We are up to 92 players in today's Day 1a flight, as many are casually entering the room right now. Registration is open all day, and re-entries are also possible. The field size will grow over the course of the day, as Day 1a will run deep into the night.
Andrew Chen made a very deep run in the 2014 Master Classics of Poker Main Event, and he ended up finishing 3rd for €190,000, and a year prior he did almost the same with a fifth-place finish for €71,985.
Amsterdam has been good to Chen, but not as good as London, Prague and Monte Carlo have. Chen came close to winning an EPT three times with a runner up, fifth and third place finish. In total Chen has $4.4 million in career earnings, his biggest victory being the EPT London High Roller last season for $627,647.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 |
Jack Salter opened the button for 85,000, and Jason Wheeler made the call. Wheeler check-called a bet of 90,000 on the 
flop and led out for 210,000 on the 
turn. Salter made the call.
The 
completed the board, and, with now four clubs on the table, Wheeler bet 420,000.
"Finally that 420, huh?" Salter said, most likely referring to the Urban Dictionary meaning. Wheeler didn't respond.
Salter eventually folded, prompting Wheeler to show the 
.
"I had you man, but I didn't like that river!" said Wheeler.
Wheeler now has 2.575 million to Salter's 1.225 million.
With $6.8 million in live tournament earnings Yevgeniy Timoshenko is one of the most accomplished players on today's Day 1a flight. Back in 2009 the Ukrainian American won the World Poker Tour Championship event for $2.1 million, and in 2011 he came close to winning a World Series of Poker bracelet in the $25,000 Heads Up event. Timoshenko finished second for $525,980, his third biggest score to date.
Timoshenko's second biggest score came last year when he won the $100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions for A$2,000,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
||
Jason Wheeler has taken a chip advantage over Jack Salter, after the two played a big pot just now.
We arrived as the board was already out: 
. Salter checked to Wheeler, and the American made a hefty bet of 465,000. Salter tanked for quite some time, before folding. Salter mumbled Wheeler must've had a straight, but Wheeler didn't show or say anything.
The next hand, Salter opened the button for 85,000 and Wheeler made the call. On the flop of 
, Wheeler check-called a bet of 90,000. Both players checked the 
on the turn, and the 
completed the board on the river. Wheeler checked again, and Salter bet 180,000. Wheeler announced "call" without physically putting any chips in the pot. Salter admitted to not having much of anything, and Wheeler showed the 
to take it down.
With those two pots, Wheeler has taken the lead in the heads-up match. Wheeler now has 2.1 million of the 3.8 million in play, Salter has the remaining 1.7 million. Blinds are still 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante.
Paul Newey, Robbie Schiffbauer and Senh Ung travel the international poker scene together and today they've set up shop in Holland Casino Amsterdam. Ung and Schiffbauer are seated together at a table with Mark Roovers and Clyde Tjauw Foe, while Newey has found his seat on the other side of the room.
Last year Newey finished seventh in the Big One for One Drop for $1,418,667 and he closed out the year with a runner-up finish in the EPT Prague High Roller for $557,090. This year has started out slow for Newey, but he looks to turn things around in the Dutch capital.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
Back in 2011 David Boyaciyan came out of nowhere to capture the title in the Master Classics of Poker Main Event for €382,000, and a month later he followed that up with a second place in the EPT Prague Main Event for €535,000.
A year later Boyaciyan finished third in EPT Prague for €310,000, and in 2014 he finished runner up again in the MCOP Main Event. Boyaciyan has made quite a name for himself, and with $2.1 million in career earnings he's one of the biggest names in today's field.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 |
While the two players exchange blinds, Jason Wheeler and Jack Salter took their time praising the city of Amsterdam, and Holland Casino in particular.
"They just make it fun," Wheeler said.
"They're really accommodating," Salter added.
Both of them have played poker here in the capital of the Netherlands before, as they both visited the Master Classics of Poker last year.
"Really, there's no other city in the world I would miss that big online Sunday for," Wheeler added, with Salter in agreement.
The players agreed to have a break after every level because heads-up play is quite intense. So far, no big pots, so let's see what happens.
Every country has its poker legends, and Rob Hollink is without a doubt one of the Netherlands' biggest stars. After winning the EPT Grand Final in the first season for €635,000, Hollink finished fifth in the WPT Championship just one month later for $377,420.
In 2008 Hollink became the first Dutchman to win a World Series of Poker bracelet in the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship, and in total he has $3.3 million in career tournament earnings.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
||
We've spotted quite a few local players in the early goings of this event, and we'll see if the early bird will get the worm here today on Day 1a.
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|---|---|---|
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30,000 |
