₽133,000 EPT Open Main Event Day 1b | 2019 PokerStars EPT Open Sochi

10-10-2019 18:25 UTC+3

Leonov and Efimov Dominate Day 1b; Moreira De Melo Makes Day 2

Christian Zetzsche

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

The 2019 PokerStars EPT Open Sochi Main Event has already surpassed the field size of the first-ever EPT Open on Russian soil as Day 1a and Day 1b drew a total of 672 entries so far. Day 1b of the RUB133,000 buy-in (~$2,040) consisted of 184 unique players and 20 re-entries, and 103 players bagged and tagged at the end of 10 levels.

Two players made the most of the 30-minute turbo format as Aleksandr Leonov (265,300) and Sergey Efimov (221,000) topped the counts by a mile. Vladislav Levskiy follows in third place with 147,600 and other notables such as Andrey Plotnikov (121,100), Nikolay Fal (114,200), Dmitriy Ponomarev (101,200), and Mikhail Zamyatin (88,800) claimed above-average stacks to their name for Day 2.

Fatima Moreira De Melo was the sole PokerStars ambassador to take part on Day 1b and ended up with 53,500. Down in chips early on, the former Dutch hockey international scored a late double when her ace-ten out-flopped ace-queen suited and dodged the flush draw of her opponent.

Many other notables were less fortunate and ran out of chips towards the very end such as Gerald Karlic, Roman Korenev, Arsenii Karmatckii, Vasiliy Tsapko, Mikhail Mazunin and Andrey Bondar.

They all have one more shot at running up a stack for Day 2 as the third and final starting day has kicked off a few minutes ago at 6 p.m. local time. You can follow all the updates shortly right here on PokerNews as another 10 levels of 30 minutes each await.

Tags: Aleksandr Leonov Andrey Bondar Andrey Plotnikov Arsenii Karmatckii Dmitriy Ponomarev EPT Open Fatima Moreira De Melo Gerald Karlic Mikhail Mazunin Mikhail Zamyatin Nikolay Fal Roman Korenev Sergey Efimov Vasiliy Tsapko

10-10-2019 17:48 UTC+3

Gevorgyan And Korenev Eliminated

Christian Zetzsche

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Arman Gevorgyan ended up all in and at risk for 19,900 and Sergey Efimov, who he had tangled with previously, made the call to possibly end the job he had started a few minutes ago.

Arman Gevorgyan:
Sergey Efimov:

Things looked grim after the flop as Efimov had the superior pair and flush draw. Nothing changed on the turn and river to send Gevorgyan to the rail.

One hand later, Efimov raised to 3,500 and Andrey Pateychuk called. Roman Korenev moved all in for 27,600 and Thom Greben flat-called for a big portion of his own stack from one seat over. Efimov and Pateychuk quickly folded.

Roman Korenev:
Thom Greben:

Korenev was drawing dead on the turn and the river was too little too late.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aleksandr Leonov	260,000	45,000
Sergey Efimov	220,000	40,000
Thom Greben	80,000	-5,000
Roman Korenev	Busted
Arman Gevorgyan	Busted

Tags: Andrey Pateychuk Arman Gevorgyan Roman Korenev Sergey Efimov Thom Greben

10-10-2019 17:16 UTC+3

Late Double for De Melo

Christian Zetzsche

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

The table change proved to be vital for Fatima Moreira De Melo as the PokerStars ambassador earned a full double up to jump above the average in the penultimate level of the day.

According to Moreira De Melo, she first claimed the blinds and then opened with . She faced a three-bet to 4,600 and called to see a ten-high flop with two hearts. The stacks went in and Moreira De Melo held up against .

Player	Chips	Progress
Fatima Moreira de Melo	58,000	31,000

Tags: Fatima Moreira De Melo

10-10-2019 15:30 UTC+3

Pateychuk Doubles Through Bolshakov

Christian Zetzsche

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

Andrey Pateychuk check-jammed the turn into a bet of Artemiy Bolshakov and picked up a reluctant call.

Andrey Pateychuk:
Artemiy Bolshakov:

The river was a blank and Pateychuk doubled for 16,200.

Player	Chips	Progress
Artemiy Bolshakov	68,000	18,000
Andrey Pateychuk	51,000	21,000

Tags: Andrey Pateychuk Artemiy Bolshakov

10-10-2019 14:52 UTC+3

Karmatckii Eliminated by Strebkov

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

With 15,500 in the middle and the board showing , Denis Strebkov had checked and Arsenii Karmatckii in the cutoff moved all in for 11,700. Strebkov needed more than two minutes and made the call.

