€5,000 EPT Kyiv Main Event Day 1a | 2009 PokerStars.net EPT Kyiv

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

08-18-2009 12:36 UTC+3

Opening Ceremony

Shamus

A few dozen players had taken their seats when the lights dimmed, then returned to reveal four percussionists, the group Ars Nova, had taken the stage. The quartet proceeded to entertain with a lengthy performance accompanied by abstract images of light and color on the large screen televisions flanking the stage.

Over fifty men and women in traditional Ukrainian dress then took the stage. The dance group, Virskogo, delighted all with a choreographed performance alternating between slow and fast musical accompaniment. The smiling dancers jumped, twirled, and high-stepped their way through a medley of tunes in what was described afterwards as an authentic Ukrainian presentation of song and dance.

Next came a welcome message from the Ministry of Youth, Family, and Sport Ukraine which included reference to the country's decision two months ago to include poker among its list of non-Olympic sports. The percussionists then returned for another performance, though we are now starting to hear the clicking of chips as well as play is soon to start.

Stay tuned!

08-18-2009 11:18 UTC+3

EPT Season 6 Six Kicks Off!

[user66118]

PokerNews and PokerStars are proud to welcome you to the opening event for the sixth season of the European Poker Tour! This year's EPT was scheduled to kickoff in Moscow this week, but some last-minute legislative woes have forced a change of plans in the eleventh hour. The staff scrambled to find a new location for this event, and Kyiv was just the place indeed.

With that, the PokerStars.net EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship is upon us. The wonderfully cavernous Kyiv Sports Palace is our host venue, and the staff is still hard at work tying up a few loose ends. They'll want everything to be just perfect too; everyone expects this to be the largest tournament ever held in the Ukraine.

Today's Main Event will require a buy-in of €5,000, and the field is tentatively capped at 600 runners. We expect to have a room chock full of pros with a big smattering of online qualifiers in the mix as well. At least 50 players have won their packages online, and those buying in are starting to form a line at the registration desk. Heck, there's still room to come on down if you have an extra €5,000 burning a hole in your pocket.

Play kicks off at twelve noon local time, just less than an hour from now. Sit tight, we'll be back as soon as the cards are in the air.