is tiered across three levels with the bottom level, which sits in front of the press-covered stage, holding nine tables with each higher level holding the capacity for a couple more tables. The shiny brass railings separate each layer from the next and as the day wears on the players and chip stacks have trickled down from higher to lower leaving fourteen tables come end the day. The player that was the biggest recipient of that trickledown effect was PokerStars qualifierLeonid Bilokur who finished the day on 161,200. The Russian, who emerged towards the end of the sixth level of the day (of eight played) as a big stack, hasn't had EPT main event success before but has got a first place score in a €2,000 side event at EPT Berlin for €174,000. He will certainly be a danger tomorrow.

Not that Bilokur is out at the top alone. Some 203 players bought, satellited and hussled their way into the action this morning (making 384 total) and obviously many were going to get washed away. Some player names that you might, just might, recognise include Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, Matthias and Christophe de Meulder, Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier and Noah Boeken. Former WSOP World Champion Carlos Mortensen, Jeff Sarwer and Andy Black were but three other players that couldn't keep their grip on their chips. The players that did manage to get keep their footing and kept pace with Bilokur were Danny Neess (139,000), Sorel Mizzi (132,200), Brandon Cantu (122,400), Ronny Kaiser (107,200), Stephen Chidwick (103,000), Sam Trickett (132,600) and Nic Heather (140,800).

Every tournament starts differently and this one began with an early downpour in two places. At one table the heavens opened pouring chips all over Jonathan Weekes. In the first level of the day the Brit, who final tabled EPT Tallinn two weeks ago, felted not one but two players taking himself up to 90,000 before some players had barely sat down. And that takes us neatly to the second downfall of the day, which was the less beneficial tipping over of a PokerStars marketing stand that almost pole-axed Carter Phillips. Phillips arrived late and left early courtesy of aces into a set but given the crashing stand it was certainly probably the best exit he could hope for.

Phillips won EPT Barcelona Season 6 for €850,000 and while he may be one of the youngest champions on this tour he's certainly not been the only one here today. Last year's EPT Vilamoura winner Antonio Matias has been joined by the most recent winner Kevin Stani, who just took EPT Tallinn, Rob Hollink, Noah Boeken, Liv Boeree, Max Lykov and ElkY to name a few. Some have slipped but Boeree (79,300) and Matias (86,600) are doing particularly well, Lykov (47,200) and Stani (35,600) have shown they can always be a threat and will come back tomorrow with renewed focus. Jonathan Weekes, who got off to that fantastic start, ended the day on a very respectable 81,100. Another player who got through the day with a healthy looking stack was David Williams. The Team PokerStars Pro was making his EPT debut as part of the PokerStars stable and he has kept himself in the hunt with a 86,100 stack.

We come back tomorrow as the Day 1A and 1B streams converge bringing 221 players back into the chase for this second title of Season 7 of the European Poker Tour. Play begins at 12pm and is set to cover five 75-minute levels.

To catch up with all of the day's events click on the links below and if you'd like to see what happened on Day 1A then click here instead. If you've just clambered over this end of day summary with the aid of a (insert your language here)-to-English dictionary then you may be interested in knowing that you can read EPT Vilamoura updates in Parasol Portugese, Beach Towel German, Tanning Oil Italian and Beer Cooler Dutch.

You can also check the chip counts here and the payout page here.

Levels 1 & 2
Levels 3 & 4
Levels 5 & 6
Levels 7 & 8

All photos are copyright of Neil Stoddart and should be used courtesy of his name.

9.10pm: Play over
That's your lot, folks. Remaining players have bagged up their loot and headed off into the clear Algarve night. By our reckoning, Russian PokerStars qualifier Leonid Bilokur is overnight chip leader with 161,200. We'll have a full wrap with you shortly, and all counts will be up on the chip count page just as soon as we have them. -- SY

8.52pm: Stop the clock
The clock has stopped and tournament staff have announced that three more hands will be played this evening, then players will bag up their chips for the night. Stand by for a full wrap up of the days events. -- SB

8.50pm: Stani under pressure
Three players saw a flop [8d][th][as]. Ruben Visser was first to act, checking to William Thorson who bet 2,800. Kevin Stani was next and called it while Visser got out of their way before the [jh][ turn. Thorson was ready with a bet again, making it 5,500. Stani called for a [qh] on the river. Thorson tried again, 10,300 this time which sent Stani into the tank. Just as he had in the hand against Visser earlier Stani had the chips required to call in his hand, but he was in no rush, taking minutes before deciding to call.

Thorson flipped ver [8c][8h] for a set. Stani mucked, leaving Thorson to move up to 67,000 chips, while the EPT Tallinn champion falls back to 39,000. -- SB

8.45pm: Champ clipped
Reigning EPT champion Kevin Stani is down to 55,000 after failing to shift Lothar Meier off his pocket queens. Meier opened with an under-the-gun raise and then called Stani's late position three-bet to see a [kc][9h][9d] flop. Both players checked to the [3s] turn where Meier check-called a 3,200 bet. The river came [jc] and Stani took one more stab at it with a 7,800 bet. Meier called and Stani mucked. --MC

8.35pm: Name of the game
You meet all sorts on the circuit with names that you're never come across anywhere else. How about a big shout out for Yapawadee, one of our dealers here today. -- SY

8.30pm: Stani and deliver
On a flop of [th][ac][2c] Kevin Stani was in action again, this time against Italian Luca Cainelli. Stani, under the gun, bet 3,400. Cainelli raised it up to 8,000, leaving himself 24,000 behind and sending Stani into the tank. Stani's response was to raise again, 37,000 in total which easily covered Cainelli who agonised for a few minutes before folding, showing [ah]. -- SB

8.27: A load of (basket) balls
Here's our two Team PokerStars Pros from Portugal showing off their basketball skills...

8.25pm: Lovely, lovely, oh crikey
Jonathan Proudfoot, a PokerStars qualifier from the UK, made it 5,000 from the small blind and Team PokerStars Pro Christophe de Muelder moved all in for 11,550 more from the big. Call. De Muelder had [kd][qs] and was behind the Brit's [ac][6c]. The flop came [9h][jd][qd], shooting the Team Pro into the lead, and the turn was [ks] giving him two pair. But wait, the river was [10s], filling Proudfoot's straight and sending De Muelder to the rail. -- SY

8.20pm: More for Mizzi
Sorel Mizzi has won another pot to move up to 170,000. He was sat in the BB and called a button raise from Thorsten Schafer to see a [ad][5d][7d] flop where he check-called a 3,500 bet. The turn came [6s] and this time Mizzi check-called a 9,200 from the German. The river came [2d] and the action went check-check. Schafer opened [as]5s] for two-pair but Mizzi got there on the river with [ad][7s]. -- MC

8.12pm: Right on the Visser
Ruben Visser has now arrived on William Thorson's table, where Nuno Coelho and Kevin Stani are still playing. It's Stani that Visser just tangled with.

On a flop of [kd][5d][9c] Stani checked in the small blind and Visser bet 2,200. Stani called for a [7s] on the turn. Both checked that for a [4h] river. Stani checked to the Team PokerStars Pro who let 5,800 fall into the middle. Stani thought for a while, holding the chip to call with in his hand, eventually dropping them in. Visser quickly flipped over [td][kh] that that was that. Stani mucked, down to 55,000, while Visser moves up to 34,000 chips. -- SB

8.06pm: Three in a row
Imagine, three former EPT champions sitting side by side. Christophe Benzimra (EPT Warsaw), Rob Hollink (EPT Monte Carlo) and defending Vilamoura champ Antonio Matias sit next to each other, on the road to a second EPT title. Two of them were just in action.

On a flop of [kh][kd][ts] both checked for a [6c] turn, Hollink in the cut off, Matias on the button. On the [6c] turn though Hollink came out firing, making it 2,300 which forced a fold form Matias. He's down to 66,000 while Hollink moves up to 31,000 chips. -- SB

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800, ANTE 75

7.58pm: Still the chief
Max Lykov has recently tried to reassert himself as table captain (current POY you know) but Ronny Kaiser has firmly put him back in his box. Lykov won one hand but then lost a much bigger one back.

Lykov, Kaiser and Fatima Moreira De Melo saw a [qd][qs][3d] flop but only Kaiser hung around after Lykov bet 1,625. Both players checked the [8c] turn before the Russian led for 6,200 on the [qh] river. Kaiser took so long to make a decision that third party at the table called the clock and this promoted him to fold.

