$5,300 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2024 Mediterranean Poker Party
$5,300 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2024 Mediterranean Poker Party
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$6,048,000
Entries
1,260
Level
35
Blinds
2,000,000 / 4,000,000
Ante
4,000,000
Entries
342
Players Left
42
Azamat Lamkov Leads Day 2, Closely Followed by Leon Sturm
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
Day 2 of the $5,300 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event concluded after 10 levels of play at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel on the shores of Northern Cyprus. The day began with 342 players, but exactly 300 were eliminated, leaving just 42 players remaining from the total field of 1,260.
Azamat Lamkov is leading the field. According to Hendon Mob, this tournament will mark his biggest cash yet, with every player already guaranteed $24,000.
Lamkov is only 50,000 ahead of Leon Sturm, who managed to build up his stack during the day. The last two hours provided a significant boost for him. First, he won two big pots in a row, including busting Samuel Kabelitz, and then he won a big pot against Tom Talboom three hands before the day ended.
Sturm is closely followed by Assyl Tleuzhanov (17,000,000) and Damir Gabdullin (16,675,000).
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azamat Lamkov | Russian Federation | 17,850,000 | 60 |
| 2 | Leon Sturm | Germany | 17,800,000 | 59 |
| 3 | Assyl Tleuzhanov | Kazakhstan | 17,000,000 | 57 |
| 4 | Damir Gabdullin | Russian Federation | 16,675,000 | 56 |
| 5 | Alex Keating | United States | 15,325,000 | 51 |
| 6 | Dmitrii Levin | Russian Federation | 14,600,000 | 49 |
| 7 | Birger Larsen | Norway | 14,475,000 | 48 |
| 8 | Kirill Shcherbakov | Russian Federation | 13,725,000 | 46 |
| 9 | Xiaoming Weng | China | 13,625,000 | 45 |
| 10 | Sergey Utenkov | Peru | 13,400,000 | 45 |
Among the notables near the top of the leaderboard after Day 2 are Alex Keating (15,325,000), Dmitrii Levin (14,600,000), and Matas Cimbolas (11,325,000). The chip leader of flight 1b, Mikhail Zavoloka (5,500,000), along with Stephen Song (5,175,000), Mihai Niste (4,975,000) and Kalidou Sow (1,875,000), are looking to increase their stacks when they return for Day 3 tomorrow.
Among the notables who saw their tournament cut short today were Dominik Nitsche, Renji Mao, Alessio Isaia, Boris Kolev, Stefan Lehner, Ami Barer, Jessica Teusl, and Teun Mulder.
The day commenced with 270 players returning from the three starting flights, along with an additional 72 from an extra turbo flight held late yesterday. With that, the event surpassed the guaranteed prize pool of $5,000,000, with an extra $1,048,000 added. After three hours of play, the tournament director announced a halt in play after the current hand to initiate hand-for-hand play. However, six players had different plans and went all-in during this announcement, resulting in the bubble bursting, with four players sharing the prize for the 189th place.
Day 3 begins tomorrow at noon local time inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel in North Cyprus. Action will pick up on Level 23, with blinds of 150,000-300,000 and a 300,000 big blind ante, and will play down to the final table.
PokerNews will be back at the felt with the players at that time, bringing you all the action.
End of Day 2 Chip Counts (full)
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
17,850,000
6,850,000
|
6,850,000 |
|
||
|
17,800,000 | |
|
||
|
17,000,000
1,200,000
|
1,200,000 |
|
16,675,000
10,525,000
|
10,525,000 |
|
15,325,000
2,325,000
|
2,325,000 |
|
|
||
|
14,600,000
-3,600,000
|
-3,600,000 |
|
14,475,000
12,435,000
|
12,435,000 |
|
13,725,000
6,125,000
|
6,125,000 |
|
||
|
13,625,000
9,825,000
|
9,825,000 |
|
13,400,000
-500,000
|
-500,000 |
|
12,650,000
12,490,000
|
12,490,000 |
|
12,250,000
250,000
|
250,000 |
|
11,500,000
-7,100,000
|
-7,100,000 |
|
11,325,000
675,000
|
675,000 |
|
||
|
10,345,000
8,650,000
|
8,650,000 |
|
10,300,000
-4,700,000
|
-4,700,000 |
|
9,875,000
5,325,000
|
5,325,000 |
|
9,550,000
8,430,000
|
8,430,000 |
|
9,325,000
3,365,000
|
3,365,000 |
|
9,200,000
6,810,000
|
6,810,000 |
|
9,000,000
5,250,000
|
5,250,000 |
|
8,550,000
6,885,000
|
6,885,000 |
|
8,425,000
6,820,000
|
6,820,000 |
|
7,300,000
2,300,000
|
2,300,000 |
|
|
7,175,000
-3,375,000
|
-3,375,000 |
Play Ended for the Night
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
42 players remain as they have started the bagging process. Day 3 begins at 12:00 p.m tomorrow.
