Day 1b Done, Dusted
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Well, that's your lot for Day 1b. How time flies when you're having fun, eh? 203 players started today meaning that this EPT has now broken all records for a poker tournament in Portugal. The biggest tournament Portugal had ever seen before this week had 326 runners; with 384, this one blows that record away, and it is by far the richest tournament ever held in this country with a €1,862,400 prizepool and €467,835 going to first place.
Chip leader as the chips went into the bags was Russian online qualifier Leonid Bilokur, who won the €2,000 NLH side event at EPT Berlin earlier in the year. With 161,200 in his bag, he will be the overall chip leader when we come back tomorrow for Day 2.
Also near the top of the counts from today are Sam Trickett, Sorel Mizzi and Danny Neess. On rather more modest stacks but still in the running are Luca Pagano, Lex Veldhuis, Max Lykov and Liv Boeree. Those who did not make it through and instead get to spend the rest of the week on the beach include ElkY, Andy Black, Daniel Negreanu and both of the de Meulder twins.
The number on the board as the last few hands were called was 121, so we suspect that that is roughly the number of Day 1b survivors who will be joining the 102 Day 1a veterans in the Casino Vilamoura at noon GMT+1 tomorrow for Day 2. We'll be bringing you all the action from the tournament floor and the smoking balcony alike, so join us back here then.
Until tomorrow, it's boa noite from all of us here in Portugal.