Fabian Bartuschk shoved for 66,000 from the hijack with only Damir Gabdullin making the call from the next seat.
Fabian Bartuschk: Q♠10♣
Damir Gabdullin : A♥J♠
Gabdullin was ahead, but Bartuschk did have some live cards working for him. The flop fell a monotone Q♥6♥7♥ to give Bartuschk top pair, but Gabdullin a flush draw. The 3♥ turn left Bartuschk drawing dead, as an inconsequential J♥ appeared on the river.
There was a shove of roughly 200,000 from the player in the hijack. Roman Stoika moved in over the top from the button, forcing the blinds to fold.
Hijack Player: A♦8♥
Roman Stoika: K♦K♠
Stoika's Cowboys had his opponent crushed and he just needed to fade an ace to move up to over a million chips.
The flop of 3♠K♥6♦ sealed the deal for Stoika with a set of kings, leaving his opponent drawing dead. The rest of the board came 9♥7♠ and Stoika's stack ballooned to over 1,000,000.
With roughly 150,000 in the pot on a flop of A♣A♦6♦, Mihai Niste bet 40,000 after both the blinds had checked to him. The small blind and big blinds players called.
The 10♦ hit the turn and the action checked to Niste again. He fired out 145,000, which only the big blind player called.
The K♥ landed on the river, prompting the big blind to check. Niste shoved for 291,000 and the big blind player went deep into the tank. After using all of his time banks, Niste's opponent folded and forfeited the pot to Niste.
Hassanali Delgoshaee shoved for 220,000 from the hijack with only Andrei Spataru making the call from the cutoff.
Hassanali Delgoshaee: A♣5♦
Andrei Spataru: Q♦Q♥
Spataru just had to fade an ace to send Delgoshaee to the rail in the penultimate level of the day. The board ran out A♥J♠4♠J♥6♥ to keep Delgoshaee Ladies ahead the whole way, and he eliminated Delgoshaee.
The preflop action culminated in Mihai Niste putting in 225,000 from hijack and Jalal Jafari calling in the small blind. Jafari then promptly put Niste all-in for 1,130,000, twice the size of the pot, on the 8♣3♠A♦ flop, which he snap-called.
Mihai Niste: A♥A♣
Jalal Jafari: A♠9♠
Jafari needed running spades to best the top set of Niste, but he was left drawing dead after the 10♦ turn. The 3♦ river was rendered meaningless as Niste stacked up a massive mountain of chips.
Day 1c of the $2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final took place today as part of the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party at the Merit Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, with 450 entrants vying for a spot on Day 2. After nearly ten hours of grueling poker, 77 players managed to survive the day’s grind, securing their place among those returning to the tables tomorrow.
Ukraine’s Tymofii Savkin emerged as the chip leader with an impressive stack of 3,415,000. Close behind him in second place is Bassel Moussa with 3,065,000, while Lithuania’s Boris Smuskevicius rounds out the podium positions with 2,940,000 chips. Smuskevicius built most of his stack in one of the final hands of the night, where his ace-king suited cracked his opponent’s pocket aces after getting all-in preflop.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Tymofii Savkin
Ukraine
3,415,000
85
2
Bassel Moussa
Lebanon
3,065,000
77
3
Boris Smuskevicius
Lithuania
2,940,000
74
4
Juan Corral
Morocco
2,830,000
71
5
Mihai Niste
Romania
2,690,000
67
6
Evgenii Ushakov
Russia
2,375,000
59
7
Alessio Isaia
Italy
2,285,000
57
8
Vladislav Dubanov
Russia
2,225,000
56
9
Mekan Yusupov
Turkey
2,180,000
55
10
Issam Tannouri
France
2,160,000
54
Also bringing a big stack into tomorrow’s proceedings is Romania’s Mihai Niste, who accumulated 2,690,000 chips. Niste was active during the last few levels of the day, first barreling over two streets before shoving his stack in on the river, causing his opponent to tank-fold. Then, in the penultimate level of the day, Niste was gifted a double-up when Jalal Jafari shoved twice the size of the pot right into Niste’s set of aces.
Alessio Isaia
Other notables who survived the day’s action include Alessio Isaia (2,285,000), Roman Stoika (2,035,000), Dmitriy Kopyl (1,110,000), Andrey Pateychuk (1,045,000), the Mystery Bounty Champion Alex Goulder (935,000), Adrian State (605,000), and world champion Espen Jorstad with a short stack of 255,000.
With three flights now complete, the total field stands at 1,178 entries. Currently, the turbo flight, Day 1d, is in progress, offering players one last chance to bag a stack for the $2,200 Luxon Pay Grand Final. Day 2 kicks off tomorrow at noon, where all remaining players will come together to continue their quest for the title.
