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$10,300 EPT High Roller
Day 2 Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
$10,300 EPT High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
$10,300
Prize Pool
$3,947,900
Total Entries
407
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
120,000
Entries
205
Players Left
23
Players Left 1 / 407
Filter
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
The sun has almost set on the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus, and Italy’s Dario Sammartino put himself in a position to ensure he’ll be leaving this island resort with a trophy thanks to a late-night surge to the top of the counts.
Sammartino leads the 23 survivors from Day 2 of the $10,300 EPT Cyprus High Roller, bagging up 2,210,000 on the festival's penultimate day. Sammartino was just inside the top 10 on the leaderboard when the lengthy bubble finally burst, but three pivotal pots pushed him to the top.
First, Sammartino called a bet of 300,000 from Karen Nazarian with a rivered pair of aces to win a massive pot. He then picked up kings to bust Sven Stok in 38th place. Finally, he won a race with jacks against Kubanychbek Abakirov’s ace-king for 350,000 to move clear of the rest of the field.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 2,210,000 | 111 |
| 2 | Martin Diaz | Argentina | 1,855,000 | 93 |
| 3 | Nariman Yaghmai | Iran | 1,330,000 | 67 |
| 4 | Selahaddin Bedir | Turkey | 1,205,000 | 60 |
| 5 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 1,090,000 | 55 |
| 6 | Nicolas Vayssieres | France | 1,045,000 | 52 |
| 7 | [Removed:452] | Montenegro | 1,000,000 | 50 |
| 8 | Danil Rafikov | Russia | 1,000,000 | 50 |
| 9 | Ilia Pavlov | Russia | 980,000 | 49 |
| 10 | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | 960,000 | 48 |
Martin Diaz is in second place with 1,855,000, helped along the way by busting Senol Ardic with a pair of kings. Nariman Yaghmai (1,330,000), Selahaddin Bedir (1,205,000), and Spanish superstar Adrian Mateos (1,090,000) round out the top five who will return tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time to play down to a champion. Other top stacks include Pablo Silva (890,000), Sergi Reixach (735,000), and Quan Zhou (650,000).
Day 2 action
Day 2 began with 205 players from a starting field of 407, but only 55 would make the money. Benny Glaser, Joao Vieira, Jack Sinclair, Niklas Astedt, Ren Lin, Johan Guilbert, Conor Beresford, and Team PokerStars Pro Benjamin Spragg were all sent to the rail short of a payday.
Bart Lybaert, coming off a deep run to 20th place in the Main Event a day earlier, was eliminated in 57th place, setting up a lengthy hand-for-hand period that lasted more than an hour-long level. Team PokerStars Pro Parker Talbot found himself down to just one big blind on the bubble and was forced all in with four-deuce. But he hit a miracle deuce on the river amid a raucous celebration to beat Sammartino’s ace-high, chanting “Dario! Dario! Dario!” as he kept alive his hopes of sneaking into the money.
Giovani Torre finally ran his ace-king into the kings of Stok to finish on the bubble. Talbot (51st), Dominik Nitsche (50th), Farid Jattin (48th), and Fabrice Bigot (45th) soon accompanied him to the rail in a flurry of post-bubble eliminations.
Steve O’Dwyer picked up aces to knock out both Benjamin Winsor and Nikolai Mamut, then eliminated Alex Keating before he himself was eliminated in 36th place after Daniel Koloszar made a full house. Spanish high roller Juan Pardo (29th) and Cyprus native Andreas Christoforou (26th) soon followed on the walk to collect their payout.
The action on Day 3 picks up tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. on Level 22, with blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. There will be a champion crowned by the end of the day to close out the festival and take home the $787,400 top prize. The remaining players are already guaranteed $33,600 for making it this far.
PokerNews will be back following the action and providing live updates tomorrow for the final day of EPT Cyprus until there is just one player left standing.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Play has ended for the night with 23 players remaining.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Hand One:
Hwany Lee raised to 30,000, from middle position. Paulius Plausinaitis, just marginally covering Lee, moved all in from the small blind. Lee called.
Hwany Lee: A♣A♦
Paulius Plausinaitis: A♥4♥
The board ran out 7♦9♥10♦10♠3♥. Plausinaitis couldn't improve against Lee's aces and he was left with just 20,000 chips.
Hand Two:
Plausinaitis moved all in for his last 20,000 from the cutoff. Martin Diaz isolated with a raise to 90,000, from the button, and the hand went to a showdown.