A few hands later Lykov and Kaiser saw another flop. It's texture was [as][kd][ad] this time and Lykov led for 2,300 and was called. The turn came [6d] and Lykov let the diminutive Swiss pick up the betting reigns and he duly obliged with a 5,800 bet. Call. The river came [8h] and Lykov checked again but this time had to face a 22,200 bet. This sent the Russian into his own tank and he came out of it a few minutes later with a call. Kaiser tabled [6s][6c] for a full house which was good as Lykov mucked. Kaiser up to 130,000 chips whereas Lykov is down to 22,000. -- MC

7.54pm: English punch up
Liv Boeree was recently seated to the right of Stephen Chidwick, aka stevie444, and has got straight into it in a battle of the blinds. Boeree in the small and, of course, Chidwick in the big. Boeree checked the [2c][qh][9d] flop to Chidwick who dutifully bet 4,250. Boeree took some time weighing up her options before announcing... "Is it on me?" Yes, it was. Boeree then raised to 9,000 and Chidwick mucked his hand. Chidwick is up to 100,000 while Boeree is still keeping her head above water with 40,000. -- RD

7.50pm: Veldhuis up to 70,000
Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis had a horrid start to the day, but he's now turned his lowly 10,000 into 70,000 over the course of a few levels. He just raised to 1,500 with big slick, Sorel Mizzi re-raised to 4,200 and Jan Skampa - who final tabled here last year - moved all-in for 16,000 with A-2. Veldhuis shoved in behind, Mizzi folded A-K and the board ran a swingtastic J-8-7-2... K! -- SY

7.45pm: Sebastian Ruthlessberg
Sebastian Ruthenberg is now in the seat once occupied by Daniel Negreanu. He opened for 1,400 in middle position before the action reached Richard Toth in the cut off. He raised to 3,500 which Ruthenberg went on to call.

The flop came [4h][jh][6s]. After a long pause Ruthenberg bet 9,800. This was good enough to put Toth off continuing. He folded, and Ruthenberg moves up to 45,000 chips. That became more like 48,000 on the next hand when he pushed Andreas Berggren off a hand. -- SB

7.40pm: Romanello struck by a boat
Roberto Romanello opened for 1,325 and Ireland's John O'Shea called from the big blind. Both checked the [3d][7s][10d] flop, and on the [9s] turn Romanello called O'Shea's 3,000 bet. On the [10s] river, O'Shea made it 7,000. After asking for a count of O'Shea's remaining stack, the Welshman called. He wish he hadn't as O'Shea turned over [10c][7d] for a full house. That sent Romanello down to 34,000 and O'Shea up to 27,000. -- SY

7.35pm: Stani keeping the pressure on
Kevin Stani is here hot off the back of his EPT Tallinn success buuthasn't had the best of table draws with William Thorson, Nuno Coelho and co seated around him. This obviously hasn't stopped him from getting involved and he's twice taken down small pots preflop with three-bets in the last few minutes. Surely it can't be that long until two of these name players get tangled up. -- RD

7.25pm: Lykov loading up
On a flop of [ks][4h][4s] Max Lykov in the big blind checked to Dominik Traeger under the gun. Traeger made it 1,750 which Lykov called for a [5d] on the turn. Again Lykov checked leaving it to Traeger to do the betting, 1,700 this time. Lykov called once more for an [as] on the river. Now he took the lead, betting 4,600 on the end, enough to persuade Traeger to fold his hand. Lykov showed [qs][9s] for the flush, getting a nod of approval from Traeger. Lykov up to around 50,000. -- SB

7.18pm: Bilokur big stack
Leonid Bilokur has emerged as one of the chip leaders pushing through into the last couple of levels of the day. Apart from the fact that he won a €2,000 side event at EPT Berlin in March for €174,000 I don't know much about the online qualifier so thought a quick railing session was in order. If these two hands are anything to go by then I think I know how he got his chips today and it's all been done by being table captain. Bilokur raised from early position to 1,500 and was called in the big blind. A swift 1,500 on the [jd][5h][ac] flop took the pot down.

Next hand: another 1,500 open, this time from under the gun, and again the action folded around to the big blind who called. This time Bilokur waited until the turn to pull the trigger. It was two from two for the Russian and from my vantage point on the stage, which overlooks the tournament floor, I can see him raking in yet another pot. -- RD

7.10pm: Who's the chief at this table?
We know Ronny Kaiser from his deep run at last season's EPT San Remo (20th place) and the young Swiss impressed with his fearless style of play. This aggressive style is probably a lot to do with why he's up to 109,000 chips, the most at his table that includes Fatima Moreira De Melo and Maxim Lykov.

The latter just lost a small pot to Kaiser too after calling his 1,450 raise whilst sat on the button. The BB came along to see the [ac][qh][6d] where all three checked. The turn came [7d] and a 2,300 bet from Kaiser took the pot down. --MC

7.05pm: Negreanu done
Daniel Negreanu's day has come to an end. It took place over two hands, the first of which involved his king-ten against the queen-jack of Richard Toth, which made a straight on the turn, leaving Negreanu with just 7,000. Then a hand later he opened for 1,325 from under the gun. Ivo Donev raised to 7,000 and Negreanu tossed in the last of his chips, turning over [9c][9d]. Donev turned over [js][jh]. The board ran [tc][ks][6h][th][5h] sending the Team PokerStars Pro to the rail.

"All right," said Negreanu. "Good luck guys."

7pm: And back they come
That was the last 15-minute break of the day. Players are now returning for the final two levels and then we're done for the night.

Leading the way right now appears to be Leonid Bilokur, a PokerStars qualifier from Russia, on around 140,000. He's followed by Sam Trickett from the UK with 129,000 and Danny Neess on around 120,000.

Still in, and just above his starting stack with 35,150, is Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. Why mention him? Well, I wanted to use his picture, of course... --SY

PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order of least pretentious car): Rick Dacey (does not drive), Stephen Bartley (Citroen Picasso), Marc Convey (BMW 325ci), Simon Young (Jaguar XK8)

6.48pm: Break time
That's the end of the level and the last 15 minute break of the day. Stand by for level seven.

6.45pm: Five-way action
A short stacked (12k) Jeff Sarwer raised to 800 from under-the-gun and was called in four spots before the flop came [qs][8h][9d]. William Thorson was the first to commit more chips with 2,700 bet that was called by PokerStars Team Pro Nuno Coelho. Sarwer said "This is interesting" before folding.

The turn came [jc] prompting a check from both men to go to the [5s] river. Thorson threw out one red 1,000 chip but soon faced a raise to 4,100. "It was coming at some point, I guess" said the Swede. "I flopped two-pair as well" he continued as he open folded [8c][9s].

Coelho slid his cards in to muck. He's up to 62,000 now whereas Thorson is mororing along on 89,000. -- MC

6.39pm: Pagano versus Mortensen
Carlos Mortensen had bet 5,000 into a [9c][5h][jc] flop only to face an all-in shove from Luca Pagano for 17,800. Mortensen sat, studied, thought and passed. Pagano is up to around 25,000. He's never really got started but the Italian Team PokerStars Pro isn't one to panic. -- RD

6.36pm: Veldhuis: one up, one down
Lex Veldhuis has quiet some VPIP and here is just a snapshot of his actions at the table. First he opens a pot to 1,000 from middle position and is called by his neighbour Sorel Mizzi. A solitary 1,500 bet on the [td][jc][3s] flop being enough to move Mizzi off his hand.

Next hand Veldhuis open-raised to 1,000 again. He was called in the small blind before getting squeezed by Manuel Mairer to 4,400. Veldhuis passed leaving himself on 37,000. -- RD

6.30pm: Fear of folding
A flop of [8h][2s][6d] and William Thorson and Jeff Sarwer were sparring. Thorson had bet and Sarwer called, each eying the other suspiciously. The turn came [9c] and Thorson bet another 1,525. Sarwer lifted an eyebrow, causing Thorson to laugh, as the Canadian decided to muck his hand here.

"I hate folding too," said Thorson with a grin as Sarwer winced. "I think you figured that out a long time ago." -- SB

6.22pm: Negreanu fails to sleep through cracked aces
Daniel Negranu is looking pretty tired right now and I thought he was actually asleep at the table with his head buried in the crook of his elbow. If he was he was always going to be woken up by the histrionics of Ivo Donev. The Austrian doesn't exactly come across as the live and let live type. Karolis Grybauskas made it 1,050 from the cut-off and Donev three-bet to 3,600. Grybauskas four-bet to 10,000 and Donev instantly waved his hands over his chips as he announced: "All-in." The Lithuanian didn't look crazily happy with the situation but made the call for the rest of his stack (he started the hand with around 25,000). Donev slammed down [ad][ac] triumphantly. His jubilation was short-lived as Grybauskas' [qh][qc] flopped a set and turned a boat on the [qd][js][6c][jc][3h].

