Roaming through the tournament area, it is easy to spot which players have spent their time here in Cyprus outdoors and which have been in the poker room. While many have played hours and hours of poker leading up to the Main Event, Cypriot Tommy Vedes is tanned to the max and appears well rested heading into the Main Event.
On the board of , an opponent checked to November Niner John Racener. He fired out a bet of 1,700 and the opponent check-raised to 5,000. Racener tanked for a bit and eventually seat four called the clock on him. This player wasn't in the hand and Racener shot him a look before making the call.
The river completed the board with the and the first player checked. Racener paused and then checked behind.
"You win," said the player, to which Racener tabled the and won the pot. He's now up to 44,000.
Kfir Yamin told us when he first sat down that he was going to win the tournament and he is certainly making good on his prediction early on, up to about 50,000.
A player in middle position opened the pot with a raise to 250 and Huseyin Yilmaz called on the button. Yamin called from the small blind and the flop came down . Yamin led out for 600 and the player in middle position called. Yilmaz raised to 2,250 and Yamin made it 4,500 to go. The third player folded and Yilmaz called.
The hit the turn and Yamin fired 9,000. Yilmaz quickly called, delivering the on the river. Yamin went all in and Yilmaz called for the rest of his stack, politely tapping the table when Yamin flipped over for a straight. Yilmaz called the floor over to use his rebuy while Yamin stacked his chips.
"I told you from the start this is my tournament," he said.
We caught up with the action on a flop of flop that was seen by four players.
Jegors Cemisovs bet 1,200 and found a call from one opponent. When the landed on the turn, Cemisovs check-called a bet of 1,500. The fell on the river and Cemisovs shoved for 14,775 into the pot of about 8,000. His opponent deliberated for a few moments before flashing the and folding his hand.
From under the gun, a player raised to 525 and Eric Cajelais called from middle-late position. The flop came down and the original raiser checked. Cajelais fired 800 and his opponent called.
The turn brought the and action checked to Cajelais. He fired again, this time making it 2,000 to go. His opponent called once more.
The river completed the board with the and both players checked. Cajelais nodded his head and his opponent turned up two red sevens. Cajelais mucked and saw his stack drop to 16,650.