After losing a bunch of chips earlier, Vladimir Troyanovsky got back on track with a triple-up!
Troyanovsky had shoved 230,000 into the middle and a player to his left shoved. John Duggan also shoved, leaving the three to contest the pot.
Vladimir Troyanovsky: 5♥5♠
John Duggan: A♦K♣
Opponent: K♦K♠
Troyanovsky looked destined to the the rail just shy of Day 2, but found a miracle flop as he made a set on Q♦4♣5♣. A 10♦ on the turn gave Duggan a chance to survive, but the 4♦ river was a brick. Troyanovsky tripled up, and Duggan was sent to the rail.
Carmen Zainescu opened from middle position to 60,000 and got a call from the player in the big blind.
They both saw a flop of 3♦2♣9♠ where the big blind checked and Zainescu fired a 75,000-chip continuation-bet. The big blind took some time before he check-raised to 190,000, and after thinking it over, Zainescu called.
A 9♥ on the turn paired the board and both knuckled the table to the K♥ river, where again the action went check-check. The big blind then showed 7♠6♣ for just seven-high, and Zainescu's A♥2♥ was good with a pair of deuces.
Day 1a is in the books and the survivors are bagging their chips. It seems that Konstantin Voronin is the chip leader with 3,415,000, but stay tuned for a full count and a recap of the day's action.
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.
Steven Radloff
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.
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.