Donev was not a happy bunny and expressed this as much in German waving his arms around in a manner one can only politely describe as enthusiastically. Grybauskas quietly raked in his chips and is up to 50,000. -- RD

6.15pm: Sorel soaring
Sorel Mizzi has cemented his position at the top of the pile by winning a pot against his neighbour Daniel Ferreira. Mizzi opened the pot with a button raise to 1,000 before calling Ferreira's 3,100 three-bet from the SB. The flop came [ad][2h][2s] and Mizzi called a 3,700 to see the [qc] turn where he called a 6,125 bet after some thought. The river came [ah] and the Portuguese player didn't have a third bullet in the chamber and checked, as did Mizzi. Ferraira could only table [kh][jh] and lost out to Mizzi's [th][td] who's now on 134,000 chips. --MC

6.05pm: It's all about the money
You can achieve anything with a borrowed pen and the back of an envelope; just ask tournament officials who have released news of the numbers we're playing for in Vilamoura. Of the 384 players who began this event 56 will be paid. First prize will be €467,835 from a total prize pool of €1,862,400. Full details of all the payouts will appear on the payout page shortly. -- SB

6pm: Williams still climbing
Team PokerStars Pro David Williams is now up to 62,000. He opened with a 1,000 bet and was called by Henri Kasper. Both checked the [3d][5h][7s] flop, and on the [5s] turn Kasper called Williams' 1,775 bet. On the [qh] river Williams fired out 3,500 and again he got a call from Kasper, who mucked when shown [qd][10d]. -- SY

5.57pm: Here's ElkY
We lost ElkY from the tournament a little earlier this afternoon, but here he is chatting to our video team...

5.55pm: Regrets
Ricardo de Sousa, one of the most tanned looking people in the room, is no longer in the room after being eliminated by Sorel Mizzi.

Lex Veldhuis, to the right of Mizzi, opened for 1,000 before Mizzi raised to 3,300. De Sousa then announced all-in for less than 20,000 from early position. Veldhuis passed but Mizzi called showing [td][tc] to De Sousa's [ah][kc].

The board ran [4s][th][4h][9c][4c], much to Veldhuis's disappointment. Mizzi up to 95,000. -- SB

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400, ANTE 50

5.45pm: Thorson and Coelho playing, Terrazas and co chattering
As you read this hand try to imagine an underlay of rapid fire chatter from four Spaniards in their mother tongue courtesy of Santiago Terrazas and his railers. Thorson open-raised to 775 and was called by Nuno Coelho in late position. Coelho bet 1,225 into the [6s][8h][tc] flop and Thorson called. Both players checked the [9h] turn before Thorson led 4,000 at the [qh] river. Coelho pulled a face that said, I'm going to call but I think I'm behind. Indeed he was despite having the straight with [6d][7s]. Thorson showed [as][jc]. -- RD

5.40pm: Over to you, Ovidiu
And that's the end of Claudio Ovidiu's tournament. He opened for 800 from the button and found callers in Max Lykov in the small blind and Dominik Traeger in the big. On the flop of [2d][3h][3d] Lykov checked and Traeger made it 1,500 to play. Ovidiu then moved all-in for 10,850. Lykov folded but Traeger called, showing [ad][9d] to Ovidiu's [8s][8d]

The turn [as] and river [4h] would send Ovidiu to the rail, although not before he'd bashed his metal card protector onto the table and dropped a badge on the floor. -- SB

5.35pm: Nice read, nice laydown
The board was [10h][9s][7h][kc][qc] and William Thorson was facing a 2,000 bet from Lothar Meier. "You have pocket jacks there?" asked Thorson, who muck [q][10] for two pair. Meier obliged by showing [jc][jd]. -- SY

5.30pm: Numbers
There were 203 entries today, which added to yesterday's 181 starters makes a total EPT Vilamoura field of 384 - a new record for Portugal. With that, we expect the prize pool to be revealed fairly soon. -- SY

5.28pm: Buonanno bullying
Antonio Buonanno is up to 75,000 after winning another small pot on a [6h][8h][th][2s][7s] board. The Italian led a pot-sized 5,100 into Geir Trydal on the river. The Norwegian didn't look like he wanted to let his hand go, but did after a couple of minutes in the tank. -- RD

5.20pm: Sighing with rockets
Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo has dipped just below her starting stack after losing out to Dominik Trager of Germany. Three players made it to the [6d][kc][6c] flop but only De Melo called Trager's 500 bet from first position. The turn came [3c] and this time she called a 1,500 bet. The river came [7c] and Trager let out a big sigh before checking. The Dutch hockey star checked too but mucked upon seeing her opponent's [ac][as]. "You're the one pulling the act? That's so bad!" De Melo said with a chuckle at her opponent's act on the river. -- MC

5.18pm: 'I knew it and I still bet it'...
Said William Thorson after he bet 1,200 on the river of a [js][5s][3c][kh][ac] board. His opponent in the hand, Giacomo Maisto, made the call and scooped the pot as the Swede mucked. The Italian had opened the pot with a limp under-the-gun and then was the only caller to 1,025 Thorson raise. Then there was no more action un til Thorson's miss-timed river bet. He won't dwell on it too long as he's going along well on 55,000 chips. -- MC

5.15pm: Tripped by Trickett
Running good and playing good are a great combo but when other players make mistakes then you really know you're going to get some chips. Sam Trickett is up to 90,000 now after an error from Pascal Hartmann of Germany. Trickett had raised under the gun to 800 and Hartmann had called on the button. The Brit continued his aggression on the [6c][3c][3h] flop with a bet of 2,200. Hartmann tossed in 5,200 in the shape of one yellow 5,000 chip and two black 100 chips. He had meant to call but the multiple chips meant the action had to stand as a raise.

Trickett then moved in on Hartmann and the German called looking more than a little frustrated by his error. Hartmann showed pocket nines to Trickett's [qs][qd]. Blank [2d][4h] cards fell on the turn and river and Trickett raked in the pot. "Did he mean to raise?" asked Christophe de Meulder. When Trickett told him it had been a mistake de Meulder replied: "Pretty sick. It was an expensive mistake." -- RD

5.10pm: Checking to the river
Dani Vargas opened for 800 in the hi-jack which Daniel Negreanu called from the button. Andreas Van De Venne in the small blind also called for a [3d][js][5c] flop. The action was checked to Negreanu who bet 1,500 which only Van De Venne called for a [4d] turn. Check-check and a [9c] on the river, where things petered out with more checking.

[jc][qh] for Van De Venne, who moves up to 46,000.

"A pair and a flush draw," for Negreanu who is down slightly to 52,000. -- SB

5.05pm: Rolling Romanello
Roberto Romanello just won a hand against William Reynolds and Ruben Visser. On a board reading [4c][6h][td][jd] Romanello bet 1,075 which Reynolds folded to but Visser called for a [kh] river. Romanello bet another 1,150 which Visser passed to, leaving himself 16,000. Romanello on the other hand is up to 38,000. -- SB

4.58pm: Terrazas enjoying his position
Santiago Terrazas has EPT Tallinn winner Kevin Stani and William Thorson on his right and seems to be happy getting involved in pots with them. He keeps stabbing when the others check and it seems to be largely working for him. In a four-way pot, involving Stani and Thorson, Terrazas fired 2,000 at the [2d][8s][ad] flop and only Stani made the call. A larger 6,000 on the [kd] turn was enough to push Stani out of the pot. -- RD

4.52pm: Donev doubles
Ivo Donev has doubled up to around 35,000 after winning a race against Rafael Martinez. All the chips went in pre-flop and it was the Austrian chess champion at risk as the all-in player. He tabled [ah][kh] to the Spaniard's [jc][js] and the board ran out [qs][ks][qd][2d][3d]. Two-pair good for Donev and Martinez was left very short and busted soon after. -- MC

4.45pm: Back from the break
Players have returned from the break for level five, with blinds at 150-300 with a 25 ante.

Lex Veldhuis

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Vilamoura (in order of working cleanliness): Stephen Bartley (empty water bottle and sandwich wrapper), Simon Young (chewing gum packet, empty plastic bottle, coke can) Marc Convey (empty soup bowl, water bottle, can of coke), and Rick Dacey (three soup bowls, a can of coke, three napkins, a water bottle and a coffee stain). Photos by Neil Stoddart.

4.29pm: Break
That's the end of level four, and we're now half way through the day. Players are now on a 15-minute break. -- SY

4.28pm: Back on the up
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano is back up to 27,000 after getting paid off by David Frieling in a pot. Seven thousand chips had made it into the middle and both players checked the turn to leave the board as [9s][2s][ac][ad][7h] on the river. Frieling checked from under-the-gun and then called the Italian's 5,700 bet but mucked upon seeing his [as][jd]. --MC

4.25pm: Williams get a bit more
New Team PokerStars Pro Chris Kamara David Williams seems to be enjoying life under the PokerStars flag. He's now up to 57,000 after picking up a small chunk from Timo Pfuetzenreuter. Williams had [qs][jc] on the [7d][6h][qd][qs][kc] board. -- SY

4.22pm: Look-alikes
Team PokerStars Pro David Williams is rocking a new look. Okay, it's not brand new but it's certainly some distance from the shaved head and sunglasses that you'd normally associate with him. It was bugging us at the blogging desk exactly who he was reminding us of when it suddenly clicked. Chris Kamara.

