Aleksei Vandyshev Rapidly Spins Up a Stack in Day 1b of €5,200 Million
The second of two starting flights in the PLO Grand Slam €5,200 Million has concluded here at the All Inn Casino in Prague. Day 1b drew a 78-entry field, with 25 players advancing to Day 2 after ten 45-minute levels. That brings the field to 128 so far, contributing €640,000 to the €1,000,000 guarantee. That number is sure to increase tomorrow with late registration open for three more levels, and the potential for overlay offers great value for those looking to take their shot tomorrow.
Aleksei Vandyshev, who won the WSOP Online Main Event in 2021 for just over $2,500,000, waited late in the day today before entering midway through Level 7. Despite having less than three levels to work with, Vandyshev wasted no time building a seven-figure stack, and he ended the night with 1,599,000, more than any other player in Day 1b and just behind Day 1a chip leader Jose Scarano's 1,621,000. Interestingly, all of Vandyshev's live tournament scores so far have come from No-Limit Hold'em events, and he will be looking to make his potential first Omaha live score count with a deep run in this event.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksei Vandyshev | Russian Federation | 1,599,000 | 160 |
| 2 | Christos Argyriadis | Greece | 1,285,000 | 129 |
| 3 | Dario Alioto | Italy | 1,178,000 | 118 |
| 4 | Harald Casagrande | Austria | 954,000 | 95 |
| 5 | Aku Joentausta | Finland | 806,000 | 81 |
| 6 | Marco Di Persio | Italy | 801,000 | 80 |
| 7 | Cesar Garcia | Spain | 794,000 | 79 |
| 8 | Spyridon Valakos | Greece | 782,000 | 78 |
| 9 | Tomasz Krzesinski | Poland | 582,000 | 58 |
| 10 | Theo Jorgensen | Denmark | 575,000 | 58 |
Vandyshev is most closely followed by Christos Argyriadis, who bagged 1,285,000, while Dario Alioto rounds out the podium with 1,178,000. Alioto has had plenty of success already at the Diamond Poker Series, having won a side event at the last three editions of the PLO Grand Slam. Alioto won a €15,300 PKO event at the last series in Malta, a €5,200 Pot-Limit Omaha Mystery Event in Tallinn the series before, and a €25,500 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller the series before that in Tirana. Alioto took home over €400,000 total from those three wins, and will be a force to be reckoned with as he looks to add a fourth Diamond Poker Series trophy to his collection in this event.
Other notable players to find a bag on Day 1b include Cesar Garcia (794,000), Theo Jorgensen (575,000), Dennis Weiss (511,000), Bernd Gleissner (466,000) and Ole Schemion (405,000). WSOP Europe Main Event champion Omar Eljach also played today, but was eliminated in the final level of the night.
The fields combine for Day 2 tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. and while subject to change, the tentative plan is to play down to a final table. Action will resume at Level 11, with the blinds at 5,000/10,000, and late registration and unlimited reentries will remain open until the end of Level 13.
Stay tuned to Pokernews for all the action tomorrow as €5,200 Million plays into the money and towards the final table.