Yam Hod Gilad opened to 1,500 first to act and was called by Aleksandr Pustovoy came along out of the small blind. Both checked the flop and the turn. Pustovoy bet the river for 1,400 with 11,000 behind and received the call he was looking for, turning over for top two as winning hand.
The second bullet of Artem Khachaturov is off to a better start as he more than doubled already and claimed a big pot off Arsen Gasparyan without showdown.
Three-ways to the flop he bet 1,600 first to act and Gasparyan raised to 3,500. The big blind folded and Khachaturov raised to 10,500, which was called. On the turn, Khachaturov almost immediately moved all in and that forced a fold from Gasparyan.
An already big pot got even bigger when Anatoliy Pluzhnik scored a double for 24,300 on the river as his were the nuts. Dmitry Gromov was left with a mountain to climb as he had a mere 11 big blinds and change at his disposal when all was done and dusted.
Ilya Pirogov was able to build his stack after bowing down to the aggression of Artur Osipov only for both to meet once again. With some 30,000 already in the middle, Osipov bet the river for 8,500 and Pirogov reluctantly called.
Osipov confidently rolled over the for jacks and sevens, Pirogov nodded and mucked. Their table broke soon after to balance the shrinking field.
After seven levels of play, the field size of Day 1b has reached 170 entries and 122 players remain in contention. They were sent into a 20-minute break, another three levels remain for tonight.