Tobias Napel (pictured above) snagged the chip lead midway through Day 1c and never looked back. His 211 big blind stack by far leads the way not only among the 63 survivors from the 198 entries from the Day 1c field but also catapulted him into the overall chip lead with Simon Forendal's ending stack on his second bullet of Day 1c of 264,000 placing him in second place overall.

Here is a look at all of the final chip counts from Day 1c.

A few hands before the end of the night, Igor Pihela Jr. (pictured above) ran into a monster with his full house on his second bullet of the day after check-jamming the river on an already big pot with the on the board.

He rivered a full house with for the second nuts on the board. Normally this would be scoop city. Instead, Pihela Jr. ran into quads with his opponent holding the to win the big pot in a rare case of getting paid after flopping quads.

Pihela Jr. had around 130,000 after the hand and it wasn't as bad as it could have been as he still ended the day with 92,500.

Players have begun to bag and tag chips with 66 players remaining out of the 198-player field. A few of the tables are still playing their final few hands, so expect one or two less to advance to Day 2 from the Day 1c field.

Players are close to bagging up their stacks for Day 1c with the field at 198 entries with 76 players remaining near the start of Level 11. After this hand, players will bag and tag their stacks into tomorrow's Day 2.

As a reminder, a turbo Day 1d will take place tonight as well. We will update the chip counts of the final flight and the seat draw for tomorrow later in the evening.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 80/198

Tobias Napel and Mario Colavito are sitting side-by-side at Table 10 with nearly half a million chips between them and haven't been afraid to go after each other.

Napel was near 300,000 in chips and some of that came from Colavito's stack when his cowboys held against ace-king in a big pot.

If Napel can end the day without bleeding a chunk of his stack, he will be the overall chip leader. That honor leading into today belongs to Day 1a chip leader Roope Tarmi.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 97/196

There isn't a major festival in Tallinn that Anne Bezdek hasn't been at in recent memory. She has managed to run deep in several big events over the years but will need to re-enter to do the same in the €555 Championship.

Bezdek open-jammed for a little less than the pot for 12,900.  Samuli Hietala quickly called and another player in the hand quickly folded.

Anne Bezdek:
Samuli Hietala:

Bezdek was ahead on the flop but Hietala hit gin on the turn to get ahead of Bezdek's two pair with a set of nines. No miracle two outer came on the river as Bezdek was out of chips, at least on this bullet, with the river completing the board.

Players are on a quick break and will return to play two more blind levels before bagging and tagging chips for tomorrow's Day 2.

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 101/191

There was a massive pile of chips already in the pot with the on the board after the turn when Johannes Tobbe open-jammed for 23,800. Taago Taam, who had Tobbe well-covered, called and another player folded.

Johannes Tobbe:
Taago Taam:

Although Tobbe was ahead, any heart, any aces, or any eight would change that on the river. It was the flush draw that was completed after the river paired the board to eliminate Tobbe and grow his stack to more than four times the 30,000 starting stack.

We have gotten to know Taam's great sense of humor over the years. We asked if the jam was for 23,000 to Taam. The dealer, who we also have seen in Tallinn over the past few stops, quickly corrected us to 23,800 before Taam had some fun with us.

"Put down it was 13K," Taam joked with a huge smile.

Taam has had some nice results over the years and we wish him the best over the next few days with his hunt for the €555 Championship.

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 115/185

The title of this post might seem deceiving but it really isn't.  Norwegian poker baller Tobias Leknes (pictured below) is a poker beast regardless of the game and certainly can hold his own in hold'em tournaments even though he is better known as a mixed-game guru.

He busted out of the €555 Championship. Sad times, you might be thinking. While it is sad to some degree, Leknes made a great decision right after.

With Day 1d still to begin and late registration still available during the first blind level of tomorrow's Day 2, Leknes thought twice about re-entering on Day 1c and instead entered the €250 NLH Knockout which not only will have a big prize pool but also awards €50 bounties. Late registration is still open and players can buy in for 40 big blinds at the time of this post, yet somehow Leknes already accumulated five bounties worth €250. In other words, he is on a pure freeroll!

Leknes is also an amazing backgammon player and will be breaking out the set later in the week. He also is very influential in the Norwegian poker community where he acts as the President of the Norwegian Poker Federation and a true ambassador to the game we all know and love.

Best of luck to Leknes in his quest for Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown glory.

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 122/183

Ole Hov three-bet jammed the button for 12,600 and was called by Knut Trulsen from the hijack.

Ole Hov:
Knut Trulsen:

Hov's king-queen was dominated by Trulsen's ace-queen and he was on the rail after getting no love on the runout.

