Day 1a of the 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Sanremo Main Event has come to a close with the first flight running through eight 75-minute levels of play. It was a long day on the felt, but one that was filled with plenty of action. Front and center for much of the chip exchanging was Erion Islamay. He finished on 162,300 and has assumed the position of early chip leader.
The first starting flight peaked at 320 players, which meant for quite the crowded tournament space at Casino Sanremo. Scattered in amongst the tables were plenty of top pros including those representing the host PokerStars. Jonathan Duhamel and Marcin Horecki were two of the Team PokerStars Pros in action on Day 1a, but both of them failed to advance.
Duhamel fell to Walid Bou-Habib after losing a flip for his tournament life in the last level of the night. Duhamel was all in preflop with the and up against the for Bou-Habib. The flop, turn and river of kept Bou-Habib's sevens in the lead, and Duhamel was eliminated.
Not only was the end of the night cruel to Duhamel, but also Scott Seiver. His elimination was a bit more brutal than Duhamel's as Seiver got his money in on the board with the versus his opponent's . All Seiver needed to do was dodge an eight or a queen in order to stay alive, but the smacked on the river and that was it.
Other notables eliminated throughout Day 1a were Shannon Shorr, Dominik Nitsche, Ilan Boujenah, Arnaud Mattern, Joao Barbosa, Mohsin Charania and Anton Wigg.
On the other side of the coin, Michael Ferrell (146,600), Matt Salsberg (135,200), Mustapha Kanit (120,600), David Peters (111,400) and Lorenzo Sabato (109,500) were a few of the notables to bag up bunches of chips. They'll be back for Day 2 on Sunday along with Team PokerStars Pros Victor Ramdin, Jude Ainsworth, Ana Marquez and Jason Mercier.
Under 200 players remained at the end of the day, but they've all made it to Sunday's Day 2. Tomorrow, Day 1b will take place with the action kicking off at 2:00 PM local time. PokerNews will see you back here then.
We're not exactly sure of the preflop betting, but it appeared Sam Chartier raised from the cutoff, Brandon Barnes three-bet from the small blind, Chartier shipped, and Barnes called.
Showdown
Barnes:
Chartier:
It was a bad spot for Chartier, but it got much worse when the flop fell . Barnes flopped a full house and left Chartier drawing to the and for a runner-runner royal flush. While that would have been quite the story, the turn dashed those hope and left Chartier drawing dead. The was put out on the river for good measure and Barnes was pushed the pot.
Meanwhile, Kevin Iacofano has been eliminated from the tournament.
Knocked out of EPT San Remo last 11k 99 to KK, not my day, but I'm gutted and not happy with anything. Have to be perfect or you die. #LifeOctober 05 2012
David Peters limped under the gun only to have Justas Vaiciulionis raise to 800 from middle position. Victor Ramdin called from the big blind, as did Peters, and it was three-way action to the flop. All three players ended up checking, and the dealer burned and turned the .
At this point Ramdin led out for 2,000, Peters folded, and Vaiciulionis called. The Team PokerStars Pro didn't slow down on the river and fired out 4,500, which proved enough to take down the pot as Vaiciulionis folded his hand. With that, Ramdin is already up to 58,000.
It didn't take long for the first elimination of the day to occur, less than 15 minutes in fact. We caught the action in a blind-versus-blind battle after Thomas Gabriel had four-bet to 1,125 and Michael Eiler, who won the Season 7 EPT Vienna €5,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event in October 2010 for €700,000, five-bet to 2,825 from the big. Not to be outdone, the small blind six-bet to 7,125 and then snap-called when Eiler moved all in.
Showdown
Eiler:
Gabriel:
Given the action, it wasn't too surprising to see both players held big hands. Unfortunately for Eiler, he was on the bad end of it. The flop would provide no relief, and Eiler shook hands with Gabriel before exiting the tournament area.
The second stop on this season's European Poker Tour sees us venture to the beautiful Italian town of Sanremo, situated on the Italian Riviera.
This is always one of the most popular stops on the tour due to the large field size, perceived value and great food on every street corner. It is also the platform where many a player has launched themselves on to the world scene. Team PokerStars Pros Jason Mercier and Liv Boeree come to mind.
Team PokerStars Pro will be out in force at this event with up to 30 expected to play. Most have decided to play day 1b but we know that Marcin Horecki, Ana Marquez and Mickey Petersen from Team Online have signed up for today.
Also playing today are the likes of Bryn Kenney, Mathew Frankland, John Eames, Friend of PokerStars Pierre Neuville, Sam Chartier and Shannon Shorr.
Play is due to get under way at 2:00 PM CET so join us back here then. While you're waiting study up on all the past winners of this event:
and up against the 
for Bou-Habib. The flop, turn and river of 
kept Bou-Habib's sevens in the lead, and Duhamel was eliminated.
board with the 
versus his opponent's 
. All Seiver needed to do was dodge an eight or a queen in order to stay alive, but the 
smacked on the river and that was it.
for a runner-runner royal flush. While that would have been quite the story, the 
turn dashed those hope and left Chartier drawing dead. The 
was put out on the river for good measure and Barnes was pushed the pot.
.
flop would provide no relief, and Eiler shook hands with Gabriel before exiting the tournament area.