Karmatckii revealed the and Strebkov claimed the pot with .

Player	Chips	Progress
Denis Strebkov	53,000	53,000
Arsenii Karmatckii	Busted

Tags: Arsenii Karmatckii Denis Strebkov

10-10-2019 13:47 UTC+3

Korchagin Doubles Through Tamasyan

Christian Zetzsche

Level 4 : 100/300, 300 ante

With 11,700 in the middle and a completed board of , Garik Tamasyan made it 5,500 to go from middle position and Evgeniy Korchagin was in the think tank on the button.

Korchagin eventually moved all in for 24,100 and some table chat emerged. Tamasyan asked for a count after a minute, took one further minute and called. Korchagin reveald for two pair and Tamasyan ended up second-best with the .

Player	Chips	Progress
Evgeniy Korchagin	60,000	60,000
Garik Tamasyan	5,500	5,500

Tags: Evgeniy Korchagin Garik Tamasyan

10-10-2019 13:20 UTC+3

Tatarkin Doubles Through Vartevanyan

Christian Zetzsche

Level 3 : 100/200, 200 ante

On a flop of , Sergey Tatarkin was all in for 14,700 and Artem Vartevanyan looked him up to create the following showdown.

Sergey Tatarkin:
Artem Vartevanyan:

The turn gave Tatarkin additional outs with a gutshot and he got there when the struck on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Artemiy Bolshakov	50,000	50,000
Sergey Tatarkin	35,000	35,000
Anzor Lepshokov	31,000	31,000
Aram Vartevanyan	19,000	19,000

Tags: Artem Vartevanyan Sergey Tatarkin

10-10-2019 12:24 UTC+3

Moreira De Melo Back in the Mix

Christian Zetzsche

Level 1 : 100/100, 0 ante

Half-way through the first level of the day Fatima Moreira De Melo sat down over on table 13 and soon got involved into the action on her short-handed table.

In a battle small blind versus button she faced Vitaliy Karaivan and checked the turn. Karaivan made it 1,100 to go, which prompted to win the pot right there.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vitaliy Karaivan	31,000
Fatima Moreira de Melo	29,000	29,000

Tags: Vitaliy Karaivan Fatima Moreira De Melo

10-10-2019 10:02 UTC+3

Day 1b of the 2019 EPT Open Sochi Main Event Kicks Off at Noon

Christian Zetzsche

Two starting days remain for the 2019 PokerStars EPT Open Sochi RUB133,000 Main Event (~$2,040) and there is very little doubt that guaranteed prize pool of RUB70,000,000 won't be surpassed easily as a strong turnout for Day 1a attracted a massive field of 468 entries at the stunning Casino Sochi in the mountains of Krasnaya Polyana.

Roughly one third of the field made it through with 166 survivors that all secured their seats for Day 2 already. All those came up short in their bid so far have another two starting days ahead and Day 1b is scheduled to kick off at noon local time.

Unlike the first flight, the level duration has been cut in half and 10 levels of 30 minutes each will be played as Day 1c kicks off right after at 6 p.m. local time.

The top stack to beat for the overall lead is Andrey Andreev's impressive 381,400, more than 12 times the starting stack of 30,000. Anatolii Filonenko made it through with 299,400 and PokerStars ambassador Chris Moneymaker bagged a top-five stack with 226,300. Whether anyone will be able to beat that in the two turbo flight remains to be seen.

Day 1 Level Structure

Level	Small Blind	Big Blind	Big Blind Ante
1	100	100	0
2	100	100	100
3	100	200	200
4	100	300	300
5	200	400	400
6	200	500	500
7	300	600	600
8	400	800	800
9	500	1,000	1,000
10	600	1,200	1,200

Unlimited re-entries are allowed throughout the entire Day 1s and the registration closes at the start of Day 2 with blinds of 800-1,600 with a big blind ante of 1,600. The event is played in the new popular big blind ante format and the level duration will return to 60 minutes as of Day 2 when all survivors combine to one field.

October 11th also features the start of the RUB10,500 "Moneymaker's Road to PSPC" in which the winner takes home a Platinum Pass valued at more than €26,000 for the second PokerStars Players NL Hold'em Championship (PSPC) in Barcelona on top of the regular prize pool.

Stay tuned for what shapes up to be another day with plenty of poker action here in Sochi as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor from start-to-finish.

Tags: Anatolii Filonenko Andrey Andreev Chris Moneymaker EPT Open PSPC