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 125/178

Kent Roed is a familiar face in Tallinn and was on a starting stack before he got some value on the turn against Spain's Jordi Baixas, who has called Tallinn his home for a number of years.

Baixas check-called a bet of around half the pot of 3,300 with the on the board after the turn before both players checked the river.

Meanwhile, our friend Vytautas Kacerauskas just passed the media desk and shared he will try again on Day 1d after running his tens into an opponent's queens.

Players are on their second break. We will update some of the biggest stacks from around the room during the break. Blinds will increase to 300/600 with a 600 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 119/161

A player opened and two other players called including Aleksejs Frolovs from the button before Martin Muller three-bet from the big blind. Two players folded before Frolovs jammed for more than 10,000. Muller snap-called and Frolovs immediately got out of his chair.

Aleksejs Frolovs:
Martin Muller:

Things went from bad to worse for Frolovs after Muller improved to the top set on the flop. Frolovs took a step back from the table after he was drawing dead on the turn and left the tournament arena at least for now after the river completed the board.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 122/156

It was a bloated pot of 17,000 in the middle from the preflop action with both Stein Borkvik (pictured below) from the small blind and Jaagup Luhakooder big blind still in the hand to see the flop.

Borkvik fired out for 3,500. Luhakooder paused for a few moments before he raised to 8,000. Borkvik nearly folded as soon as the raise was made for Luhakooder to win the pot in a blind vs. blind battle just before the blinds increased.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 121/148

Vasilij Barna is the clear early chip leader and just won the pot against local favorite Igor Pihela Jr.

Pihela Jr. fired out for 10,000 into a pot of more than double that on the turn with the on the board. Barna snap-called before the completed the board on the river.

After a short pause, Pihela Jr. bet 5,000. Barna snap-called that as well. Pihela Jr. turned over for a bricked flush draw but a rivered second pair. Barna quickly showed his for the top pair to win the pot and add to his already healthy chip stack.

Meanwhile, Tero Kilkanen was noticed walking out of the tournament room with the dealer announcing 'seat open' and will need to re-enter for a chance to win the trophy.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 123/142

Johan Ekdahl called a bet of 4,000 by Steponas Venckus into a pot of a bit more with the on the board on the river.

Venckus turned over the for Broadway and Ekdahl sighed. Ekdahl flashed the to the table showing his lower straight.

"Nice river," said Ekdahl as the next hand was being dealt.

Meanwhile, we noticed the smiles of several players including Ant Gokcek, Georgina "GJReggie" James, Jari Porkka, Tero Kilkanen, and the formidable Anthony Kauzloric.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 117/131

We caught up to table five with Jyrki Lampinen three-betting the button and the initial raiser Simon Forendal (pictured below) four-bet jamming for 17,000 from middle position. Lampinen snapped it off and the duo were off to the races with Forendal at risk.

Simon Forendal:
Jyrki Lampinen:

It was a classic coin flip but not a classic runout. Forendal took a huge lead in the hand after his king found a partner to improve to top pair on the flop. It wasn't just a two-outer that Forendal needed to fade after the backdoor flush came alive on the turn.

"Yes!" Lampinen said after the river completed his flush to win Forendal's stack.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 117/131

There were approximately 14,000 in chips in a multiway pot on the turn with the on the board when Vasilij Barna bet 2,000. Pertti Salakari called before Aleksandr Jelpidiforov quickly raised to 10,000. Barna snap-jammed and Salakari quickly folded before Jelpidiforov went into the tank for more than a minute.

"Kings," said Barna while his opponent was deliberating before repeating himself about 20 seconds later.

Jelpidiforov folded and Barna was telling the truth by tabling the for the top set as the dealer was pushing him the pot.

Day 1c is on its first 15-minute break. Blinds will increase to 100/300 with a big blind ante of 300 when the action resumes.

Unfortunately, Ronnie Albrigtsen will have to fire again if he wishes to advance in Day 1c after running into a massive cooler with an ace-high flush with on a flop only to run into the straight flush held by Maria Heilala with .

While our blog will begin after the break, the Day 1c field appears on track to be the biggest opening flight of them all with already more than 100 entries.

Welcome to the third and final opening flight of the €555 Championship. Today's action kicked off at noon with a field of 34 entries to bring the field up to 251 entries and counting with the prize pool already at €117,970. 

Unlimited re-entries are permitted throughout the day and players can late register and re-enter until the end of the first blind level of Day 2.

Players start with a stack of 30,000 in chips with blinds increasing every 40 minutes. After 11 blind levels, players will bag their stacks and battle against the Day 1a and Day 1b survivors for two more days until a winner is crowned with blinds starting at 800/1,600 with a 1,600 big blind ante to start Day 2.

Our coverage will begin shortly after the first break of Day 1c and continue until a winner is crowned.