Wheeler, Hamilton & Tamasauskas All Bag Big On Day 1a Of Eureka Main Event
The first of four flights in the $1,100 buy-in Eureka Main Event has wrapped up after over 12 hours of play as a kickoff of the first-ever PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus in the sunny and balmy Mediterranean. Moldova's Alexandr Dusco bagged the chip lead over fellow big stacks Milen Stefanov (676,000), Karen Nazarian (575,000) and Vladas Tamasauskas (546,000), who is fresh off a tear at the Poker Masters in Las Vegas where he won two high roller events.
Day 1a of the Eureka Main Event drew 717 runners with 108 players making the money and advancing to Day 2. The day ended with a rapid-fire of eliminations, including of high-stakes crusher Biao Ding, who jammed with ace-eight only to be looked up by the ace-jack of Andrei Bocharnikov, as well as Evgenii Sboev, who stone bubbled in a hand against Milen Stefanov that got underway before hand-for-hand play could begin.
Other big stacks at the end of Day 1a include Jason Wheeler, Federico Macori and 2022 EPT London champion Ian Hamilton.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandr Dusco | Moldova | 696,000 | 116 |
| 2 | Milen Stefanov | Bulgaria | 676,000 | 113 |
| 3 | Karen Nazarian | Russia | 575,000 | 96 |
| 4 | Vladas Tamasauskas | Lithuania | 546,000 | 91 |
| 5 | Jason Wheeler | United States | 527,000 | 88 |
| 6 | Ian Hamilton | United Kingdom | 461,000 | 77 |
| 7 | Federico Macori | Italy | 446,000 | 74 |
| 8 | Gerard Carbo | Spain | 425,000 | 71 |
| 9 | Dietrich Fast | Germany | 401,000 | 67 |
| 10 | Viktor Iarilov | Russia | 389,000 | 65 |
Day 1a Action
It was an exciting first day of action in the Eureka Main Event as both flights 1a and 1b got underway. There was no shortage of big names in the field early as hundreds of players took their sides inside the massive tournament ballroom, including EPT champions Tom Middleton and Dominik Panka and PokerStars Ambassadors Alejandro Lococo and Benjamin Spragg.
Lucien Cohen, who recently conquered the biggest live field in PokerStars history as he took down the €1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event at EPT Barcelona for €676,230, wasted no time building a stack as the "Ratman" cracked the queens of Azamat Tulepbergenov with a set of jacks to send the Kyrgyzstanian to the rail in just the first level of play.
In another early highlight, Ukraine's Andrii Zaika scored a double knockout of Raffael Zarbo and Nicolaou Sakis as his Cowboys held up against pocket queens and Big Slick. Eliyahu Elyashiv was less lucky with kings as he had them cracked by the jacks of Pablo Brito Silva in a three-way all in that saw the Israeli hitting the rail as Mehmet Dalkilic was left with crumbs.
There are still two more flights to play in the Eureka Main Event before the Day 1a survivors return for Day 2 on Oct. 14. Day 1c and 1d will take place on Oct. 13 and will follow similar structures as the previous two flights.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here in North Cyprus will provide updates throughout the remaining tournament and the rest of the inaugural EPT Cyprus stop.