2009 PokerStars.net EPT Kyiv

Day 1b Concludes

"We need bags, please," called a dealer to tournament staff, anticipating the last stage of today's activities, the bagging of chips.

"One big body bag, please!" added one of the players with a big grin.

It was indeed an exhausting day. Following yesterday's schedule, the 167 players who came out for Day 1b of the 2009 EPT Kyiv Main Event found themselves playing seven one-hour levels with no dinner break. One unscheduled detour today was a 20-minute delay in the middle of the fourth level thanks to a power outage at the Kyiv Sport Palace. Soon power was restored, however, and another successful day of poker is in the books.

Added to yesterday's total, today's turnout meant a final tally of 296 entrants for this first-ever EPT event in Kyiv, Ukraine -- representing a total of 33 different countries!

Today's field included such notables as Shaun Deeb, Cristian Dragomir, Lika Gerasimova, Andrew Feldman, Ivan Demidov, Faraz Jaka, Vitaly Lunkin, Katja Thater, John Kabbaj, Pier Paolo Fabretti, Josh Field, Dario Minieri, and a late-arriving Gus Hansen. Of that group the latter five -- Kabbaj, Fabrietti, Field, Minieri, and Hansen -- failed to advance to Thursday's Day 2. In all 57 players hit the rail at some point today, meaning we'll have a total of 203 returning to play together tomorrow.

As play concluded, Jason Kudron, Bernard Boutboul, Dragan Galic, Anatoly Zharnitsky, Alexander Rykov, and Jonas Kronwitter all sported 100,000-plus chip stacks. But it was the Russian Viktor Ivanov who pushed out ahead of them all, ending the day with a whopping 153,825 -- putting him just ahead of Day 1a's leader, Mihaylo Demidenko of Ukraine.

Thanks for following our coverage today, and do join us here at noon Ukraine time (GMT+2) when cards go back in the air.

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