Day two at the MCOP has brought with it a lot of misfortune for the team. Going into the day, we had Darren, Jolmer and Tyler as our sole survivors from day 1 –I did say this is the toughest field since the WSOPE.

Bojan’s all-in move on an airless board was unfortunately called by player with ace high; the ace high was good and Bojan hit the rails.

Patrick after suffering a bad beat for half his stack was left in a double or die situation; regrettably he is no longer with chips.

Jolmer went to the rails when his pocket 3s failed to improve versus J J.

Our hopes squarely lied on the shoulders of the online phenom, Darren, and the Canadian prodigy, Tyler. It could have been that the moustache that Tyler was sporting reigned King and relieves all the pressure as he seem as cool as the other side of the pillow. The calmness and resilience that he exhibited earlier in the year in the Irish Poker Open seem to have returned and he appeared poised to make this deep run that we all anticipated.

Darren, with his lucky 888.com black hat, had a commanding chip stack on his table, but he was always aware of the dangerous and adventurous Marcel Luske sitting to his left. This only added to the pressure of making that deep run, but if anyone is capable of getting through this it is Darren –after all, he sent WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker to the rails earlier this year; so knocking off big name players was not uncommon to him.

All seem to be smooth sailing until after the dinner break where disaster struck and Team 888poker was the unlikely victim. Firstly, Darren went into the post dinner session with 70,000 in chips and seemed capable of making the run. Unfortunately, the first hand after the break cost him over 35% of his chip stack in what he eventually describes as the right read gone wrong. About two hands later, Darren was all-in pre-flop with 10s versus Js; the board ran out and the 10s never improved and the same player who took out Bojan now claimed the head of yet another Team 888poker player.

Tyler, who was now the sole survivor waving the Team 888poker flag, was shortly all-in pre-flop with KK and two customers to boot. Tyler’s Kings looked very good against pocket 8s and JJ; however, the poker gods were not with him and an 8 came on the flop to cripple his stack. Go figure…888 brought him to the event and a set of 8s have him on the rails. I think I smell an 888 promotion on its way –we have to find a way to make trip 8s or better work for us; watch this space.

Anyway, Tyler wasn't dead yet, later he lost a small amount in a blind battle with AJ to TT. Fortune was on his side as he should have been out with that hand but instead went up to16,000.  But that was about all the luck that Tyler had as he went all-in pre-flop with AA vs JJ and board makes straight for split pot -he could have certainly use the double there. Down to 13,000 now, and it's time for our hero to make some moves to get into contention. The anticipated hand came, but the result was not what Team 888poker was expecting. Middle position raises to 1,800 and Tyler puts his tournament life on the line and shoves his stack of 13,000 with A9 in late position, but guy makes the call with QJ suited and hits.

Unfortunately, Tyler was the last remaining member of Team 888poker in the tournament. He went out around 70th position, so it was not to be this time.

 After a late start at the MCOP, the cards were live and the action was timid. All the players started with 15,000 in chips, 90 minute blinds and all the hopes of child on the night before Christmas. You can sense the trepidation in the air as everyone tries to feel where they are at the table and figure out who are the fish and who are the solid players.

The first level ended uneventfully, with all players still in the tournament and a few late comers filling in where they can. So, the level actually ended with more runners than it started with –go figure. As level two started, I had the pleasure of watching Bojan go to work on his table putting the unease that most players were displaying to his advantage by raising and re-raising. In one hand I saw him raise pre-flop to 150 to and had two callers. The flop comes 4-6-5, he bets out 350 and middle position folds but the button calls. The turn is another 5, he bets 750 and button tanks for about 3 minutes and then makes the call. The river another 5, Bojan pops in a cool 1,000 and button tanks and then folds. Round one goes to Bojan.

Upon reaching Patrick’s table, I see that half his stack is already gone, it turns out that he had a bad beat where the villain hit his flush on the river. He remained calm but was eager to double up and continue on his quest to for a deep run.

Darren seems to be flying on his table as he has already doubled up and is sitting pretty with 32,000. He raised from UTG with 7s to 250 and the cutoff makes the call, the flop is 10-7-3. He checks and caller bets out 550 and Darren raises 1,200. Caller thinks and then calls. The turn card is a J, Darren bets out 3,000 and caller pushes all-in. Darren snap calls to see a made straight by the villain to his set of 7s. The turn card is another 3 and disappointment instantly turns to elation as he rivers the full house.

On the other end of things, Bojan’s luck had turned sour. I arrived only to see him hitting the rails; when asked what went wrong his reply was a bluff. In a hand where he and another player had some history, he tried an all-in bluff that put his nemesis into the tank but a call was made and his 78 was no good against AK.

The Master Classics of Poker main event kicks off today and Team 888poker is going in for the takedown. After a fantastic Summer of poker, where we saw Darren and Bojan tear up the felt at the WSOPE, the team hope that they can get over the hump in what is expected to be one of the toughest fields they have faced all year (second to the WSOPE methinks) and take the title home.

I will be here to bring you all of the action and update you on the team’s progress at this event. After having dinner with the team last night, I can tell you that the guys are loose and ready for this one. They have put most of the pressure on, Canadian prodigy, Tyler Bonkowski (Bonkman5) to deliver the goods in this one as he has come oh so close in other tournaments. Tyler went deep in the Aussie Millions and Irish Open to start the year, but was mostly unlucky in the Summer’s WSOP events; so his resurgence is expected –no pressure Tyler.

Dutch natives, Jolmer Meelis  (Jolmer) and Patrick de Koster(patdekos), have already warmed up with a side event are looking poised to make the run in this one. After dinner last night, Jolmer went to hone his skills even more with a cash game at the local casino. So, as you can see, they are loose and ready for long road to an MCOP title. They have home field advantage here, so hopefully that will count for something.

British phenom, Darren Woods(dooshcom) and  Serbian sensation, Bojan Gledovich(bokinjo), have already shown their mettle in their WSOPE deep runs which only added to their dowry. Both guys are looking to build on the success of their WSOPE runs and meet the rest of Team 888poker on the final table.

Unfortunately, the beautiful and talented Leo Margets and Claire Renault are not in on this adventure, but I am sure they are supporting the team in spirit. Steve will be captaining and supporting the team from the sidelines on this one as he seems to be experiencing some tendonitis in his right hand –LOL.

Good luck to Bojan, Darren, Jolmer, Patrick and Tyler in this one!

Sean