2019 888poker LIVE Festival Bucharest

The first of four starting days of the 2019 888poker LIVE Bucharest €888 Main Event finished with 17 players out of 67 remaining and it is Marian Virlanuta that bagged up the chip lead in the ballroom of the five-star Intercontinental Bucharest Hotel.

Virlanuta raced to the top in the final level of the night and claimed 284,500, edging past Stuart Sewell (262,500) and Alexandru Constantin (239,500), and there is already a big gap between the trio atop and the remaining Day 1a survivors. Notables that made it through to Day 2 via the first starting day include Mihai Niste (127,500), Andrei Iordache (108,000), Vlad Tatu (102,500), Alexandru Gavrilut (102,000) and Artan Dedusha (92,500).

For Dedusha, it was a roller coaster day after he entered late and immediately found himself next to his best friend Kfir Ivgi as well as Carmen Zainescu. Dedusha got short, chipped up and hit a hot streak after the dinner break to become a contender for the chip lead. But a lost flip with ace-queen versus pocket tens cut his momentum short and the Brit finished in the middle of the pack.

Other notables were even less fortunate such as 888poker ambassador Ana Marquez, Raoul Iancovici, Defending champion Andrei Racolta, Ozgur Arda, Danut Chisu, Eusebiu Jalba, Andrea Nodea, Bogdan Berinde, Florin Pandilica and Aussie Poker Hall of Famer Jason Gray. Marquez was left short early on and failed to get there with ace-queen versus queens. Racolta lost a flip with pocket nines against the ace-queen of Mihai Niste. Fellow countryman Pandilica had two rough beats: First his queens were cracked by ace-queen as Stuart Sewell spiked an ace on the turn, then a flopped set of deuces could not hold up against a straight and flush draw.

All those that busted on Day 1a can re-enter in any of the remaining three starting days. In the meanwhile, one of the Side Events has already crowned a champion today. The €230 Opening Event, which drew a total of 300 entries and surpassed the guaranteed prize pool of €50,000, saw 47 players return for Day 2. Only the top 36 spots were ensured a portion of the €56,400 in prize money and the event ended with a deal, with five and three players remaining.

Among those to cash were Ramlal Basdeo (34th place - €410), Andrei Nodea (31st -€410), Mihai Banu (22nd - €550}, Or Amitai (18th - €650), and Lucian Bera (13th, €1,000). With the elimination of Canada's Manfred Sierke in 11th place for €1,120, a Romanian victory was secured. Sorin Radulescu was the chip leader heading into the nine-handed final table and took home the most money after the deals were cut.

Final Result €230 Opening Event

_{*Denotes five-handed deal}

Another three flights remain for players to join the action in the €888 Main Event and take home a portion of the €300,000 guarantee. Day 1b will kick off on Wednesday, March 6th, at 1 p.m. local time and the PokerNews team will be there to cover all the action until a champion is crowned.

^{Photos courtesy of Gema Cristobal / 888poker}

The tournament clocks have been stopped and another three hands will be played. Helder Pinho won't be among those to bag and tag as he was eliminated, reducing the field to just 17 contenders on Day 1a.

Jason Gray had nursed a short stack for quite some time and eventually bowed out. The Aussie, who calls the UK his home these days, was joined on the rail by Andrei Nodea, Catalin Popa and Teodor Cap Bun.

In the meanwhile, Stuart Sewell has increased his stack and may very well be the chip leader when it comes to bagging and tagging.

Bogdan Berinde three-bet his last 35,000 and was called by big stack Alexandru Constantin.

Bogdan Berinde:
Alexandru Constantin:

On a board of , Berinde found no help and was sent to the rail in the final level of the night.

Florin Pandilica had lost queens to ace-queen and when he was about to get right back into contention, he ended up second-best once more. It was a battle with Alexandru Constantin that saw Pandilica ran out of chips in dramatic fashion.

Pandilica opened to 4,200 on the button and Constantin called in the small blind. The flop came and Constantin check-raised from 2,700 to 5,900, which Pandilica called. After the turn, Constantin pushed all in and Pandilica called.

Florin Pandilica:
Alexandru Constantin:

The river improved Constantin to a flush and Pandilica headed to the rail.

Mihail Cuza and Eusebiu Jalba lost the fight with their short stacks, while Florin Pandilica doubled to get back into contention. Pandilica remains at half the average and will need another double soon.

Denis Poteras was eliminated and Andre Marques Moreira followed to the rail. First he doubled Dumitru Pora blind-on-blind with versus on a board.

Then, Stefan Aurelian Gheorghe opened to 3,500 and called the jam by Artan Dedusha in the big blind for effectively 63,300.

Stefan Aurelian Gheorghe:
Artan Dedusha:

The flop gave Dedusha top pair, but Gheorghe middle set, and the turn settled things already. A meaningless came on the river and Dedusha took a big hit to his stack.

Dedusha then knocked out Marques Moreira to recover some of the losses before Pora also ran out of chips shortly after.