Table 69 seems to be the place where players go to expire. That table’s average stack is now noticeably higher than that of the tournament. Maxime Théroux just delivered the final blow to Nicola Basile, who got it in good with , and a stack of just over 100K. There was an open raise to 20K and two callers, which led to Nicola’s shove. Maxime was the last caller, and after 2 folds, he made the call with , realizing the pot offered some very good odds. The board was then opened: . The turn came down with a bang, sending Nicola to the rail, and Maxime to the top of the leaderboard.

The last hour has seen 20 players go out, and that pace is expected to accelerate some more, until it eventually slows down considerably towards the end of this phase 1.

At the third break, Michael Bryon (featured on the right) is leading the pack with a cool 524K. He is the first player to crack the half-million mark. Not too far behind, Kevin Daily lays out 489K, and they are both sitting on table 69, along with Maxime Théroux, another top ten stack. We’ll stay close to it, in case some major sparks start flying.

In the meantime, here is a look at the updated top 10, with 79 players left:

The Phase 1 is now well underway. There are just under 100 players left, and stacks are getting voluminous, as our top dogs are approaching half a million. Here are some pictures taken in the last hour:

After 6 levels of play, registration is now closed. The registration period saw 147 players dive into this kickoff flight. 16 of them re-entered it, for a total of 163 entries. This number means that today’s tournament will play down to 17 players (10% of the field), who will then take their chips onto the live Day 1 of their choosing, in May 2017. With this in mind, players are coming back from their second break of the day, and resume play at level 7, 1K/2K/a200. Here is a look at our current top 10:

Level 6 is about to begin, after which players will earn a short break. The late registration period will close once this second break of the day is over, so players have a little over 30 minutes left to jump into this Phase 1 to the partypoker Million event.

Registration is up to 157 entries so far, including the 12 re-entries that have taken place.

Photographs from levels 4-5:

The first break of this Phase 1 to the partypoker Million is almost over, and so far registration is up to 141 entries, which includes 5 re-entries. Three levels have passed us, and three more remain before the registration period closes, leaving players until 3:15pm to jump into the action.

Luigi Fantigrossi has taken the early lead so far, as his 100K starting  stack is up to 270K. Alexandre Fournier has also has a good start to his day, as he sits on 225K, while Rami Hammoud occupies third in chips with around 215K.

Photographs from the early levels of play: