PokerNews Cup Day 1a | 2022 Mediterranean Poker Party

Player	Chips	Progress
Vladislav Fedoseev	365,000 126,000	126,000

Ismail Kalkan	326,000 26,000	26,000
Veselin Petrov	321,000 41,000	41,000
Viktor Utrobin	271,000 9,000	9,000
Konstantinos Nanos	262,000 202,000	202,000

Shakir Dadabaev	226,000 16,000	16,000
Gabriel Akiki	215,000 7,500	7,500
Gheorghe Butuc	199,000 170,000	170,000
Elie Farah	194,000 21,000	21,000
Serge Noel	182,000 38,000	38,000
Peter Rácz	172,000 172,000	172,000
Ozkan Cakir	144,000 69,000	69,000
Bassel Moussa	120,000 120,000	120,000
Ivan Kuziv	115,000 65,000	65,000
Oleg Shalaumov	88,000 88,000	88,000
Rinat Bogdanov	61,000 23,000	23,000

Player

Chips

Progress

Vladislav Fedoseev

365,000

126,000

Ismail Kalkan

326,000

26,000

Veselin Petrov

321,000

41,000

Viktor Utrobin

271,000

9,000

Konstantinos Nanos

262,000

202,000

Shakir Dadabaev

226,000

16,000

Gabriel Akiki

215,000

7,500

Gheorghe Butuc

199,000

170,000

Elie Farah

194,000

21,000

Serge Noel

182,000

38,000

Peter Rácz

172,000

Ozkan Cakir

144,000

69,000

Bassel Moussa

120,000

Ivan Kuziv

115,000

65,000

Oleg Shalaumov

88,000

Rinat Bogdanov

61,000

23,000

Vladislav Fedoseev ended Day 1a of the $500 PokerNews Cup as the chip leader as 16 players survived from the field of 108 entrants at the 2022 Luxon Pay Mediterranean Poker Party at the Merit Royal Hotel & Casino in North Cyprus. All surviving players have locked up a minimum cash and will return for Day 2 on Wednesday.

The Russian ended the day with 365,000 after over twelve hours of action. The other two big stacks were direct to the right of Fedoseev as him along with Ismail Kalkan (326,000) and Veselin Petrov (321,000) hoarded the chips. Also ending the day in the top five chip stacks was Viktor Utrobin (271,000) who enjoyed a late surge in the day as he went from small stack to big stack quickly after he scored a double knockout with pocket aces.

$500 PokerNews Cup Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count
1	Vladislav Fedoseev	Russia	365,000
2	Ismail Kalkan	Germany	326,000
3	Veselin Petrov	Bulgaria	321,000
4	Viktor Utrobin	Russia	271,000
5	Konstantinos Nanos	Greece	262,000
6	Shakir Dadabaev	Uzbekistan	226,000
7	Gabriel Akiki	Lebanon	215,000
8	Gheorghe Butuc	Moldova	199,000
9	Elie Farah	Lebanon	194,000
10	Serge Noel	Canada	182,000

Other notables who bagged included Konstantinos Nanos (262,000), Gabriel Akiki (215,000) and Bassel Moussa (120,000).

Gabriel Akiki was one of the big stacks throughout much of the day when his aces dominated Ismail Kalkan's ace-king in an 80 big blind pot which moved Akiki into the chip lead. However the tides turned and ultimately Kalkan ended the day with more chips.

Dimitrios Farmakoulis was the bubble boy as he lost a flip as his ace-nine couldn’t beat Ismail Kalkan’s pocket fives.

Those who didn’t make it to Day 2 will have more chances tomorrow where two more flights will be taking place. At 12 p.m. local time Day 1b will commence which will be a repeat of flight 1a with levels lasting 40-minutes in length. For those who would prefer a faster pacing Day 1c is a turbo flight with 20-minute levels which commences from 8 p.m. local time. Both flights start with 30,000 chips and blinds at 100/100.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for all four days of action as the latest PokerNews Cup champion will be crowned on Thursday 1st September.

Tags: Bassel Moussa Dimitrios Farmakoulis Elie Farah Gabriel Akiki Gheorghe Butuc Ismail Kalkan Konstantinos Nanos Serge Noel Veselin Petrov Viktor Utrobin Vladislav Fedoseev