Dmitry Yurasov Leads; Faraz Jaka, Phillip Nagy Bag Big on Day 1b of the MPP Main Event
Another 232 players took their shot at the $5,300 Luxon Pay Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event on Day 1b, and after eight hour-long levels, it was Russia’s Dmitry Yurasov who bagged the overall tournament chip lead.
Yurasov picked up aces in a three-way all in during the last level of the night and finished with 543,500, narrowly eclipsing the total of Day 1a chip leader Denis Vitchenko. He is followed on the chip leaderboard by Yulian Bogdanov (511,500) and Phillip Nagy (457,000), who finished in third place in the One Drop earlier in the MPP.
A total of 123 players survived the day. Faraz Jaka arrived at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and jumped into the action today, but wouldn’t last long on his first bullet. His second entry, though, would go much better. Jaka was involved in a three-way all in against Simon Trumper and Onur Ozgur, winning a coin flip with ace-queen against Ozgul’s pocket jacks to eliminate both players and climb up to around 360,000. He ended the night as one of the largest stacks with 393,500. Other big stacks include Steven Warburton (354,500), Melika Razavi (335,500), and Freddy Deeb (328,000).
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dmitry Yurasov | Russia | 543,500 | 272 |
| 2 | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | 511,500 | 256 |
| 3 | Phillip Nagy | United States | 457,000 | 229 |
| 4 | Dragos Trofimov | Moldova | 437,000 | 219 |
| 5 | Irina Zheleznyak | Russia | 412,500 | 206 |
| 6 | Faraz Jaka | United States | 393,500 | 197 |
| 7 | Antonio Maresca | Italy | 393,500 | 197 |
| 8 | Zolbayar Batbold | Mongolia | 365,500 | 183 |
| 9 | Steven Warburton | United Kingdom | 354,500 | 177 |
| 10 | Milen Stefanov | Bulgaria | 345,500 | 173 |
Among the players who failed to make it through the day are Niall Farrell, who used two bullets but will have to try again tomorrow on Day 1c, Steve O'Dwyer, Sofia Lovgren, and Timur Margolin.
A total of 364 players have entered the Main Event through the first two starting flights. Day 1c tomorrow at noon local time is expected to be the largest of the three as the field surges toward the $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. The surviving players from the three flights will return on September 1 for Day 2.
The PokerNews live reporting team will also return tomorrow for all the action from Day 1c as another crop of players attempts to catch up to Yurasov and his chip lead.
flop with a pair of queens.
came on the turn, followed by the 
on the river to give Jaka two pair. Trumper was eliminated, while the stacks were counted down and Jaka had Ozgur covered. Ozgur asked the dealer to wait taking in the cards while he snapped a picture before joining Trumper on the rail.
flop when both players checked.
and Hu bet 10,000 from the hijack. Loeser, in early position, came back with an all-in shove for 52,000 and Hu called after some deliberation.
and Loeser doubled up.
and was called by Gabi Livshitz in the cutoff and big blind Wilhelm Isaak.
and action checked to Livshitz, who bet 15,500. Only Isaak called as the river came the 
.
of his opponent for his stack of 106,000 which his opponent had covered. 
as Mirzaei tapped the table in relief and gathered the double up.
and Jaka bet another 12,000. Fitoussi confirmed the amount before calling as the river came the 
.
. From the big blind, Melika Razavi bet 3,200. She was raised to 9,500 by Timur Margolin in middle position. Razavi called.
. Razavi turned the tables and led-jammed all in which got a swift fold from Margolin and Razavi collected the decent pot.
for just a pair of deuces while Margolin had the 