A full recap of Day 2 will be posted shortly.
Another Big Pot for Sturm
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
Approximately 3,000,000 chips were already in the pot due to significant preflop action. The flop revealed A♣2♠9♦, and Tom Talboom opted to check-call Leon Sturm's bet of 725,000.
When the dealer turned the 9♣ on the turn, Talboom once again checked to Sturm. Sturm utilized his entire 30-second time bank to announce his bet of 2,950,000, doing so in the very last second. Talboom also exhausted his time bank before deciding to make the call.
The river brought the K♥, and Talboom checked once more. With just one time bank card remaining, Sturm required 60 seconds to push his entire stack into the middle, amounting to around 6,200,000, leaving only 250,000 behind. Talboom folded, mentioning "You never bluff," and mucked one of his cards face-up, revealing the A♦.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
17,800,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
12,000,000 | |
Final Four Hands
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
The tournament director has announced the final four hands of the night before the remaining players bag up for Day 3.
Utenkov Drags it on the Turn
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
Matas Cimbolas opened 500,000 in the hijack, and there was a call before Sergey Utenkov three-bet to 1,700,000. Cimbolas made the call, but the player in the middle mucked his hand.
Both players checked to the A♠8♠7♣2♥ turn, where Cimbolas checked once more. Utenkov fired 1,200,000, and that was enough to earn the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
13,900,000
7,700,000
|
7,700,000 |
|
|
10,650,000
1,450,000
|
1,450,000 |
|
|
||
Sturm Leaves Destruction in His Wake
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
First, Leon Sturm doubled up against Dmitrii Levin, going all-in preflop after some raising and three-bet action. Sturm held 10♦10♥, while Levin had A♣Q♦. The board nearly sent Sturm to the rail with the flop and turn revealing A♥4♥9♦J♣. However, luck was on Sturm's side with the 10♠ on the river, doubling him up to his remaining 5,700,000.
In the very next hand, Sturm opened with a raise on the button to 525,000, which was called by Samuel Kabelitz in the big blind.
Both players checked through the flop and turn, which showed 7♦7♥6♦K♥.
On the river Q♣, Kabelitz took his time before going all in with his remaining 2,450,000. Sturm asked for a count to buy some time to think, as he had only one time bank card left. In the end, he made the call and caught Kabelitz's bluff, who showed 9♠5♠. Sturm revealed Q♠9♦ for a pair of queens, boosting his stack to over 15,000,000 in just two hands.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
18,200,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
|
15,200,000
7,800,000
|
7,800,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Unlucky River Frustrates David
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
Cristian David opened 525,000, and Andrei Gladyshev came along in the big blind.
The dealer fanned a flop of A♦7♦3♠, and Gladyshev check-called a bet of 500,000 from David.
The 3♦ turn was checked through to see the 8♣ on the river, where Gladyshev led for 2,000,000.
David thought about it for a few moments before slamming a stack across the line to make the call.
Gladyshev tabled A♥8♦, rivering aces and eights, and David stood up as he angerly spoke his native language, tossing his A♠10♠ face-up toward the dealer.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
18,600,000
11,900,000
|
11,900,000 |
|
|
3,750,000
-6,950,000
|
-6,950,000 |
No Resistance for Cimbolas
Level 22
: Blinds 125,000/250,000, 250,000 ante
Matas Cimbolas opened 500,000 in the cutoff, and only Mikalai Vaskaboinikau came along from the big blind.
When the K♣7♣3♣ flop hit the felt, Vaskaboinikau quickly check-folded to a bet of 250,000 from Cimbolas.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
15,000,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
|
9,200,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
|
|
||