$25,000 Second Chance
Day 1 Completed
2024 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
$25,000 Second Chance
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2024 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$1,200,500
Entries
50
Level
25
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
250,000
Entries
38
Players Left
25
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
A brief Day 1 in the $25,000 Second Chance saw 31 players make their way to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa to participate in the final $25k event of the 2024 European Poker Tour Cyprus. Although the action lasted a mere four hours, several players had busted and many reentered to bring the total number of entries to 38 — a number that is expected to grow as late-registration will remain open until the start of Day 2.
By the time the final hand was dealt, Albert Daher had secured the chip lead of the remaining 25 players after bagging up 885,000. Not too far behind him is PokerStars Team Pro Elias Gutierrez, who won the $25,000 SHR Warm Up just a few days ago, with 808,000. Rounding out the top three is Hassan Nashar, who fired three bullets before finding his footing en route to bagging 805,000.
Daher is a regular in EPT High Roller events and has already won three of them over the past several years. His most recent high roller victory happened last year in Cyprus, wherein he overcame an 29-entry field and defeated Mikita Badziakouski heads-up to take down the $264,690 first-place prize.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chips | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albert Daher | Lebanon | 885,000 | 148 |
| 2 | Elias Gutierrez | Spain | 808,000 | 135 |
| 3 | Hassan Nashar | Senegal | 805,000 | 134 |
| 4 | Johannes Straver | Netherlands | 624,000 | 104 |
| 5 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | 616,000 | 103 |
| 6 | Vladimir Korzinin | Estonia | 587,000 | 98 |
| 7 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | 541,000 | 90 |
| 8 | Danilo Velasevic | Croatia | 500,000 | 83 |
| 9 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | 454,000 | 76 |
| 10 | Vicente Delgado | Spain | 430,000 | 72 |
Action of the Day
Masashi Oya was among the 17 players who took their seats at the start of the day and hopped out to an early lead after slowplaying aces against Juan Pardo, who held ace-king on a king-high board. Oya largely stayed out of big pots for the rest of the evening, but still managed to end with an roughly average stack worth 356,000.
Another big hand in the first levels saw Jelle Moene taking over the lead after being on the right end of a brutal cooler in a straight versus straight confrontation against Jérémie Zouari. By the time the first and only break was held, Moene held a comfortable chip lead over the field.
However, that would change at the hands of Nashar, who entered shortly after break. Nashar immediately became a driver of action by playing most of his hands in an aggressive and often wild style that involved using very large sizings in relation to the blinds. In at least one hand, Nashar opted to play his cards without looking at them.
While Gutierrez managed to benefit from Nashar's erratic play, first by doubling through him and later by eliminating him, Nashar quickly reentered and sent Moene down the chip counts by winning a flip against him with pocket tens. Despite the hit, Moene still managed to end with 336,000.
It was about this time that Daher also began his ascent up the leaderboard — largely due to putting a beat on Simone Andrian after getting all in preflop with ace-five against Andrian's ace-king. Daher drilled a five on the river to score him the massive pot and continued to chip up from that point onwards.
Other notables who quietly made an appearance and will be back for Day 2 tomorrow include Duco ten Haven (115,000), Leonard Maue (174,000), Steve O'Dwyer (200,000), and Recep Aydemir (244,000).
Day 2 is set to begin on Thursday, October 17 at 12:30 p.m. local time and play down to a winner. Action will resume on Level 9, which features 3,000/6,000 blinds with a 6,000 big-blind ante. Fifteen-minute breaks will be held after every four levels and a 75-minute dinner break is scheduled at the completion of Level 20.
With more last-minute entrants expected to join the fray, there is still plenty of action yet to come as more big-money players go to war on the green felt. Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you ongoing coverage right up until the next high roller champion is crowned!
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
885,000
215,000
|
215,000 |
|
||
|
808,000
78,000
|
78,000 |
|
||
|
805,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
624,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
|
616,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
587,000
192,000
|
192,000 |
|
541,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
500,000 | |
|
454,000
224,000
|
224,000 |
|
430,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
356,000
119,000
|
119,000 |
|
355,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
336,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
296,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
262,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
244,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
242,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
237,000
137,000
|
137,000 |
|
200,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
|
183,000
87,000
|
87,000 |
|
174,000
66,000
|
66,000 |
|
133,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
115,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
99,000
191,000
|
191,000 |
|
17,000
203,000
|
203,000 |
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
The remaining 25 players are now bagging and tagging for the evening.
Stay tuned for a recap of Day 1.
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Kayhan Mokri raised to 10,000 from early position. He was called by Mustafa Biz in the cutoff and Kamal Gonzalez on the button before Teun Mulder squeezed to 50,000 from the small blind. Mokri called, Biz folded, then Gonzalez jammed for 140,000. Mulder shoved himself for roughly 400,000 and Mokri folded.
Kamal Gonzalez: 6♦5♦ 
Teun Mulder: K♦Q♠
Mulder was ahead with king-high, but the 3♥7♣8♠ flop gave Gonzales a straight draw to go with his pair outs. The 8♣ turn and 8♥ river didn't change anything and Gonzalez was sent to the rail on one of the last hands of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
610,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
|
520,000
220,000
|
220,000 |
|
|
222,000
28,000
|
28,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Wael Sarkis was already all in and at risk for approximately 100,000 on the button against Danilo Velasevic, who had Sarkis covered from the big blind.
Wael Sarkis: J♦J♥
Danilo Velasevic: A♥K♣
It was a coinflip, but the 7♠2♦3♠6♦K♠ runout paired Velasevic's king on the end to send Sarkis out on one of the last hands of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
500,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
With around 25,000 in the pot on a flop of 4♦6♦3♥, Duco ten Haven led out for 8,000 from the big blind and Atanas Malinov called from under the gun.
When the 5♦ dropped on the turn, Ten Haven led out for 12,500 and was met by a raise to 40,000 by Malinov. Ten Haven didn't take long to muck his cards and surrender the pot to Malinov.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
300,000
225,000
|
225,000 |
|
|
160,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Hassan Nashar and Alexander Zubov were heads up on a completed board of A♣J♠Q♥Q♠Q♦ with well over 100,000 already in the middle.
Zubov bet 10,000 from middle position and Nashar quickly put in a stack of T-25,000 chips to put Zubov all in for his last 165,000.
"You're scared, I can tell," Nashar said to Zubov, who was clearly struggling over his decision.
Zubov eventually slid his hand into the muck after burning up a few time extensions and Nashar revealed the Q♣ for quad queens before collecting the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
750,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
165,000
85,000
|
85,000 |
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
There will be four more hands before the remaining players bag up for the day and return tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time.
Level 8
: Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Jelle Moene raised from early position and was called in two spots before Hassan Nashar three-bet shoved for 330,000 out of the big blind. Moene moved all in over the top, which forced the other players to fold.
Hassan Nashar: 10♣10♦
Jelle Moene: A♦J♠
It was a coin flip until the dealer fanned out the 10♠4♣3♦ flop to give Nashar a set of tens. Moene didn't backdoor into the winner as the rest of the board ran out J♣4♥, and around half of Moene's stack was sent over to Nashar.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
700,000
450,000
|
450,000 |
|
|
300,000
430,000
|
430,000 |
