€5,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2016 PokerStars EPT Season 12 Dublin

Player	Chips	Progress
Gilles Bernies	189,600 -400	-400
Mike McDonald	162,400 12,400	12,400

Ian Hunter	139,400 -10,600	-10,600
Artem Litvinov	138,900 8,900	8,900
Victor Ilyukhin	131,400 6,400	6,400
Adrian Mateos	128,800 8,800	8,800

Anthony Zinno	124,800 9,800	9,800
Fabrice Soulier	123,400 3,400	3,400
Kamran Aliyev	114,200 -5,800	-5,800
Jean-Noel Thorel	110,000 17,000	17,000
Czeslaw Szerszen	102,100 25,100	25,100
Joel Micka	99,800 99,800	99,800
Jarrod Rex	91,700 -13,300	-13,300
Walid Bou Habib	87,700 -10,300	-10,300
Jason Mercier	83,200 16,200	16,200

Sven Magirius	82,100 7,100	7,100
Nick Petrangelo	81,600 81,600	81,600
Vojtech Ruzicka	80,300 -12,700	-12,700
Morten Jensen	79,400 79,400	79,400
Francois Billard	79,000 79,000	79,000
Christopher Kruk	74,800 42,800	42,800
Alex Goulder	70,400 70,400	70,400
Edouard Mignot	70,000 70,000	70,000
Luca Pagano	70,000 -18,500	-18,500

Christopher George	66,700 66,700	66,700

Player

Chips

Progress

Gilles Bernies

189,600

-400

Mike McDonald

162,400

12,400

Ian Hunter

139,400

-10,600

Artem Litvinov

138,900

8,900

Victor Ilyukhin

131,400

6,400

Adrian Mateos

128,800

8,800

Anthony Zinno

124,800

9,800

Fabrice Soulier

123,400

3,400

Kamran Aliyev

114,200

-5,800

Jean-Noel Thorel

110,000

17,000

Czeslaw Szerszen

102,100

25,100

Joel Micka

99,800

Jarrod Rex

91,700

-13,300

Walid Bou Habib

87,700

-10,300

Jason Mercier

83,200

16,200

Sven Magirius

82,100

7,100

Nick Petrangelo

81,600

Vojtech Ruzicka

80,300

-12,700

Morten Jensen

79,400

Francois Billard

79,000

Christopher Kruk

74,800

42,800

Alex Goulder

70,400

Edouard Mignot

70,000

Luca Pagano

70,000

-18,500

Christopher George

66,700

The first of two starting days for the 2016 PokerStars European Poker Tour Dublin Main Event saw 147 players pony up the buy-in of €5,300. Eight 75-minute levels later, only 79 of them bagged up chips with Gilles Bernies in the lead on 189,600.

The 27-year-old German had three deep runs at the end of 2015 with a 38th-place finish in the World Series of Poker Europe "Oktoberfest" event and first- and second-place finishes during festivals at Holland Casino of Breda in the Netherlands. Coming into this event, Bernies had $74,990 in live tournament earnings.

Bernies won a big pot off Adrian Mateos after he made the nut flush with the ace-queen of hearts before then flopping two pair against Paul-Francois Tedeschi with five-seven suited to take another chunk of chips.

Mike McDonald jumped onto the overnight podium just before the end of play by flopping a full house with pocket queens in a three-way all-in situation. The hand involved Artem Litvinov, who bagged up 138,900, and Daniel Shapiro, who was eliminated. and the win by "Timex" allowed him to soar all the way up to 162,400 in chips.

Other big stacks and notables included Anthony Zinno (124,800), former EPT Vienna High Roller champion Fabrice Soulier (123,400), Kamran Aliyev (114,200), EPT regular Jean-Noel Thorel (110,000), Walid Bou Habib (87,700), Nick Petrangelo (81,600), Sam Greenwood (57,600), Charlie Carrel (49,900), and 2015 November Niner Pierre Neuville (27,400).

Two members of Team PokerStars Pro, Jason Mercier (83,200) and Luca Pagano (70,000), were also among those to advance, along with former EPT champions Kevin MacPhee (59,000), Sebastian Pauli (28,600), and Aaron Gustavson (23,800).

Among those that failed to bag up chips were Dario Sammartino, Mohsin Charania, Ryan Riess, Ian Simpson, Rainer Kempe, Ricardo Manquant, Rocco Palumbo, Jason Wheeler, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Jared Jaffee, Martin Staszko, Joao Vieira, Max Silver, Balazs Botond, Davidi Kitai, and reigning PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Mike Watson. Sammartino, Charania, and Simpson all fell victim to the hot early run of Litvinov.

Day 1b will take place on Monday at 12 p.m. local time with the second starting flight. A much bigger field is expected, and the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand to provide updates.

For those who were eliminated, or for those who advanced and have a day off, check out where you can grab some healthy eats in Dublin in this video below.

Tags: Aaron Gustavson Adrian Mateos Anthony Zinno Artem Litvinov Balazs Botond Charlie Carrel Dario Sammartino Davidi Kitai Fabrice Soulier Georgios Sotiropoulos Gilles Bernies Ian Hunter Ian Simpson Jared Jaffee Jason Mercier Jason Wheeler Jean-Noel Thorel Jeremy Nock Joao Vieira Kamran Aliyev Kevin MacPhee Luca Pagano Martin Staszko Max Greenwood Max Silver Michael Watson Mike McDonald Mike Watson Mohsin Charania Nick Petrangelo Paul-Francois Tedeschi Pierre Neuville Rainer Kempe Ricardo Manquant Rocco Palumbo Ryan Riess Sam Greenwood Sebastian Pauli Walid Bou Habib