The sun rises on another bright day along the shores of the Mediterranean as a new crop of hopefuls take their shot when Day 1b of the $1,100 IPO Master begins at noon local time in North Cyprus.
The first opening flight saw 169 players descend on the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, with 71 already booking their tickets for Day 2. Seyedali Hosseinirami finished as chip leader with 921,500, followed by Abdallah Eddine (857,000) and Youssef Habib (510,000). Aleksandr Chernikov (417,000), Selahaddin Bedir (366,000), Maher Achour (296,500), Fausto Tantillo (260,000), and Koray Korkmaz (248,000) were also among those who survived the day.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|
| 1 | Seyedali Hosseinirami | Iran | 921,500 | 369 |
| 2 | Abdallah Eddine | Lebanon | 857,000 | 343 |
| 3 | Youssef Habib | Lebanon | 510,000 | 204 |
| 4 | Sergey Bortsov | Israel | 486,500 | 195 |
| 5 | Mariia Dviniatina | Russia | 447,000 | 179 |
| 6 | Siavash Ziarat | Iran | 444,500 | 178 |
| 7 | Svetoslav Nikolov | Bulgaria | 426,000 | 170 |
| 8 | Hichem Ladhari | Tunisia | 423,500 | 169 |
| 9 | Aleksandr Chernikov | Russia | 417,000 | 167 |
| 10 | Houman Sahafi | Iran | 381,500 | 153 |
Players on Day 1b begin with a 100,000 starting stack and will play nine 45-minute levels. Unlimited reentries are allowed, with registration remaining open through Level 14 on Day 2. This is the second of four starting flights. There is also a Day 1c flight beginning at 8:30 p.m. with 20-minute levels, and a turbo Day 1d flight tomorrow at 10 a.m. with 15-minute levels. All surviving players return for Day 2 at 12:30 p.m. on July 26.
This event is just the start of an action-packed schedule for the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series. Tournaments are running up to August 4 with guaranteed prize pools of more than $3,000,000. This event features a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool and, with the strong showing on the first day, is well on its way to surpassing that mark.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action from the second day of the Dolce Vita Series.
Tags:
Abdallah EddineAleksandr ChernikovFausto TantilloKoray KorkmazMaher AchourSelahaddin BedirSeyedali HosseiniramiYoussef Habib