You'll only know Kamara if you're a British football fan but let me tell you, he's an absolute legend. A former football star turned exuberant commentator Kamara has a trademark look; tight curly hair and pencil thin moustache. They could have been separated at birth. If you want to see Kamara at his legendary best then click the red link. Awesome. Williams is up to 55,000. -- RD

4.18pm: Folding is a big part of the game
Folding is the most common move in poker. Some folds are easy and some are hard and then there's the really hard ones. Get the decisions in these spots right and you'll save a ton of chips in the long run. Carlos Mortensen played a hand out with Danny Neess over a period of 15 minutes. Half of these minutes were taken up on the river with Mortensen thinking hard before folding.

The action started a long long time ago with an early position raise to 800 from the one known as The Matador. He was called by a Viking, Danny Neess in the BB to go to a [9d][tc][qs]. Mortensen c-bet bet for 1,500 and was called by Neess to see the [3s] turn. The Dane checked once more but treated Mortensen's 2,800 bet with a raise to 8,150. This didn't deter Mortensen who put in a min-raise to 13,500. Call. The river came [8h] and Neess took the bull by the horns and fired out 13,000. Cue an epic tank from Mortensen. He thought for so long that the clock was called on him and this prompted him to fold, leaving himself with 20,000 chips. -- MC

4.10pm: Negreanu keeps it under control
Daniel Negreanu kicked things off with a raise from under the gun and was called by Ivo Donev in the cut-off and the big blind. Negreanu tipped forward 900 towards the [4s][2c][8s] flop and was called by Donev alone. "Just you and me," said Donev excitedly. Negreanu opted to check the [qc] on the turn which Donev took a swipe at for 2,100. Negreanu called and then both players checked the [2h] river. Donev had to show first and he tabled [qs][ts] for top pair and a flush draw. Negreanu showed [ks][kd] and took the pot. -- RD

4.05pm: Sarwer strong, ElkY gone
Over on table four, the likes of Coelho, Grospellier, Sarwer, Thorson and Stani play the Holy game of poker, the table Michelangelo would have painted.

Of the bunch ElkY is worse off, down to just 14,000 while Thorson and Coelho have breached the 40k mark. Sarwer is up to 36,000 and would add a few thousand more after a hand against Mohamad Kowssarie.

On a three way flop of [9d][ks][7d], Kowssarie and Thorson checked in the blinds and Sarwer, sitting in the cut off, bet 1,650. Kowssarie called while Thorson passed before the [kd] turn card. Both players checked for a [6d] river. Kowssarie checked to Sarwer again who tossed out 4,000.

Kowssarie turned to face Sarwer, which Lothar Meier in seat three found funny. But Sarwer was giving nothing away and simply stared ahead at the board. Kowssarie called. Sarwer flipped up [qd][jd]. Kowssarie could only look at his cards a last time before mucking them, sending Sarwer up to 45,000.

Moments later Thorson would add to his lot, eliminating Grospellier. Thorson up to around 60,000. ElkY to the beach. -- SB

3.55pm: Boeken busted
Team PokerStars Pro Noah Boeken must have been on the end of a rough hand because he was down to his last 1,550. That soon went in the middle with an all-in shove and he was called by Nicolo Calia, who reached the final table at EPT Tallinn.

Boeken: [ac][6s]
Calia: [ah][8h]

That was bad, and it got a lot worse when the board ran [kc][10h][8d][10d][7d] to bust the Dutchman. -- SY

3.45pm: No eight?
Daniel Negreanu bet out 1,600 at a [8d][8h][10d] flop, and Rafael Martinez called before Vitor Sebastiao raised to 3,200. Negreanu, worried about the eights, folded, but Martinez made the call. Both then checked the [3s] turn and [jc] river. Sebastio had pocket nines, but Martinez showed [10h][7s] for a better pair. -- SY

3.41pm: Got Carter
Carter Phillips, who this time last year was winning EPT Barcelona, will not be getting anything in Vilamoura. He's just busted, talking about having aces against a set as he left the tournament area. -- SY

3.40pm: Negreanu on the money
A board of [2s][ac][ah][9c][jh] and Andreas Van De Venne moved all-in. The shove was for about 22,000 and had come after Karolis Grybauskas made it 12,500, with 8,000 in the middle before the river card. Now he had 13,000 left and the option of calling, but he didn't like it. He passed.

"It's a good fold," said Daniel Negreanu, almost before Grybauskas had mucked his cards. He then gestured to Van De Venne. "He has ace-jack for sure."

Helping Negreanu prove his point Van De Venne showed his [ad][jd].

"I had two jacks," said Grybauskas.

"Still a good fold," replied Negreanu. -- SB

3.37pm: Happy finish
Christophe de Meulder opened the pot for 500 under the gun and instantly picked up a customer in Dieter Albrecht (he is sat on de Meulder's left). The Belgian Team PokerStars Pro led 1,050 into the [qd][4s][th] flop. Albrecht instantly raised and it wasn't much more than the minimum. De Meulder passed and told the man from Switzerland: "You were looking too happy with that flop." Cue a discussion involving Sam Trickett, de Meulder and Andy Black as to whether you should tell people that their emotions are giving them away. -- RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300

3.30pm: New chip leader
Sorel Mizzi has rocketed to the top of the chip counts with 110,000. It's hard to give coverage from his awkwardly positioned table but rumours are circulating the Canadian cracked an opponent's pocket kings with an inferior holding to win a monster pot. --MC

3.18pm: Pagano over shoves the river
Luca Pagano had 9,575 left in his stack on the river of a [7s][9c][4d][ad][6c] board. He moved it all across the line leaving David Frieling with what seemed to be a difficult decision. There was around 3,800 in the pot after Frieling's 1,300 bet on the turn had been called and Pagano's shove was more than double the pot. Frieling eventually made the call and Pagano showed [3s][5s] for the straight. Pagano is back up to 24,000. -- RD

3.15pm: Mellow Melo
Fatima Moreira de Melo just moved all-in for 17,600 against Manual Cadilhe who called her ace-king with pocket kings. Moreira de Melo didn't catch an ace but the board ran [js][9d][qh][td][as] for a split pot. -- SB

3.05pm: Taking the pot away
Tristan Clemencon is up to 35,000 after check-raising Andre Andrade off a hand on the river of a [5s][9h][9d][6d][ad] board. The Frenchman raised pre-flop and was called in two spots before his 925 c-bet was only called by Andrade. Clemencon check-called a 1,575 bet on the turn before checking to face a 4,225 bet on the river. His response was to raise to 11,625 for the pot as his opponent folded after some serious thought. -- MC

3.02pm: The turn changed these set of events
John O'Shea has doubled-up through neighbour Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser. The turn was out to give the board a [3h][6c][8d][ts] look and it was here that both players got their chips in. Visser tabled [as][ac] but O'Shea opened [td][th] for set. The river came [7h] before the Irishman raked in the 35,000 chip pot. Visser down to 13,800 now. --MC

3pm: Stumpfed
Frank Stumpf, who should receive a cash prize for the name alone, just doubled up through Liviu Ignat of Romania, another name worthy of applause.

It was a typical aces versus kings affair only this time the aces held. Stumpf moves up to more than 35,000, leaving Ignat with around 10,000 after the board came [ts][tc][5h][3d][5c]. -- SB.

2.54pm: Ebanks robbed
When I arrived at the action Joseph Ebanks had already been keeping a pensive looking waitress waiting at his shoulder with a bill for a good minute or so. The American was staring down at the [5d][6h][qh][jc] board which had approximately 14,000 in the pot next to it. Ebanks, who was playing from the cut-off, tossed two yellow 5,000 chips across the line and Thorsten Schafer, who was in the big blind, made the call. The [kh] dropped on the river completing the flush and a couple of straight draws. Schafer led into that danger card for 9,000. Ebanks thought long again - still with his simpering waitress behind him - before finally mucking. I hoped he tipped her for her time. -- RD

2.44pm: Neessly does it
Danny Neess opened the pot to 450 from early position and was called in middle position by António Martins and by Luca Pagano in the big blind. All Neess needed to do to win the pot was to bet 1,125 at the [2c][6h][5c] flop. Martins thought a little longer than Pagano but ultimately both players passed their hands. Pagano is down to 13,000. -- RD

2.40pm: Veldhuis or Bordalo?
On a flop of [6h][qh][2d] Ricardo Bordalo checked to Lex Veldhuis who bet 1,350 in late position. Bordalo then raised to 3,200 which Veldhuis eventually called. The turn came [4c] which Bordalo bet at, 7,500 in total. Veldhuis thought about things for a few moments before silently moving his chips all-in, a sum of around 14,500. Bordalo called. Veldhuis turned over [ah][qs] while Bordalo showed [9h][4h]. The river card [7c] did no harm to Veldius who doubles up. -- SB

2.35pm: Carlos comes late
An EPT title is about the only thing missing from Carlos Mortensen's trophy cabinet and he's just taken his seat to try and so something about that. --MC

2.30pm: LEVEL 3
The players are back from break for the second quarter of today's play. Jonathan Weeks still leads the way after tripling-up early on. Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu is on around 13,000 and was just complaining to us how bad his day has gone so far. He's staying positive though! --MC

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Vilamoura (in order of MS paint skills): Stephen Bartley (maestro), Rick Dacey (improving), Simon Young (can only improve) and Marc Convey (can only do stick men). Photos by Neil Stoddart.

