Gaelle Baumann Crosses a Million as 156 Players Survive Day 1c of the EPT Cyprus Eureka Main Event
The turn of one card changed the fortunes of two players on Day 1c of the $1,100 Eureka Main Event at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus.
Gaelle Baumann was all in for 365,000 with the nut straight and Alexander Shelukhin had her covered and at risk with a set of nines. Shelukhin needed the board to pair to knock out Baumann, but instead, Baumann found a safe river and doubled up in the more than 800,000-chip pot on her way to taking the overall tournament chip lead.
Baumann had earlier made quad sixes to double up off Gonzalo Leal Moreno as she finished with 1,007,000, the only player from the four starting flights with more than 1,000,000. She leads the 156 survivors out of 1,044 total entries on Day 1c who will return to play on Day 2 tomorrow at noon local time. Walter Treccarichi (734,000), Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (669,000), Dmitrii Kopyl (537,000), and Adam Rayhaan (531,000) round out the top five.
Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gaelle Baumann | France | 1,007,000 | 168 |
| 2 | Walter Treccarichi | Italy | 734,000 | 122 |
| 3 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | 669,000 | 112 |
| 4 | Dmitrii Kopyl | Russia | 537,000 | 90 |
| 5 | Adam Rayhaan | South Africa | 531,000 | 89 |
| 6 | Valeriy Pak | Belarus | 511,000 | 85 |
| 7 | Rachid El Yaacoubi | France | 482,000 | 80 |
| 8 | Mark Helou | Lebanon | 480,000 | 80 |
| 9 | Christopher Rossos | Cyprus | 475,000 | 79 |
| 10 | David Kaufmann | Germany | 474,000 | 79 |
Simon Wiciak is no stranger to success on the EPT. Just over a month ago, The French engineer-turned-poker pro won the EPT Barcelona Main Event for more than €1.1 million. He was back in action today, scoring a double knockout with a set of fives as he bagged up 221,000. Other top stacks include Ramon Kropmanns (390,000), Anthony Kennedy (366,000), Alessio Isaia (356,000), and Stefan Lehner (322,000).
Further down the leaderboard are the likes of Steven Warburton (260,000), Aurelie Reard (187,000), Robert Heidorn (165,000), Francisco Benitez (131,000), and Daniel Rezaei (125,000). PokerStars Team Pro Benjamin and Marle Spragg, as well as Parker Talbot, Ren Lin, and Conor Beresford were among those who failed to survive the day. Alex Keating joined the walk to the exit after running his two queens into the aces of Kennedy.
A total of 2,659 entries played the four starting flights, making this the third-largest Eureka Main Event in history behind only the two Prague stops in March and December 2022. Only 399 will return for Day 2 tomorrow as every player is now in the money. Day 1c concluded with 30 minutes remaining in Level 30 with blinds of 3,000-6,000, the earliest finishing time for one of the starting flights and the spot from which action will pick up again tomorrow.
The prize pool will be announced shortly after the start of play tomorrow. The remaining players have made it this far. Tomorrow they will find out what they are playing for and try to put themselves in a position to make a deep run. PokerNews will provide live updates throughout the event and the rest of the first-ever EPT stop in Cyprus.