Joni Jouhkimainen Chases Another Title as 80 Players Return For Day 2 of the �10,000 Diamond High Roller
Joni Jouhkimainen was already having a fruitful day yesterday. The Finnish high stakes regular won the �5,000 PLO event here at King��s Resort in Rozvadov, accepted his trophy, claimed his �154,900 prize, took some winner��s photos with his friends, then jumped right into Day 1 of the �10,000 Diamond High Roller. He didn��t let up, bagging 331,000 and putting himself right in contention to claim another Grand Big Wrap festival title when the second and final day begins at 3 p.m. local time.
Jouhkimainen is joined by 79 others who made it through Day 1, led by Viacheslav Osipov with 565,000. Plenty of notables are lurking near the top of the leaderboard, including Alex Livingston (414,000), Hossein Ensan (380,000), Eelis Parssinen (334,000), and Gergo Nagy (304,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viacheslav Osipov | Russia | 565,000 | 188 |
| 2 | Mahmoud Khatib | Germany | 452,000 | 151 |
| 3 | Tom-Aksel Bedell | Norway | 430,000 | 143 |
| 4 | Petr Svoboda | Czech Republic | 429,500 | 143 |
| 5 | Sebahattin Degermenci | Germany | 428,000 | 143 |
| 6 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 414,000 | 138 |
| 7 | Daniel Smuskovics | Germany | 400,000 | 133 |
| 8 | Bernd Gleissner | Germany | 395,500 | 132 |
| 9 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | 380,000 | 127 |
| 10 | Samuli Sipila | Finland | 345,000 | 115 |
Further down the leaderboard are the likes of WSOP Europe champion Omar Eljach (199,000), Jan-Peter Jachtmann (196,000), Laszlo Bujtas (124,500), and Theo Jorgensen, who won this event last year but now finds himself near the bottom of the counts with just 53,500 coming into Day 2.
A total of 164 players already entered the tournament chasing a portion of the �2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, but that number can substantially increase today. Late registration remains open for the first three levels of the day, up to the end of Level 11, and players are allowed unlimited reentries.
The action picks up on Level 9 with blinds of 1,500-3,000 and a 3,000 big blind ante. Levels will again be 45 minutes, with a break after every three levels. The plan is to play down to a winner today, and with a large field still in contention and the average stack hovering around 70 big blinds at the start, anyone who makes it that far is in for a long night.
PokerNews will be along for the journey providing live updates the entire way until a new champion is crowned.