Aren Bezhanyan Soars to the Top on Day 1a of $5M Guaranteed Main Event
The opening flight of the $5,300 Main Event during the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party has concluded inside the magnificent Merit Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. After nearly ten hours of poker, just 55 players from the 227 entries survived the day, all still in the hunt for their piece of the $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
After all the bags were counted, Armenia’s Aren Bezhanyan emerged as the clear front runner, with a stack of 4,245,000, and is the only player to surpass the four-million chip mark. Bezhanyan’s rise to the top began early in the day when he doubled up with two pair against Mark Fraser’s pocket kings. From that point on, his stack steadily grew, and he remained near the top of the counts throughout the day.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aren Bezhanyan | Armenia | 4,245,000 | 142 |
| 2 | Ivan Govorov | Russia | 2,595,000 | 87 |
| 3 | Nikolay Ivanov | Bulgaria | 2,570,000 | 86 |
| 4 | Sarkis Akopyan | Russia | 2,300,000 | 77 |
| 5 | Antonio Alfaia | Portugal | 2,285,000 | 76 |
| 6 | Atanas Pavlov | Bulgaria | 2,260,000 | 75 |
| 7 | Seyed Fazeli | Iran | 2,065,000 | 69 |
| 8 | Aytekin Yayla | Turkey | 1,965,000 | 66 |
| 9 | Nikos Lampropoulos | Cyprus | 1,950,000 | 65 |
| 10 | Aliaksandr Hirs | Belarus | 1,885,000 | 63 |
The closest rival to Bezhanyan is Russia’s Ivan Govorov, who bagged 2,595,000 chips, while Nikolay Ivanov rounds out the top three with 2,570,000. Also advancing is the 2019 WSOP Main Event Champion Hossein Ensan with 1,020,000 chips. Ensan won a crucial pot in the penultimate level of the day after he barreled every street and then shoved the river in a blind-on-blind battle. This pot helped him end with an above average stack.
Other notables who survived today's proceedings include Christoph Hillinger, the Mystery Bounty runner-up David Vinayagamoorthy, France's Maxime Chilaud, Thierry Van den Berg, and Dumitru Pora of Romania.
Tomorrow at noon, Day 1b, the second of the five opening flights, will welcome a fresh batch of hopefuls aiming to bag a large stack. Days 1b and 1c will follow the same structure as today, while Days 1d and 1e will feature a turbo format with 20-minute blind levels. Survivors from all opening flights will return on Sunday, May 11, for Day 2.
Remaining $5,300 Main Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1b | May 9 | 12:00 p.m. | 40 minutes (10 levels) + 50 minutes (2 levels) |
| Day 1c | May 10 | 12:00 p.m. | 40 minutes (10 levels) + 50 minutes (2 levels) |
| Day 1d | May 10 | 9:00 p.m. | 20 minutes |
| Day 1e | May 11 | 12:00 p.m. | 20 minutes |
| Day 2 | May 11 | 5:00 p.m. | 50 minutes |
| Day 3 | May 12 | 12:00 p.m. | 60 minutes |
| Final Day | May 13 | 12:00 p.m. | 60 minutes |
¹Final table levels decrease as players are eliminated: 8 players = 60 min, 7 = 55 min, 6 = 50 min, 5 = 45 min, 4 = 40 min, 3 = 35 min, 2 = 30 min.
Join PokerNews tomorrow, direct from the tournament floor, as we bring all the big hands, action, and drama on Day 1b of the 2025 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event.