2.16pm: Break time
It's a 15-minute rest for the players. Only another six levels left to play. -- RD

2.15pm: Into the Black
"Do you know how many months you live on average? 960 months... Something like that."

This is Andy Black. Irishman, raconteur, jester. Black travels the world playing the world's biggest tournaments tormenting players in this way and seeking that first EPT title. He's come close before; seventh in Monte Carlo in season three, tenth in Dublin in season four. Now he's talking longevity.

"Seventy years is a long time, but 960 months... not so long it it?" he says to a table of grinning players. "I don't want to upset you."

In between all this Black is urging his tablemates to hurry up. With two minutes left on the clock he thinks another two hands are possible. If everyone plays quick.

On a flop of [tc][jc][ts] Black made it 150 and no one showed any sign of taking him on. Black slammed down the [2d].

On the next hand Ciaran Burke raised while Pascal Hartmann three-bet. The action was on Black.

"They didn't have four-bets in the old days," he said. "There was a three bet and if you didn't have queens you folded."

Black didn't have queens and folded. We're into the first break of the day. -- SB

2.12pm: Aces best for Lykov
Salman Behbehani informed the blog that he lost a 40,000 pot to EPT Season 6 POY Max Lykov. Behbehani held ace-king to Russian's aces and after three-betting and four-betting pre-flop the flop came king high. This was enough to ensure chips went in on every street. -- MC

2.05pm: de Meulder cut down by Sarwer
Santiago Terrazas has occupied the chair left vacant by Matthias de Meulder and already he's fairing better than the Team PokerStars Pro did. William Thorson opened from the hijack to 350 and was called by Terrazas on the button and ElkY on the big blind. ElkY and Thorson checked and Terrazas bet 1,200. It was enough to win the pot. -- RD

2pm: Maisto the maestro
Giacomo Maisto now has a stack of more than 40,000 thanks to a daring all-in raid. With the board showing [5s][qs][9s][9d] Bertrand Grospellier had bet 3,275 from the small blind before Maisto moved all-in.

Nuno Coelho was also in the pot but passed, looking a little confused. Grospellier looked the same, unable to decode Maisto's logic and folding, shaking his head as if he'd just watched a man cross a busy highway without looking left or right. Either way chips went to the Italian. -- SB

1.55pm: Rubbish drawing time
As we are not allowed to take any photos inside the tournament room, we've been drawing the occasional action shot for you. Some are better than others - but this one of Daniel Negreanu is possibly the worst in history. -- SY

1.50pm: Thorson lays the hammer down on ElkY
William Thorson put a big bet in on the river versus ElkY forcing the Frenchman to open fold a set. 3,600 had managed to find it's way in to the middle pre-flop before both checked the [ks][4h][th] flop. The turn came [jc], ElkY led for 2,525 and the Swede called from mid-position. The river came [ah] and ElkY checked to face a chunky 7,600 bet from his opponent. He took one last look at his cards and open folded [js][jh]. ElkY's on 26,500 to Thorson's 38,000. -- MC

1.42pm: De Meulder cracked
Team PokerStars Pro Matthias de Meulder has just crashed out, his pocket aces cracked by Jeff Sarwer. William Thorson had opened things, De Meulder then raised and Sarwer moved in before Thorson folded. De Meulder called with his aces against Sarwer's pocket kings but the third king on the turn ruined everything for the Belgian. De Meulder looked crushed and Sarwer was not far off appearing the same.

"Would anybody fold my kings there?" asked Sarwer. -- SB.

1.37pm: Cagey play
After the early treble up of Jonathan Weekes things seem to have slowed down to a more natural rhythm. Daniel Negreanu raised from middle position and took the blinds. ElkY took a pot with a 725 c-bet on a flat looking [3d][2s][tc] flop. Fellow Team PoekrStars Pro Richard Toth opened under the gun and saw the action fold all the way around to Fatima Moreira de Melo in the big blind who passed. Things may feel a little more mellow at the moment but it's only a matter of time before things blow up. -- RD

1.30pm:Table tougher still
We've referred to this table as it gets progressively tougher throughout the early stages. Already housing ElkY, Nuno Coelho, Jeff Sarwer, Matthias de Muelder and EPT Tallinn winner Kevin Stani, EPT award winner William Thorson has just sat down as well. Phew! -- SY

1.25pm: I ain't scared of no pros
Josef Birchler is at a very tough table today with the likes of Evgeniy Zaytsev, John O'Shea, Ruben Visser, Roberto Romanello and Will Reynolds for company. So far so good though and he's just taken pots of the latter two from this formidable list.

The first hand he opened to 300 from under-the-gun and then called Romanello's three-bet to 725 from mid-position. Both players checked the [9d][ah][qh] flop before Birchler led for 675 on the [8s] turn. Call. The river came [7d] and both players checked. Birchler tabled [ad][kh] and the Welshman flashed [as] and mucked.

The very next hand he took a small pot of Will Reynolds. Reynolds min-raised from the button and Birchler called from the BB. The action was checked to the river where the board read [ad][qc][5s][jh][6c]. Birchler led out for 125 and Reynolds folded showing the [jc]. Birchler flashed the [ah] and scooped in the small pot. "Yes, already making pro folds," commented Reynolds on his remarkable fold. --MC

1.15pm: Arresting Aristides
Sebastian Ruthenberg opened a pot for 250, getting a call from Aristides Couto in the small blind. Brandon Meyers also called in the big blind for a [9c][qd][4c] flop.

Couto bet 500 and then looked at his cards once more, just to reassure himself perhaps. He needn't have worried. Meyers passed but Ruthenberg called for a [5h] turn card which both players checked. They checked again on the [2h] river. Ruthenberg's [ad][6d] trumped by Couto's [as][9s] at the showdown.

Couto was not done there, betting 425 from the button in the next hand. Meyers was also not ready to sit idly by, calling in the small blind for a [3c][4s][6d] flop. As if resting momentarily both checked for a [2c] turn. Meyers bet 550. Couto leaned forward a little to think then called. On the [9h] river Meyers bet 1,100. Couto had had enough, for this hand at least, and passed.

He'd do the same in a third hand seconds later, raising to 300 from the cut off only for Meyers to re-raise to 950 from the button, forcing Couto to fold. -- SB

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100

1.08pm: Williams shows down fours
David Williams opened for 225 from early position and was called in three spots. The debut Team PokerStars Pro led for 500 on the [3h][kh][qd] flop forcing the play heads up where the action was checked through the [2d] turn and [7c] river. Williams' pocket fours weren't good enough to beat [jh][qs]. Would another bullet have been good enough? -- RD

1pm: Girls just wanna have fun
A battle of the ladies here. On the [7c][ah][js] flop Liv Boeree made it 800 and Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo called. On the [8h] turn Boeree check-called de Melo's 1,500, and on the [ac] river she check-called de Melo's 3,000. De Melo mucked when shown the impressive [as][qc], adding: "Wow!" -- SY

12.58pm:Table gets tougher (twice)
The table featuring Team PokerStars Pro ElkY and Nuno Coelho, plus Jeff Sarwer, got trickier when Team Pro Mathias de Muelder sat down - followed by recent EPT Tallinn winner Kevin Stani! -- SY

12.57pm: Easy game
Well if your name is Jonathan Weekes it's an easy game. He's up to 90,000 chips after knocking out another player at his table. The flop came out [t][j][a] before chips went flying. PokerStars qualifier Gary Bain had pocket aces for top set but lost out to the Brit's straight with king-queen. -- MC

12.54pm: "I should have 4x'd it"
Jeff Sarwer opened from early position and was called in two spots; the hi-jack and Matthias de Meulder on the button. Sarwer bet another 600 on the [ac][kd][2s] flop and was called by the hi-jack as de Meulder mucked his hand. Both players checked the [2c] turn before Sarwer led 2,100 into the [jh] river. His opponent quickly called and Sarwer said: "It's a split pot probably." Very astute. Sarwer tabled [ah][3s] and his opponent showed [ad][5d]. "I should have made it four times the pot on the river," said Sarwer half-joking. -- RD

12.52pm: Weekes benefits from first bust-out
It didn't take long for our first player to fall and he fell at the hands of Jonathan Weekes. Weekes was long time chip leader in the recent EPT Tallinn (finished 9th) and he's at the front of the pack here now. The river was out and the board was queen high before he Fernando Brito got all their chips in the middle. Weekes had a top set of queens that was crushing his opponent's ace-queen. --MC

12.50pm: Bertrand calling
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier has taken his seat, alongside Nuno Coelho and two seat from Jeff Sarwer who will be defending his big blind against the Frenchman. Where ElkY goes there follows a sense of mystery. His shoulders seem bigger this year and his arms are muscled. The same sunglasses but less of the Ed Hardy glow.

