2014 Master Classics of Poker Main Event Day 1: Schemion Tops as Play Moves To Day 2

Ole Schemion

The 2014 Master Classics of Poker Main Event began Tuesday in Amsterdam's stunning Holland Casino. The €4,250 Main Event has long been considered one of the top events in Europe and has been won by players as illustrious as Ole Schemion, who was the title winner in 2012, and Noah Boeken, who won here last year. Both were among the 285-strong field on Day 1 that saw many players take full advantage of the unlimited reentry option that was afforded to players. Registration will remain open until the start of Day 2.

Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerChips
1Ole Schemion281,100
2Jan Sjavik189,500
3Jonas Mackoff159,800
4Jimmy Pan139,700
5Richard Milne138,500
6Dmitry Ponomorev129,200
7Andrew Chen124,400
8David Boyaciyan124,000
9Andrea Dato111,600
T-10Kees van Brugge110,000
T-10Noah Boeken110,000

Although originally scheduled for nine levels, the tournament director announced that play would finish after eight and a half. At the end of this, it was Schemion, who had already come second in the €10,250 High Roller for over €80,000 before the Main Event began, that finished at the very top of the pile with an insanely huge 281,100 in chips with around 170 players remaining. What's most impressive about this is that Schemion, on his only bullet, bought in after the dinner break during Level 5, so he only had 60% of the time that most of the others had to play.

The field had a distinctly international feel, but all the attention was on Jorryt van Hoof. The third-place finisher from the World Series of Poker Main Event final table had attracted a lot of attention, and the Dutchman spent his day on the feature table where he finished with an impressive 92,000.

Steve O'Dwyer had a much worse day. He lost with aces to ace-king of spades and ended up finishing with 17,500 on his fourth bullet. Players who did better included Jan Sjavik (189,500), who looked to finish in second place, Jonas Mackoff (159,800), Andrew Chen (124,400), and defending champion Boeken (110,000). Those who busted after one bullet included Fabrice Soulier and Thierry van den Berg, while Toby Lewis busted on his second bullet in the very last hand of the evening.

On Wednesday, the tournament returned to play the remaining 30 minutes of Level 9 before the level length increased to 75 minutes. Then on Day 3 and Day 4, the levels will be bumped up to 90 minutes in length. The action is already underway for Day 2, so be sure to check out our live reporting pages for all of the ongoing coverage straight from the tournament floor.

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