After 9 levels the players went on break which allowed us to go around the tables and get a few chip counts. Lasha Kapanadze has a massive lead with over 241,000 chips, that’s almost four times the average. It will be interesting to see if he can hold on to this lead or maybe even improve on it.

One thing is sure: it’s not finished until chips go in the bags. That will only be in another five levels and we all know that anything can happen in three hours!

Here are the leaders after 9 levels of play:

What tournament has not seen this action before? What seems to be a classic encounter spelled the end for Charles Grenier Fournier when his big slick came face to face with Lasha Kapanadze’s bullets.

Charles:

Lasha:

Board:

Charles’s stack was quite large but a count wasn’t necessary since Lasha visibly covered him.  The action in the tournament hall is fast paced and intense, and the tables are closing as the number of players reduces.  There are now 74 players left with 5 more levels to go.

After 6 levels, the players took a much needed break and we went to the tables to see who was in the lead.

A few players have managed to amass more than double the chip average and Ami Alibay is the front runner with a massive 134,400 stack.

The end of the break also signalled the end of the registration and re-entry period.  A total of 198 entries were logged and the players get ready to battle on as play resumes.

The action is going strong in the Colossus Day 1B as the 190 entries have shrunk to 119 in six levels.  Half of the eliminated players have elected to re-enter, and players still have until 9pm to register or re-enter, so expect the number of total entries to go up.

Here are a few pictures from level 4-5.

Here are a few shots of the early action in Day 1B – which, by the way, is being held in the part of the Tournament Hall where the stage used to be (and the area just in front of that). If you haven’t been to Playground in a while… you’re in for a surprise!

While registration has just closed in Day 1A, Day 1B has just begun at the other end of the Tournament Hall. Play is just 10 minutes into the first level of the day and registrations are still growing very rapidly as players make their way to Playground and join in the action.

Play will continue for 14 levels of 40 minutes each on Day 1B, the same as the rest of the Live Day 1s (except for the Turbo Day 1I, of course). Registration is again open until the beginning of level 7, which is to say that players have until 9:00pm to enter (or re-enter) this starting flight in the Colossus.

Good luck to all!