He called a bet of 325 from the button from Mohamad Kowssarie, deep in the middle of a massage, his folded body lurching forward ever two seconds.

The flop came [6h][qc][4d]. Both checked, circling each other perhaps before embracing in combat or dance, whatever. On the [9h] turn the first blows. Kowssarie bet 725. ElkY called for a [kc] on the river and then lazily rolled out 3,300 when Kowssarie checked to him. Kowssarie called, sitting up suddenly, then tensing, then mucking as ElkY showed his [jc][td].

ElkY stacked his new chips and was in action again on the next hand, betting 250 from the cut off. This time Jeff Sarwer got in on things, raising to 825 from the small blind. ElkY passed with a grin, and Sarwer showed his hand, suggesting the fold was good.

"I was alive," said ElkY. "And I had position." -- SB

12.44pm: Minor hit for Pagano
Luca Pagano, the serial EPT cash specialist, lost a few thousand on this one. We picked up the action on the [10c][9s][jd] flop, when Pagano checked, his opponent bet 450 and Pagano raised it up to 1,150. Call. The Italian then bet 2,125 on the [8s] river and again got a call. On the [8d] river, Pagano bet 3,925 but then had to lay it down when faced with a re-raise to 12,075. -- SY

12.37pm: Trick on the river
Sam Trickett has more than 35,000 chips already after hitting trip tens by the river to snatch a pot away from an opponent.This player raised to 250 from under-the-gun and was called by Trickett on the button and the SB. The flop came [3h][7c][td] and both players called the aggressor's 475 c-bet. The turn came [qs] and only Trickett called the aggressor's 825 bet. The same player emptied the clip on the [th] river but his 1,200 bet was raised up to 3,700 by the Brit. Call. Trickett tabled [ac][ts] for trip tens and the pot as his opponent tabled [kh][kd]. --MC

12.32pm: What is it with old guys and young chicks?
Okay, the title is roundly offensive to both players involved but, hey, while it was meant to be tongue in cheek it is also contains a pertinent point. Players like Liv Boerre and Fatima Moreira de Melo (who you will know are seated together if you read the post below) seem to be given a greater opportunity than most in picking off large river bluffs made by gentlemen of a certain age. By certain, I mean middle-aged and above. It might be old school chauvinism or just a deep-seated Neanderthal instinct but there's always plenty of old guys that try to batter these accomplished young female players down. Big mistake.

Here is a perfect example of this condition: on the turn of a [9h][8h][qs][jh] board Liv Boeree check-called 1,200 from one, ahem, older player. Boeree considered her options on the [tc] river which she checked. Her opponent put out a large 6,300 bet and Boeree called. Her opponent mucked and I don't think that Boeree even flashed a card - despite the board showing a natural straight. An early head explosion and an easy 8,000 chips for the Season 6 San Remo winner. -- RD

12.25pm: Early (bad) action for Negreanu
On the first hand of the day a gentleman in middle position raised to 300 when Team PokerSars Pro Daniel Negreanu was in the big blind. He, like everyone else, got out of the way. But when the same player raised to 300 again on the second hand, Negreanu said: "What, again?" And made the call.

The flop was [9s][9d][5s] and Negreanu check-called 500. He also checked-called 1,000 on the [8d] turn - and 2,000 on the [3h] river. But the Canadian mucked pretty sharpish when shown [9h][10h] for flopped trips.

Negreanu is wasting no time trying to tease out info from his tablemates by engaging them in conversation. To the gentleman to his left:

"Do you have a job?"
"No."
"Are you a professional player?"
"No."
"So you are a paid criminal?"
"Yes!"

Not sure how useful that info will be, but Kid Poker will keep it stored away. -- SY

12.18pm: Table of note #2
Three former EPT winners Antonio Matias (Vilamoura last year) Christophe Benzimra (Warsaw last year) and Rob Hollink (Monte Carlo Season 1) are all on the same table. -- SY

12.17pm: Table of note #1
Here we have formidable Team PokerStars Pro ElkY, plus his team mate from Portugal Nuno Coelho and Jeff Sarwer. Action to be expected right from the off. -- SY

12.10pm: Table draws
Only a slight delay to the start as players heard introductions from Thomas Kremser. A few notable line-ups include an early toughie, featuring Team PokerStars Pros David Williams and Richard Toth, EPT San Remo winner Liv Boeree and Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo. Elsewhere Lex Veldhuis sits opposite Jan Skampa.

11.55pm: Coming in off a sea breeze
Portugal this time of year is hot. Not Vegas desert hot, but certainly toasty enough to wilt even the sternest Northern European in its midday sun. So for most players coming into the cool tournament room at the Casino Vilamoura it's quite some relief. Among the players that will be wiping their brow are Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, Noah Boeken, ElkY, Nuno Coelho and João Nunes. The last two mentioned are Portugese and will be looking to follow their fellow Team Pro and countryman Henrique Pinho in making it through to Day 2. Pinho finished Day 1A with 71,400. EPT winner Liv Boeree and last year's winner Antonio Matias are both here looking to be the first player to score an EPT double.

David Williams also starts today, his first EPT tournament as a Team PokerStars Pro, and we're expecting big things from him. Williams finished as runner-up to Greg Raymer in the 2004 WSOP Main Event.

Players start with a large 30,000 stack at the 50-100 level (that's 300 big blinds, folks) and play a slow moving structure operating on an hour long clock. Players are seating themselves and the shuffle up and deal mantra will echo out across the tournament floor before long (in seven minutes according to tournament director Thomas Kremser).

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Vilamoura (in order of improvement of constitution from yesterday morning): Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Simon Young and Rick Dacey. Photos by Neil Stoddart.

Players from around Europe were treated to 30 degree temperatures today, bright sunshine and a cooling breeze coming off the Atlantic - perfect conditions then to head indoors to Casino Vilamoura and play eight hours of poker.

You get so used to the European Poker Tour taking place predominantly over the winter months that you forget that in some places the sun actually shines. Vilamoura is one of them. As opposed to places like Prague and Deauville here you can roll up the sleeves, toss away the thermals and enjoy yourself. Just ask one of today's chip leaders, Dario Minieri.

Dario Minieri

The Team PokerStars Pro bags up 131,400 chips tonight, the product of a busy day at a table that was no pushover. EPT Snowfest winner Allan Baekke was across from the Italian, the pair clashing regularly throughout the day. Baekke is also among those who'll be returning for day two on Monday, having avoided any major scrapes and closing on 57,300.

But it was a member of Team PokerStars Online who looks the likely chip leader tonight, Andre Coimbra bagging up 157,600 to lead and flying the flag of the home nation.

Chip leader Andre Coimbra

Day 1a was not a one man show, and there were good days also for Paul Foltyn (145,900), Toby Lewis (141,900), Antonio Esfandiari (127,800) and Antony Lellouche (114,100), all of whom finished with sizeable stacks.

Antonio Esfandiari

Elsewhere the ranks of Team PokerStars Pro marched into the tournament room this morning and all will march back on day two, all except for Juan Maceiras who ran into aces on the penultimate hand of the day. He leaves behind Arnaud Mattern (119,800), John Duthie (57,100), Vicky Coren (29,000), Henrique Pinho (71,400), Pieter de Korver (80,800), Marcin Horecki (40,800), Alex Kravchenko (27,100) and JP Kelly (50,300).

Vicky Coren

Arnaud Mattern

But where there is success there is failure and someone has to pay. Today's donors included Annette Obrestad and Barny Boatman, who are now free to hit the fairway, beach or bar for temporary comfort. Of the 181 players here today 102 remain.

For the complete list of who got their chips check out the chip count page which will be updated once the counts are officially released. In the meantime you'll find a full recap of today's events at the links below, complete with Microsoft Paint interpretations of the day's action that, despite appearances, were not drawn by six-year-olds.

Levels 1 & 2
Levels 3 & 4
Levels 5 & 6
Levels 7 & 8

Join us again tomorrow for the second of the day ones, featuring the likes of Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and various others who were no doubt playing golf today.

Casino Vilamoura

If you've had to Google Translate up to here you might find it easier going on one of our foreign language blogs at the following links, written in German, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese. Our thanks to them and to Neil Stoddart for today's photography.

Until tomorrow then.

9pm: Wrap shortly
A full wrap of today's play and full chip counts will be with you shortly. -- SY

8.55pm: Few more hands
We're on the last four hands of the night. Players will then bag and tag their chips before heading off into the Algarve night.

Before they do that there will be a chip race. Which will look something like this...

8.50pm: Lewis floors Dempsey
After some extraordinary post-flop action Toby Lewis doubled up at the expense of James Dempsey, leaving the WSOP bracelet winner with around 10,000.

