Around 10,000 was in the middle already on a completed board of Q♣9♣4♥9♥8♥ in a hand between Azamat Tulepbergenov and Gonzalo Arias.
Tulepbergenov checked, and Arias fired out a bet of 7,500. After some thought, his opponent made the call.
Arias showed K♣7♣ for a pair of nines with king-high, having missed his flopped flush draw, and Tulepbergenov took the pot with A♥Q♠ for two pair, queens and nines.
Dumitru Pora opened to 300 on the button and was called by Abdelhakim Zoufri in the small blind and Francesco Favia in the big blind for a three-way pot.
Zoufri checked to Favia, who bet 300 on the 8♥7♣3♠ flop. Both Pora and Zoufri called.
It was again checked to Favia on the Q♥ turn and he continued for a bet of 1,000. Both his opponents again called.
The 5♣ completed the board and everyone checked. Favia showed 9♥9♠ and both Zoufri and Pora mucked to award Favia the pot.
Rikiya Jinbo opened to 300 from the cutoff, and was faced with a three-bet to 900 by Panagiotis Oikonomidis on the button. Action folded back to Jinbo, who called.
On the K♦10♠4♥ flop, Jinbo check-called a bet of 700 from Oikonomidis.
The 5♥ rolled off on the turn, and Jinbo again check-called, this time in respect of a 2,300 bet from his opponent.
The 10♦ completed the board, and Jinbo checked for a third time. Oikonomidis took some time to think before firing out a bet of 11,000, and Jinbo made the relatively quick call.
Jinbo was shown the bad news when Oikonomidis turned over 10♥10♣ for quad tens, sending him a chunky early pot.
Heads-up on a flop of 2♥7♣3♥ with a couple thousand already in the middle, Andrea Dato checked from the small blind to Satish Sanan, who bet 2,400 from the big blind. Dato called.
Dato then check-called a 2,100 bet from Sanan on the 7♠ turn and a 2,000 bet from Sanan on the 9♠ river and Sanan shrugged and tabled A♥10♥ for a busted flush draw.
Dato showed Q♥9♥ for a busted flush draw that rivered a pair of nines and collected the pot.
Leonid Sidelkovskiy opened the action from the button with a raise to 200, but Vadim Volkhonskiy in the small blind had other ideas, responding with a three-bet to 600. Thomas Middleton in the big blind wasn’t backing down either and four-bet to 1,800, which only Volkhonskiy called.
On the 2♠7♦5♦ flop, Volkhonskiy checked, and Middleton fired a 2,000 continuation bet, which was met with a quick call.
Both players slowed down and checked on the Q♥ turn.
When the 8♠ river hit, Volkhonskiy took control, leading out with a 3,600 bet. Middleton, clearly not thrilled, tanked for a moment before making the call. Volkhonskiy revealed A♣Q♠ for top pair, leaving Middleton to toss his cards into the muck.
Michael Wang opened to 300 from the cutoff, and Philippe Souki defended in the big blind.
On the J♥9♥7♠ flop, Souki check-called a bet of 500 from Wang.
The Q♦ turn followed the same pattern, this time in respect of a bet of 1,200 from Wang.
The 10♥ river was checked through, no doubt much to Souki's disappointment, as he tabled K♥Q♥ for the rivered king-high straight flush. Needless to say Wang could not beat that and mucked his hand.
Souki quipped "Feels a bit wasted in Level 1, but I'll take it."
Three ways on a flop of Q♦4♠5♠, Michael Wang and Jessica Teusl checked from the blinds and Maciej Gut bet 400 on the button. Wang then check-raised to 1,100 from the small blind, which got a fold from Teusl in the big blind and a call from Gut.
Gut called a 1,800 barrel from Wang on the 4♦ turn and then both players checked on the 2♦ river.
Wang tabled Q♠10♥ for queens-up and Gut mucked — awarding the pot to Wang.
Cards are in the air here on Day 1b of the $5,300 EPT Cyprus Main Event. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage.
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 100
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