Level 22: 10,000/15,000 (15,000)
Entries: 43/285

After an absolutely ridiculous bubble (which has to be some kind of record), the 43 survivors have now bagged their chips for Day 2. It’s currently 06:28 when I’m writing this; I’m laughing, crying, and experiencing emotions I’ve never felt before. Let’s see if my brain still works as I try to share some highlights.

The bubble lasted perhaps three hours if you include the soft bubble introduced by the floor when 45 players remained (to prevent stalling). The atmosphere in the room wasn’t agonized and painful; far from it. The majority of the players seemed to understand the fun part of what was happening. Nikola Minkov, for example, yelled, “When’s breakfast break?” around 04:45, which was a real crowd-pleaser of a comment.

If my notes are correct, there were at least eighteen all-in and call situations on the stone bubble. Mostly, the covered stack was the favorite and held all the time. There were a couple of really crazy scenarios, though. At Table 10, Luis Marthino opened to 25,000 from the Hi-jack (Blinds 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 Ante) and Patrick Quinn called from the Big Blind. Quinn then moved all in on the Q♣2♥8♦ flop, and Martinho made the call. Quinn, i.e., the player at risk, was ahead with his K♠Q♦ holdings against the 8♥7♣ of Martinho. The latter took the lead on the 7♦ turn, though; “Surely this is it,” you could hear the room think. “Deuce!” someone from another table yelled, and the Poker Gods listened; the 2♣ kept Quinn alive, and the bubble went on. Some players laughed, some players cried.

Perhaps one orbit later, Bent Kuhnle was forced all in from the Big Blind. In an attempt to end it once and for all, Toni Ravnak, Martinho, and Quinn all limped. Four ways to the flop, then, and the players checked down every street on the Q♥9♣6♠2♠7♥ board. Of course, Kuhnle’s rivered pair of sevens was good. Some players laughed, some players cried.

All things must come to an end, though. Sweden’s Johan Sundgren had been card dead all day, and the fact that he had made it this far was an impressive achievement on its own. Eventually, he went all in for 25,000 (less than two Big Blinds) and was called by Pablo Molina. A♠4♠ couldn’t produce a miracle against 9♦9♠, and as such, Sundgren became the unfortunate bubble boy. With that, the marathon bubble came to an end, and the players were overwhelmed by emotions. Some players laughed, some players cried.

The floor conducted the chip counts, and it could be determined that Athony Hughes finished Day 1a as the chip leader. He actually won a massive pot at the bubble himself; I’m sadly unable to retrieve the details on the hand, but he was all in for his tournament life on the turn with two-pair, and he was up against a straight- and a flush draw. The river ran out in his favor, and this pot saw him becoming the first player to reach the 1,000,000 mark.

That’s a wrap for today’s live coverage. It’s soon time for this Swedish live reporter to hit the hay, but before that, I will share the results/chip counts from Day 1a and 1b. Tune back in five minutes, and everything should be uploaded.

The live blog will be back tomorrow around 17:00 when Day 1c kicks off. See you all then!