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

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.

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!

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

08-18-2009 12:39 UTC+3

"Shuffle Up and Deal!"

[user66118]

Tournament Director Thomas Kremser has just finished up some last-minute announcements to conclude all of the pre-game festivities. With those most famous words in poker, the cards are in the air and PokerStars.net EPT Season Six is underway!

We'll play seven sixty-minute levels today.

08-18-2009 12:52 UTC+3

A Few Notables

[user66118]

It looks as though most of the big names have chosen Day 1b rather than today. Still, we do have a few familiar faces in the field so far:

Alex Kravchenko
Luca Falaschi
Arnaud Mattern
Luca Pagano
Nikolay Evdakov
"Miami" John Cernuto

08-18-2009 12:56 UTC+3

Pagano Splashing Around

[user66118]

We pick up a quick little hand on the flop in a heads-up raised pot. The board showed {6-Clubs}

, and Luca Pagano led out from the blinds with a bet of 400. His lone opponent made the call, and the turn card brought the {7-Hearts}

. Pagano checked this time, and he would eventually call a bet of 700 from his foe. On the river {4-Hearts}

, both players check-checked it down. The player in position showed first, tabling {A-Diamonds}

. Pagano couldn't beat it, slipping his cards quietly into the muck with a nod.

08-18-2009 13:06 UTC+3

Small Slip for Cernuto

Shamus

After that raucous opening ceremony, the mood in the room has quickly turned sober as the first level proceeds. Players are starting with 30,000 chips -- 300 big blinds -- so patience is the word as these first hands play out.

Just now we saw a hand in which three players, including Miami John Cernuto, limped, the small blind folded, and the big blind checked. The flop came {2-Spades}

, and all four checked. The turn was the {3-Spades}

, prompting a bet of 300 from the big blind. Only Cernuto called.

The river was the {9-Spades}

. This time the player in the big blind bet 800, and Cernuto gave him a quick look before tossing out the chips to call. Cernuto's opponent showed {10-Hearts}

for trip deuces, and Cernuto mucked. Cernuto slips just under 29,000 here in the early going.

Tags: Miami John Cernuto

08-18-2009 13:16 UTC+3

Sizing Up the Field

Shamus

A quick scan of the room shows approximately 125 players playing at the moment, seated around 16 tables, most of which are eight-handed. Registration remains open through Level 2 today, although it is expected most players who haven't come and are planning to play will be waiting until tomorrow's Day 1b.

Two more satellites today will likely also increase the numbers for tomorrow's field.

08-18-2009 13:23 UTC+3

"Luca" is Italian for "Aggressive"

[user66118]

Luca Pagano has been involved in just about every pot since the cards went in the air, and we join another of his hands in progress just moments ago. A player under the gun had opened with a raise to 300, and Pagano made the call in the next seat over. When the table folded around to the button, the player there announced a re-raise to 1,000, flicking out a single red raising chip. The initial raiser ducked out, but Pagano came along with another call.

Heads-up then, the flop came out {8-Diamonds}

. Pagano reached for chips and led out into the pot with a bet of 1,200. His opponent shrugged his shoulders and made a shaky-handed raise to 3,000. Pagano capped his cards with a green chip and leaned back in his chair to consider his options. After about a minute, he uncapped those cards and used the free chip to slide them back to the dealer.

"Kings?" he asked. His opponent flashed the {Q-Hearts}

, and Pagano knocked the table. "I folded tens," he said. "Tens."

Pagano's activity cost him about 4,500 chips in the early going, but it is beginning to turn around for the Italian. Following that last hand, Luca has taken down a few small pots with river bets to bring his stack back close to 30,000.

Tags: Luca Pagano

08-18-2009 13:33 UTC+3

Kravchenko and His Intimidating Image

Shamus

A player under the gun raised to 300 and got four callers, including Alex Kravchenko in middle position. The flop came {A-Diamonds}

. The preflop raiser continued with a bet of 1,000, and only Kravchenko called.

The turn was the {A-Hearts}

-- a second ace and third heart. The raiser paused a beat, then checked. Kravchenko, his usual stern expression partially obscured by sunglasses, took thirty seconds or so then checked behind.

The river was the {8-Diamonds}

. The original raiser took another look at his cards, then checked. Kravchenko fairly quickly fired 2,500, and his opponent folded. As he did he showed one card -- the {A-Clubs}

-- prompting a raise of the eyebrows and sneaky-looking grin from Kravchenko as he slid his cards face down to the dealer. The Russian has built his stack to 42,000.

Tags: Alex Kravchenko