$2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final Day 1b | 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party

05-06-2025 17:18 UTC+2

Chisu Busts Chen

Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

There was a raise to 26,000 from the cutoff and Yuhang Chen shoved his stack of around 200,000 into the middle from the button. Danut Chisu was in the big blind and committed his stack, and the cutoff folded.

Yuhang Chen: Q♥J♥ All in
Danut Chisu: Q♣Q♦

Bad timing for Chen who ran straight into the queens of Chisu. A flop of 8♠K♠9♦ did give the Chinese player a gutshot, but the 5♠J♠ runout bricked off for him, leaving him on the sidelines and unable to reenter today.

Player	Chips	Progress
Danut Chisu	700,000 300,000	300,000
Yuhang Chen	Busted

Tags: Danut Chisu Yuhang Chen

05-06-2025 17:31 UTC+2

Pateychuk Faces a Quick Shove

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Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

Andrey Pateychuk, who is fresh off of a seventh-place finish in the Mystery Bounty just yesterday, opened the button to 25,000. Anatoly Korochenskiy was in the big blind and after using some extra time, he three-bet to 88,000. Pateychuk called.

The flop came down 5♥3♠2♠ and within a second, Korochenskiy shoved. Pateychuk had around 250,000 behind and just as quickly folded, allowing Korochenskiy to add to his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anatoly Korochenskiy	600,000
Andrey Pateychuk	250,000

Tags: Anatoly Korochenskiy Andrey Pateychuk

05-06-2025 17:37 UTC+2

Savkin Gets Three-Outed By Nurmuhammedov

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Kai Cocklin

Level 11 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

Tymofii Savkin had his remaining 100,000 in the middle and was put at risk by Parahat Nurmuhammedov.

Tymofii Savkin: A♥10♠ All in
Parahat Nurmuhammedov: A♦9♣

Savkin was in the driver's seat but soon had his head dangling out of the window as the 5♣4♠9♥ flop gave Nurmuhammedov a pair of nines. Only a ten could save Savkin, but neither the K♣ turn nor A♣ river could save him.

Nurmuhammedov started Day 1b well and had a seven-figure stack at one point. However, his stack has taken some severe dents throughout the day to knock him back down. He will hope that lucky runout will turn the tide back in his direction.

Player	Chips	Progress
Parahat Nurmuhammedov	650,000 100,000	100,000
Tymofii Savkin	Busted

Tags: Parahat Nurmuhammedov Tymofii Savkin

Level: 12

Blinds: 10,000/15,000

Ante: 15,000

05-06-2025 17:50 UTC+2

Day 1b Draws 383 Entries as Overall Field Climbs to 728

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Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

A total of 383 entries were recorded in Day 1b of the $2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final, adding to the 345 runners from Day 1a to bring the overall count to 728—with two more opening flights still to come. The strong turnout puts the $2,000,000 guarantee well within striking distance as the flagship event of the Mediterranean Poker Party gathers serious momentum.

As it stands, 140 players remain in contention midway through the final stretch of Day 1b. The flight will conclude after 15 levels, with all surviving players bagging up their largest stack to bring into Day 2 on May 8.

05-06-2025 18:02 UTC+2

Life Outside Poker: How Chess Streamer Alexandra Botez Won Half a Million Playing Poker

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Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 26th episode, Connor speaks with chess streamer and GGPoker ambassador Alexandra Botez about learning chess and poker from her dad, getting into streaming at Stanford, dealing with online trolls, creating content with her sister Andrea Botez and the similarities between chess and poker.

Botez also talked about winning $456,900 in a legendary 2022 Hustler Casino Live stream that included Phil Hellmuth, Mr. Beast and Ninja, as well as signing on as a GGPoker ambassador and securing two career-high cashes at World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise (she finished 60th in the $10,000 GGMillion$ Championship for $22,190 before finishing 187th in the $25,000 Super Main Event for $67,300).

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Alexandra Botez by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Be sure to follow Alexandra Botez and Connor Richards on X.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

05-06-2025 18:17 UTC+2

Start Using PokerNews Emojis Today! 😍

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Kai Cocklin

Level 12 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

PokerNews has been bringing you live reporting from the biggest poker tournaments for almost 20 years, and it's time for our latest addition to the live update product with the launch of PokerNews emojis.

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Well, now you can show exactly how you're feeling with the launch of 24 bespoke reaction emojis which are available to be used on every single post in our live reporting.

These allow readers to react to individual hands, conveying emotions, reactions and expressions that were previously confined to Twitter threads, text messages or WhatsApp groups.

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Level: 13

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Ante: 20,000

05-06-2025 18:33 UTC+2

Jorstad Alive and Kicking

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Kai Cocklin

Level 13 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Espen Jorstad is still alive in Day 1b and just took down a pot to pad out his stack a little.

The board read 4♦K♣2♠ and with around 110,000 in the middle, Jorstad stuck out a bet of what looked like 20,000. That was enough to get the job done as his opponent folded, which grew Jorstad's stack to around 300,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Espen Jorstad	300,000 70,000	70,000

Tags: Espen Jorstad

05-06-2025 18:37 UTC+2

Selected Chip Counts

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Kai Cocklin

Level 13 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Kirill Burtin	1,600,000 1,600,000	1,600,000
Cedric Schwaederle	1,200,000 650,000	650,000
Samuel Ju	600,000 350,000	350,000
Niall Farrell	500,000 225,000	225,000

Anthony Spinella	500,000 320,000	320,000

Aleksandr Chernikov	450,000 450,000	450,000
Dan Borlan	400,000 100,000	100,000
Maxime Chilaud	160,000 40,000	40,000