Dempsey had made it 1,600 pre-flop and Lewis called. On the [3d][as][2h] flop it went a bit mental. Deep breath... Dempsey made it 2,800, Lewis 7,000, Dempsey 11,800, Lewis 16,000, Dempsey 24,000, Lewis went all-in for 67,775 total, Dempsey called!

Lewis: [3s][3c]
Dempsey: [ad][9c]

Whoops! The turn was [4d] and river [8c] sending the monster pot Lewis' way. "At least no one can accuse us of collusion," said Dempsey. -- SY

8.43pm: Ascari caught bluffing again
James Dempsey had caught Fabrizio Ascari bluffing on a dangerous board earlier and now it was the turn of Portugal's Bruno Pedro Fonseca Pocas (albeit with what may have been the nuts). Ascari had made a small three-bet to 3,500 over the top of Pocas' 1,650 open and had bet 2,500 on the turn of a [ts][js][qh][kd] board after the flop had been checked. Pocas made the call and then checked the [4d] river. Ascari took the bait and bet 8,000. Pocas dropped a large check-raise hammer to 37,000 and Ascari passed. -- RD

8.30pm: Coimbra wins 94K chip pot
Dario Majone raised to 1,350 under the gun and Team PokerStars Online's André Coimbra re-raised to 4,000 holding [5c][8d]. Majone called and they saw a [3c][9s][5s] flop. Coimbra lead with a 5,000 bet and Majone made it 12,000. Call. Coimbre made it 16,000 when the [kd] hit the turn and again Majone called. The river was [7c] and Coimbra makes it 15,000. The Italian counted his chips and finally called showing [4c][4s]. Coimbra is now up to 140.000. -- SY

8.25pm: Esfandiari turning the screw
Antonio Esfandiari has just taken a 12,775 sized scoop out of Andras Nemeth's stack. Nemeth had opened the pot and Esfandiari had three-bet to 5,300. Nemeth didn't want to take it lying down and pushed a raise forward to 12,775. Esfandiari responded by putting another 16,000 on top. That finally seemed to get the message across and Nemeth let it go.

Straight after that the table was back into how much Esfandiari would have to be given to lose his thumb. One million dollars wasn't enough for Esfandiari who explained: "I eat when I want to eat and travel the world. I live a pretty good life. Why would I want to lose my thumb?" But what if you were you broke? asked one of his tablemates. "If I was broke, then maybe I'd do it," said Esfandiaro with a grin. -- RD

8.20pm: Minieri loses chunk against aces
There was a raising war between Dario Minieri and Joao De Silva - and somewhere in the middle of it Jose Maria De Noronha was all in for 27,025. Minieri then raised again, putting a small mountain of yellow 5,000 chips, around 80,000 worth, which was enough to put de Silva all in should he elect to call.

After the clock was called, De Silva folded, leaving two to go to showdown:

Minieri: [kc][kd]
Noronha: [as][ad]

The board only improved the aces, running [3h][7h][8d][4c][ac]. Noronha doubled and Minieri dropped to around 140,000. -- SY

8.15pm: 'Nice value bet'
Said Andre Rodrigues after he called a 12,200 river bet from John Duthie. Rodrigues had started the action with a raise from mid-position that Duthie and Alex Kravchenko called from the blinds. All three checked the flop before Duthie led for 4,500 on the turn with the board reading [qs][jd][3s][qh]. Kravchenko folded but Rodrigues called to see the [4c] river. Here he took a lot longer to call Duthie's bet but folded pretty quickly when the Brit tabled [7d][7h]. He's up to 75,000 now. --MC

8.06pm: Carter ships it in
Dan Carter was recently moved to JP Kelly's table where he sat down a couple of seats to the left of fellow Brit Laurence Houghton. On the last hand before the blinds went up Carter was sat on just under 20,000 when he opened the cut-off to 1,500. The button, Fergal Nealon, three-bet to 4,000 and Carter moved the majority of his stack in (17,500 leaving 150 behind). Nealon mucked his hand as Carter chipped up to 24,000. -- RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 400-800, ANTE 75

8.02pm: Haydon done for a chunk
Grzegorz Cichocki had laid out a chunky 20,500 bet on the river of a [qc][jd][qd][ks][7d] board. William Haydon went deep into the tank before finally making the call and was shown the nut full house. It's not what you want to see (unless you flopped quads). -- RD

8pm: Mattern loses 50k pot
Team PokerStars Pro Arnuad Mattern just informed us of a 50,000 chip pot that he lost to Grzegorz Cichocki. Cichocki raised and then called Mattern's three-bet with [as][js] to see a [8][4][5] flop with one spade. Mattern held four-five for two pair but couldn't stop the board running out with two spades. --MC

7.55pm: Set for Pinho
Ludavic Lacay raised to 1,350 under the gun, Janos Toth called from the small blind and Team PokerStars Pro Henrique Pinho completed from the big blind. The flop came [th][5d][qs] and all the three checked. When a [3c] hit the turn, Pinho bet, 2,500 and only Lacay made the call. The river was [7d] and Pinho fired 8,000 chips. Lacay dwelled for a while before making the call - and mucking when Pinho showed [5s][5c]. He's up to 68,000 now. -- SY

7.52pm: Kelly clips Claudio
JP Kelly opened from the cut-off for 1,500 and was called by Claudio Pollin in the big blind. Both players checked the [qd][3d][7s] flop and it was Pollin who assumed the role of the aggressor on the [8s] turn with a 2,700 bet. Kelly called. Pollin gave it a second attempt to knock Kelly back with a 4,500 bet on the [ah] river. It didn't work and the Italian mucked as soon as Kelly tossed his chips in.

Shortly after Kelly got the rest of Pollin's stack and is up to 55,000. -- RD

7.50pm: Ascari slowed down by Lerner
Fabrizio Ascari, the man who has been in a permanent good mood all day, just took the first blow to his morale It came against Derek Lerner who wiped the smile off Ascari's face with an ace and a queen. For his part Ascari had showed pocket kings but on a board of [q][a][5][9][j] they were simply no good.

Ascari cursed a bit but then said "No problem for me," when Lerner said it was against the player he most wanted to win a pot from. Ascari down to 54,000 while Lerner moves up to 38,000. - SB

7.45pm: More on Heimiller
Mad Harper reports the following chat with Dan Heimiller... "I met him in the car park about an hour ago. He was wandering back to the casino, not in a huge hurry. I asked him if he was out and he replied no, but that he had so many chips he thought he would just go back to the hotel to bet on his baseball game. At the time he had about 70k. -- SY

7.40pm: Minieri grows even more
Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is stretching his lead at the top as his stack is up to 165,000. He won a chunk after flopping a straight against an opponent to bust him. The flop came out [4c][5c][8c] before the chips went flying. The Italian was happy to go along for the ride as he held the nuts with [6h][7h] to his opponent's [jc][js]. The board ran out [kh][as] and with a little over a level left there's a good chance Minieri might be able to hang on to them. --MC

7.30pm: Heimiller grinding away
Dan Heimiller has scored over $3m in live tournament winnings over the last 18 years so to say the American is an experienced card player would be a major understatement. He's also proved that he's got what it takes to mix it with the online generation finishing a very creditable seventh for $300,000 at the PCA main event, which is one of the toughest tournaments in the world (theeeee toughest if you ask some). Heimiller is up to 68,000 and grinding well.

Heimiller limped under the gun for 600 picking up one call and a check from the big blind. He bet the [9s][ac][2d] flop but checked down the turn and river to show [ah][5h] which was enough to take the pot. He said: "I didn't like the kicker," explaining why he didn't try to extract any further streets of value.

In other veteran grinder news; Barny Boatman is out. -- RD

7.23pm: Grinding, grinding, grinding
Ludovic Lacay is normally a name you'll see at the top of the chip counts or nowhere at all as he's a very aggressive player who like to gather chips or die trying. Today we are witnessing a different side to the Frenchman as his stack was clipped early on prompting him to be patient and grind it out. He just committed most of his stack against Luis Guerreiro and was right in doing so, putting his stack back up to nearly 30,000.

The turn was out and the board read [ah][td][4c] and Lacay check-called a 3,500 bet. The river came [9c] and Lacay checked to face a 7,500 bet from his opponent. Lacay took longer this time but made the call and heard Guerreiro say: "You got it" before mucking. Lacay tabled [8h][8c] and scooped in the pot. -- MC

7.15pm: De Korver also loses a race
Pieter de Korver raised under the gun with [6s][6d] and a player moved all in for 8,000 with [kd][jc]. De Korver called but a jack on the turn sent his chips across the table. The Dutchman still has a healthy 60,000. -- SY

7.10pm: Minieri loses a race, shock
He's been running good all day but Dario Minieri just lost a race to peg him back at 143,000. He raised with [ad][kd] and was met with an all-in shove for 16,000 by Tiago Lobo CSYerqueira holding [10s][10c]. Auto call. The flop came [7s][3d][2d], giving Minieri a load more outs, but the turn and river bricked [8h] and [2h]. Cerqueira doubled to 32,000. -- SY

7.05pm: Play resumes
We're entering the final two levels of the day and, as mentioned at the end of the last two-level update, there are some big name big stacks pushing through into the chip lead. Dario Minieri and Antonio Esfandari being the key two to mention both of whom have heaving masses of chips in the region of 140,000. -- RD

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Vilamoura (in order of proximity to tournament stairs): Stephen Bartley, Simon Young, Marc Convey and Rick Dacey. Photos by Neil Stoddart.

