Konstantin Voronin Bags Top Spot on Day 1a of $2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final
Day 1a of the $2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final has officially wrapped up at the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, with 53 players advancing from a field of 345 entries. It was a long and action-packed day in at the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party in Cyprus, filled with aggressive plays, deep runs, and bustouts as players chased their piece of the $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Bagging the biggest stack of the night was Konstantin Voronin, who surged late to finish with a commanding 3,415,000 chips—setting the bar high for the remaining Day 1 flights still to come. With a progressive clock and shot clock in play from the start, the pace was relentless throughout all 15 levels of Day 1a.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konstantin Voronin | Russian Federation | 3,415,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Lars Kamphues | Germany | 3,145,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Dmitry Kukhtarev | Serbia | 3,125,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Gabriel Georgia | Romania | 2,640,000 | 66 |
| 5 | Banksy | United Kingdom | 2,500,000 | 63 |
| 6 | Steven Radloff | South Africa | 2,495,000 | 62 |
| 7 | Danil Umrikhin | Russian Federation | 2,335,000 | 58 |
| 8 | Alvaro Gonza | Spain | 2,230,000 | 56 |
| 9 | Robert Fluereci | Romania | 2,050,000 | 51 |
| 10 | Almas Umarov | Kazakhstan | 2,000,000 | 50 |
South Africa’s Steven Radloff enjoyed a standout performance on Day 1a, positioning himself for what could be his first recorded cash outside of the African continent. Of his 17 career results, 15 have come in his home country, with the other two from neighboring Tanzania. Now sitting on a healthy 2,495,000 chips, Radloff will return for Day 2 with a serious shot at making a deep run on international soil.
Another player who found a bag was Serbia’s Nenad Dukic, who patiently navigated the short stack grind before shifting gears late in the day to finish with 1,350,000. Dukic is coming off a career-best live score in March, where he took down the Carmen Series Main Event for a massive $401,000 payday, and he’ll be hoping to carry that momentum into another deep run here in Northern Cyprus.
$2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final Remaining Schedule
| Day | Date | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1b | May 6 | 12:00 p.m. | 30 minutes (10 levels) + 40 minutes (5 levels) |
| Day 1c | May 7 | 12:00 p.m. | 30 minutes (10 levels) + 40 minutes (5 levels) |
| Day 1d | May 7 | 8:00 p.m. | 20 minutes |
| Day 2 | May 8 | 12:00 p.m. | 40 minutes (5 levels) + 50 minutes (5 levels) |
| Day 3 | May 9 | 12:00 p.m. | 50/45/40/35/30/30/25 minutes¹ |
¹Final table levels decrease as players are eliminated: 8 players = 50 min, 7 = 45 min, 6 = 40 min, 5 = 35 min, 4 = 30 min, 3 = 30 min, 2 = 25 min.
Day 1b gets underway tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. local time, offering players another shot at building a stack in the $2,200 Grand Final. Just like today, the structure will feature 15 levels using a progressive clock—30 minutes for the first 10 levels and 40 minutes for the final five. Players will receive a 200,000 starting stack, with a shot clock in effect from the start and five time bank cards issued at registration.
PokerNews will be on the floor for full coverage of Day 1b, bringing you chip counts, photos, key hands, and feature stories from start to finish. Don’t miss a moment of the action as the race to Day 2 continues at the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party.