$5,300 EPT Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
$5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$6,402,000
Entries
1,320
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
467
Players Left
133
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
The first day of action of the $5,300 EPT Cyprus Main Event came to an end at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa and after ten one-hour levels, 133 players made it through Day 1a out of 467 entrants.
At the end of the day, Milos Skrbic is the one who finished as the chipleader, with 402,000 chips. Behind him, the podium is completed by Dario Sammartino (297,000) and Parker Talbot. Early in the day, the PokerStars Ambassador had opportunities to build a stack, doubling up before the dinner break for example and he kept it big all day long, finishing with 276,000 chips.
Looking for a possible second EPT Main Event victory in a row after EPT Barcelona, Simon Wiciak also reached the Top 10 with 233,000 chips, closely followed by 2013 PCA winner Dimitar Danchev (211,000). But PokerNews Ambassador Lukas Robinson did better, ending the day with an impressive stack of 247,000 chips.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip count | Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milos Skrbic | Serbia | 402,000 | 335 |
| 2 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 297,000 | 248 |
| 3 | Parker Talbot | Canada | 276,000 | 230 |
| 4 | Klemens Roiter | Austria | 272,000 | 227 |
| 5 | Vadym Koriagin | Ukraine | 266,000 | 222 |
| 6 | Marian Virlanuta | Romania | 264,000 | 220 |
| 7 | Lukas Robinson | United Kingdom | 247,000 | 206 |
| 8 | Simon Wiciak | France | 233,000 | 194 |
| 9 | Daniyar Aubakirov | Kazakhstan | 217,500 | 181 |
| 10 | Dimitar Danchev | Bulgaria | 211,000 | 176 |
Day 1a action
Players were impatient to discover Cyprus for the first-ever EPT on the island. So a few notable players played directly on Day 1a, such as PokerStars Ambassador Alejandro Lococo, but his day quickly came to an end.
2023 PSPC winner Aliaksandr Shylko didn't qualify either, as he was eliminated twice, the second time against Aksel Aygun's aces. At Shylko's table during the day, Thomas Eychenne also failed to qualify along with 2022 EPT London winner Ian Hamilton, Mustapha Kanit, Dominik Nitsche or Samuel Ju.
Artur Martirosian didn't run into aces but into queens, which led to his elimination in a three-way pot. A few minutes later, Olga Iermolcheva also lost with a pair of nines against a better pair on the flop in the last level. Both of them will need to return on Day 1b to attempt to qualify for Day 2.
On the other hand, Conor Beresford had a successful run in the last few hands, taking nearly two starting stacks from 2023 EPT Barcelona finalist Carl Shaw. Thanks to that pot, Beresford bagged 178,500 chips while Shaw's stack decreased to 104,500.
Like them, players such as Julien Sitbon (119,000), Johan Guilbert (110,000), Alexandre Vuilleumier (101,000), or Paul Newey (98,000) have also qualified with an average stack. Adrian Mateos (70,500 chips) is not far behind, along with the 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan (63,000).
"It was a tough day," Gaelle Baumann said as she was leaving the tournament area with 40,500 chips. She is not the only one in this situation because Peter Jorgne (41,500), Sam Greenwood (35,000), Bart Lybaert (34,000), Joao Vieira (30,500), Kenny Hallaert (27,000), or Mehdi Chaoui (22,500) didn't manage to get a lot more chips than the starting stack.
The second flight of the EPT Cyprus Main Event will kick off Tuesday, October 17 at noon local time with the same structure as Day 1a : starting stacks of 30,000 and blinds beginning at 100/100/100. Registration will also remain open until the start of Day 2.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to provide more updates in the EPT Cyprus Main Event!