6.50pm: Back from Baekke
Allan Baekke opened from the cut-off to 1,000 and Otto Neugebauer made a large three-bet to 6,800 from the small blind. Baekke said: "You want some back?" and must have been referring to a previous pot where he took the German's chips. Baekke is cruising along with 70,000 and has the handy seat draw of being three seats to the left of Dario Minieri.

That's the end of the action for this level and a 15-minute break. -- RD

6.46pm: Cream rising to the top
Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri and Antonio Esfandiari are vying for the lead at three-quarter mark of the day's play. They both have around 140,000 but have a host of name players in the chasing pack, most of whom happen to be French. Arnaud Mattern, Michel Abecassis and Antony Lellouche to be precise. -- MC

6.40pm: Problematic call
James Dempsey is sat directly to the left of Fabrizio Ascari and the Italian is proving to be a bit of a head scratcher. On a [qc][7s][8h] flop Dempsey bet 1,500 in position and called Ascari's min check-raise to 3,000. Ascari bet 7,000 on the [8s] turn and Dempsey called. The [qs] dropped on the river double pairing the board and the Italian took some time before betting 16,000. The bet was for approximately half of Dempsey's stack so it was little surprise to here him say that the situations was "problematic." Dempsey didn't think too long before making the call, probably before he could talk himself out of it.

Ascari showed [9h][3h] for a naked bluff and Dempsey showed [5s][3s] for the flush. Ascari looked a little taken aback that Dempsey had called on the flop with five-high but the Brit is now up to around 70,000. -- RD

6.30pm: Nothing to see here
Action on Pieter de Korver's table, although without any sign of a showdown. First Mickey Petersen opened a pot for 5,600, which Bryn Kelley raised to 11,400 in the cut off. Petersen then moved all-in to take the pot without a Kelley response.

There was another all-in on the next hand when Pontus Khosravi shoved, getting no takers and then De Korver got involved in a hand, taking the loot by betting on a [8d][qc][tc] flop.

6.19pm: Aces burn Kelly
JP Kelly couldn't quite bring himself to muck his pocket aces on the [3c][5s][6s][jd][5c] flop despite Frank Calo's large 12,500 river bet. It wasn't an insta-call from Kelly but the Team PokerStars Pro must have made the call knowing that he was beaten a fair chunk of the time. Calo showed a flopped set with [6c][6h] that had improved to a boat while Kelly was left tossing his [as][ah] into the ether. -- RD

6.08pm: Mitchell mucks with meaning
James Mitchell was on 53,500 when I arrived at his table and was down to 47,000 when I left. An early position raiser had made it 1,000 to go before Mitchell three-bet to 2,700. Florian Lehmann flatted on the button.

Mitchell thought he'd won the hand there and then as he hadn't seen the German's call and instead had to fire 3,600 at the [4s][tc][6c] flop. Lehmann made a large raise to 11,800, effectively committing himself to the pot. Mitchell considered his options before he slammed his cards down mucking his hand. He's still on 48,000 or so but you get the feeling that he thinks he should be getting more out of his table. -- RD

6pm: 'Owned by an amateur' before busting
Annette Obrestad is out after a "Bad day" as she described it. She found it hard to handle an inexperienced player (her words, not ours) to her left who kept min three-betting her and then she busted after losing a race. She raised with ace-jack and then four-bet jammed after an opponent's three-bet. He called with pocket nines and they held. -- MC

5.55pm: In the picture
We're working to Portuguese legal restraints when it comes to photography in the casino here in Vilamoura. As a result, we're artist-impressioning it today and here's the latest.

Juan Maceiras, earlier today

5.50pm: LEVEL UP

5.45pm: Crazy as Ascari
Italian Fabrizio Ascari is having plenty of fun at the table. He sounds as if he is anyway as we can hear him from the press desk. Ascari opened the action to 800 and was called by James Dempsey, Wassim Chaouki and Annette Obrestad. A hasty 3,500 bet from Ascari was enough to win the pot on the jack-high flop. The Italian flashed the [jd]. -- RD

5.40pm: Dempsey and Maceiras
Team PokerStars Pro Juan Maceiras is on something of a tear, winning two more pots to grow his stack to around the 50k mark. In his latest coup the Spaniard bet 2,000 pre-flop which James Dempsey raised to 4,800. Maceiras, showing no signs of slowing down, then re-raised to 10,250, getting a quick fold from Dempsey. - SB

5.37pm: Don't bluff Lellouche
Frenchman Antony Lellouche, who was chip leader for a time here last year, is cruising on 41,000 partly due to winning the last two hands he played.

In the first hand he raised to 725 from first position and was only called by Dan Heimler two seats along. The flop came [6c][2h][tc] and Lellouche's 1,025 was called but his 2,600 bet on the turn was too much for the American to handle.

The very next hand Lellouche called a late position raise from Patrick Renkers whilst sat in the BB. The flop came [9d][ac][ad] and Lellouche check-called a 900 bet. The turn came [td] and this time Lellouche check-called a 2,150 bet. The river came [6d] and Renkers was facing a third check and after a lot of thought he failed to find a third bullet and checked his [kh][3h]. Lellouche tabled [ts][8d] for a flush and the pot. --MC

5.30pm: Don't mess with Houghton
Laurence Houghton is a fierce online tournament player which may be something that Marius Campan of Romania didn't appreciate. He's likely to now though. On a paired [8h][8s][2h] board Houghton bet a little under 3,000 from the cut-off and Campan check-raised to 6,525. The Londoner didn't waste much time in moving all-in for an additional 15,000. Campan passed as Houghton, aka Rivermanl, chipped back up to his starting stack of 30,000. -- RD

5.25 pm Flood busted
On a [6d][7s][8h] flop a player under the gun fired out 1.000. Liam Flood raised to 3,000 before PokerStars qualifier Patrick Carron moved all-in, covering Flood's stack. The UTG player folded, but Flood insta-called with his [qc][qd]. Unfortunately for the Irishman, he had walked straight in to Carron's [7d][7c] for the flopped set.

When the turn brought a [4h] Flood asked for a [5] on the river, but it was a [9d] brick. Flood is out, Carron up to 88,000. -- SY

5.15pm: Chips Baekke to Minieri
Allan Baekke and Dario Minieri just bashed heads again, this time the Italian winning the chips. On a board of [9s][5s][6c][8s][9h] and around 10,000 in the middle, Minieri threw out 2,275 which Baekke called. Minieri showed [as][9h] and was answering a phone call before Baekke mucked his cards.

Two tables along and there's trouble for the English with both Vicky Coren and Barny Boatman on much less than they started with. On a board of [3h][jh][ad][5s][8d], with some betting and calling along the way, Coren made it 6,000 to play which Alexandru Cezarescu called. Coren surrendered [td][5d] while Cezarescu took the pot with [ah][4h]. Coren down to 11,000. -- SB

5.08: Big slick, big fold
Eddie Tasbas was the youngest player to appear at EPT Tallinn (just turned 21) a couple of weeks back and he's here in Vilamoura too. He currently has around 23,000 chips, 2,600 less that he had just moments earlier. He left the 2,600 in the middle after his three-bet was four-bet to 7,800 by Liutauras Armanavicius. Armanavicius had called an under-the-gun raise from second position that was called in one more spot before the young Swede bumped it up to 2,600 from the BB. Tasbas was only player left after the Lithuanian's four-bet and he open folded ace-king after some thought. -- MC

4.58pm: Minieri: portrait of the poker player
Due to Portuguese casino legislation no photos are allowed to be taken. In terms of timely reporting this obviously throws up some interesting problems which we're trying hard to overcome by a) getting photographer Neil Stoddart to collar players on the break, and b) using the courtroom reporting technique of drawing to illustrate events. Here is our representation of Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri. -- RD

4.55pm: Cursed at live poker
Online phenomenon Chris Moorman's live poker curse has continued here in Vilamoura. News reached us during the break of his very unfortunate demise. He hit a set of tens on a [k][t][7] flop only to see an opponent have two kings for a bigger set. Ouch! --MC

4.50pm: Play resumes
Back from the break with blinds at 150-300 with a 25 ante. That noise you can hear is Fabrizio Ascari. -- SB

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Vilamoura (In order of common decency):Stephen Bartley, Simon Young, Marc Convey and Rick "Dastardly" Dacey. Photos by Neil Stoddart.