Paulius Plausinaitis: A♦4♥
Martin Diaz: A♦K♦
The board ran out 7♠Q♦Q♥K♥7♦; Plausinaitis was dead on the turn. After running into two premium holdings, Plausinaitis exited in 24th place.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Dmitrii Nazarov | Russia | 800,000 | 53 |
| 1 | 2 | Selahaddin Bedir | Turkey | 1,300,000 | 87 |
| 1 | 3 | Pedro Marques | Portugal | 500,000 | 33 |
| 1 | 4 | Kuljinder Sidhu | United Kingdom | 450,000 | 30 |
| 1 | 5 | Tamas Adamszki | Hungary | 700,000 | 47 |
| 1 | 6 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 2,200,000 | 147 |
| 1 | 7 | Jinho Hong | South Korea | 370,000 | 25 |
| 1 | 8 | Alex Peffly | United Kingdom | 95,000 | 6 |
| 2 | 1 | Nicolas Vayssieres | France | 1,050,000 | 70 |
| 2 | 2 | Hwany Lee | South Korea | 300,000 | 20 |
| 2 | 3 | Danil Rafikov | Russia | 1,080,000 | 72 |
| 2 | 4 | Pedro Neves | Portugal | 680,000 | 45 |
| 2 | 5 | Ilia Pavlov | Russia | 750,000 | 50 |
| 2 | 6 | Paulius Plausinaitis | Lithuania | 350,000 | 23 |
| 2 | 7 | Martin Diaz | Argentina | 1,600,000 | 107 |
| 2 | 8 | Nariman Yaghmai | Iran | 1,300,000 | 87 |
| 3 | 1 | [Removed:452] | Montenegro | 1,000,000 | 67 |
| 3 | 2 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 1,320,000 | 88 |
| 3 | 3 | Sergi Reixach | Spain | 560,000 | 37 |
| 3 | 4 | Ghassan Bitar | Lebanon | 700,000 | 47 |
| 3 | 5 | Dmitry Yurasov | Russia | 450,000 | 30 |
| 3 | 6 | Pablo Silva | Brazil | 900,000 | 60 |
| 3 | 7 | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | 760,000 | 51 |
| 3 | 8 | Quan Zhou | China | 650,000 | 43 |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Deividas Daubaris moved all in for 150,000 from the cutoff and Nariman Yaghmai called in the big blind.
Deividas Daubaris: K♦J♠
Nariman Yaghmai: A♠6♣
Daubaris was looking for help but didn't get it on the 2♠5♥6♥ flop. The 6♠ turn improved Yaghmai to trips and Daubaris was already drawing dead before the 8♣ completed the board, sealing his elimination.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Alex Peffly was down to his last 85,000 and moved all in from the button as Kuljinder Sidhu called in the big blind.
Alex Peffly: K♦J♦
Kuljinder Sidhu: A♠9♣
Peffly took the lead on a flop of 3♠J♣8♦ with a pair of jacks. Sidhu made a pair on the 9♥ turn, but Peffly improved to trips on the J♥ river as he picked up his jack and gave it a kiss to celebrate his double up.
"What a beautiful jack. This is the most chips that I've had in two hours," Peffly said.
At the same time at another table, Paulius Plausinaitis was all in for 400,000 in the small blind and Martin Diaz called on the button.
Paulius Plausinaitis: A♠Q♦
Martin Diaz: A♦J♦
Plausinaitis had Diaz dominated and was poised for a double up as the board came 5♣4♠5♣K♦2♣. Plausinaitis' queen-kicker played as he stayed alive in the tournament.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Dmitrii Nazarov limped in from the small blind. [Removed:452] raised to 50,000, from the big blind, and Nazarov made the call.
The hand checked through as the full board read Q♣7♦7♠10♣9♥. Nazarov placed a bet of 65,000 and Kaladjurdjevic eventually made the call. Nazarov tabled J♥10♦; second pair good enough to take down this pot.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Andreas Christoforou got the last of his chips in the middle from the button and was up against Nicolas Vayssieres under the gun.
Andreas Christoforou: A♣6♠
Nicolas Vayssieres: K♣K♠
Vayssieres had picked up kings and was a favorite heading to the 9♥2♠7♠ flop. Christoforou couldn't find his ace as the board ran out Q♦7♥.
The stacks were counted down and Vayssieres had 530,000 remaining, having Christoforou covered by just 15,000 as Christoforou was sent to the rail.
Armin Rezaei and Daniel Koloszar were also eliminated at other tables.