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
402,000
82,000
|
82,000 |
|
||
|
297,000
37,000
|
37,000 |
|
276,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
||
|
272,000
272,000
|
272,000 |
|
266,000
96,000
|
96,000 |
|
264,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
247,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
||
|
233,000
73,000
|
73,000 |
|
||
|
217,500
29,500
|
29,500 |
|
211,000
4,900
|
4,900 |
|
|
||
|
195,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
184,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
182,500
182,500
|
182,500 |
|
180,500
180,500
|
180,500 |
|
178,500
3,500
|
3,500 |
|
175,000
21,600
|
21,600 |
|
169,500
44,500
|
44,500 |
|
167,500
77,500
|
77,500 |
|
167,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
161,500
19,500
|
19,500 |
|
159,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
157,500
53,500
|
53,500 |
|
157,000
129,000
|
129,000 |
|
155,500
124,500
|
124,500 |
|
155,500
9,500
|
9,500 |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Day 1a has come to an end with 133 players remaining out of 467 total entries.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the day's action.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Ramzi Karam raised and Mehdi Chaoui moved all in for 11,500. Karam called and players flipped their cards, with Chaoui at risk.
Mehdi Chaoui: A♦10♦
Ramzi Karam: A♣8♣
The board ran out A♠7♦10♥K♠Q♦. Chaoui hit two pair, aces and tens to get a last minute double up before he bagged and tagged.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
103,000 | |
|
20,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Carl Shaw three-bet to 8,500 in the cutoff before Conor Beresford four-bet to 20,000 in the hijack.
Shaw called and they went heads-up to the 3♥A♣7♥ flop. Beresford continued for 12,000 and Shaw called to the J♦ turn.
Beresford then fired out another 22,000 and Shaw quickly called. The river came the Q♦ and Beresford moved all in for 63,500.
Shaw ripped off his hood as he began considering the decision. "How much," he asked Beresford.
"Way too much, bro. Not really," Beresford replied.
"I don't know what to do, man," Shaw added after another few minutes.
"Thirteen minutes left," Beresford said, pointing out the tournament clock that was nearing the end of the day.
Shaw eventually tossed his cards into the muck and Beresford turned over 9♦8♦ for a bluff.
"Got to show that. Good for the game," he said as he took the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
175,000 | |
|
100,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
The tournament director has announced that four more hands will be played tonight while the clock is paused.
The remaining players will then bag their chips for Day 2 on Wednesday.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Dario Sammartino raised to 2,600 from early position and Andrea Dato called. Hao Tian then moved all in from late position for 20,000 and Thomas Santerne called in the big blind. The rest of the table folded and two players flipped their cards, with Tian at risk.
Hao Tian: 8♦8♥
Thomas Santerne: K♠K♥
The board ran out Q♦10♦5♠5♦5♥. Tian made a full house, fives full of eights. Santerne made a full house, fives full of kings to win the pot. Tian was eliminated as Day 1a reached its conclusion.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
165,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Picking up the action on a completed board of 10♥A♦9♣5♥5♠ and around 70,000 in the pot, Timur Vardanian bet enough from the cutoff to put button Alexander Zubov all in.
Zubov tanked for several minutes until the clock was called. The countdown had nearly reached zero before he slammed in his last 29,100.
Vardanian could only shake his head and show K♣4♣ for a bluff as Zubov turned over A♥8♦ for two pair to win the pot and double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
120,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
|
80,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Carl Shaw opened to 2,500 in early position, finding calls from Milos Petakovic, Robert Fluereci on the button and Nathan Tetart in the big blind.
Tetart and Shaw checked the 2♣J♠3♥ flop and folded after Petakovic fired 3,000 chips and Fluereci called.
The 9♣ turn saw Tetart check to Fleureci, who slid out a bet of 7,000 chips. The call was made to the 8♣ river, where Tetart checked again.
Fleureci fired again, this time for 15,000. Tetart took a moment before making the fold, as Fleurici chipped up close to 100,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
158,600
78,600
|
78,600 |
|
156,000
133,000
|
133,000 |
|
||
|
97,500
23,500
|
23,500 |
|
77,000
77,000
|
77,000 |
