€1,600 NLH Progressive Bounty 8-Max Day 1 | 2017 Master Classics of Poker

Player	Chips	Progress
Spel Sah Hwan	244,000 244,000	244,000
Doug Roberts	239,800 99,800	99,800
Wim Anne Wesselink	215,700 55,700	55,700
Maik de Rijk	156,900 66,900	66,900
Hael Al-Labani	127,600 127,600	127,600
Tonny van Eck	126,500 -3,500	-3,500
Kai Lehto	122,100 122,100	122,100
Thom Gerrits	116,600 116,600	116,600
Raul van Boxtel	108,100 8,100	8,100
Eric Mooij	104,700 104,700	104,700
Matias Knaapinen	94,500 94,500	94,500
Louis Salter	88,500 8,500	8,500
Bob Janssens	88,000 45,000	45,000
Tonny Krijn	86,800 28,800	28,800
Bartel Kars	85,200 -7,200	-7,200
Marcel Buissink	71,400 36,400	36,400
[Removed:155]	67,000 67,000	67,000
Andre Otten	58,800 58,800	58,800
Pascal Pflock	58,600 58,600	58,600
Kimmo Kurko	58,400 26,400	26,400
Xavi Riera	47,000 47,000	47,000
Cor Janssen	46,000 -1,000	-1,000
Hakim Zoufri	38,500 24,500	24,500
Dennis Lavrijsen	37,400 14,400	14,400
Agshin Ahmadli	35,600 35,600	35,600

Player

Chips

Progress

Spel Sah Hwan

244,000

Doug Roberts

239,800

99,800

Wim Anne Wesselink

215,700

55,700

Maik de Rijk

156,900

66,900

Hael Al-Labani

127,600

Tonny van Eck

126,500

-3,500

Kai Lehto

122,100

Thom Gerrits

116,600

Raul van Boxtel

108,100

8,100

Eric Mooij

104,700

Matias Knaapinen

94,500

Louis Salter

88,500

8,500

Bob Janssens

88,000

45,000

Tonny Krijn

86,800

28,800

Bartel Kars

85,200

-7,200

Marcel Buissink

71,400

36,400

67,000

58,800

58,600

58,400

26,400

Xavi Riera

47,000

Cor Janssen

46,000

-1,000

Hakim Zoufri

38,500

24,500

Dennis Lavrijsen

37,400

14,400

Agshin Ahmadli

35,600

The Master Classics of Poker debuted a new format of poker today, the Progressive Bounty. Holland Casino had experienced with the game before in Rotterdam, but this was the first time the game was introduced on the biggest stage in the small country of the Netherlands. The popular online game, frequently offered on most sites, attracted an enthusiastic field of players to Amsterdam. While the event originally had 80 seats available only, the tournament organization quickly decided to welcome more players, eventually getting 131 stacks out.

After 12 levels of 40 minutes each, Spel Sah Hwan came out on top with 27 players left. He had successfully turned his 20,000 starting stack into 244,000. Close on his heels is American player Doug Roberts. The former MCOP side event champion ended the day with 239,800. Wim Anne Wesselink completes the top 3 with 215,700 in chips.

Having mastered the procedures of organizing the progressive bounty, everything ran smoothly. Players all started with a white slip of paper with their id on it and their bounty, which was €500 for every player to start. When players busted someone, half their bounty was paid out in casino chips right away, while the other half was added to the victor's bounty. The organization updated the slips of paper and kept track of all of it in an Excel sheet. At the end of the day, some players had a bounty in excess of €2,000, while others still "only" had €500 in front of them.

Dutch pro Joep van den Bijgaart, who made final tables at both the EPT and WSOP and won an event at the MCOP before, was one of the earliest casualties. He didn't believe his opponent when a move was made and called with his over pair of jacks. Unfortunately for the amicable Van den Bijgaart, his opponent had a set of deuces and no jacks were seen on the turn or river.

While Raul van Boxtel was first to acclaim a big stack and Doug Roberts was also building, Rembert Net suffered the ultimate beat. While we had seen a 2-card ace-high versus a 2-card straight flush in the Main Event already, his beat might have even been a bit worse still. He got it in with quads sevens only to run into quads kings. There was no poker in the deck as no jokers were available, so that meant he had to leave the tournament with hanging shoulders, a photo of the board as the only thing in return for his €1,600 entrance fee.

The 27 remaining players return to action at 2 p.m. on Monday. With 17 players in the money, it won't take long for the bubble to be reached. By then, however, some bounties might be worth more than the €2,796 min-cash. The winner will lift a cheque with €29,900 on it tomorrow.