Mikalai Vaskaboinikau Turns Day 1 Into a One Man Show

Day 1 of the $102,000 Onyx SHRS PLO Invitational is in the books at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. A total of 66 entries took their shot in this elite three-day contest, with 27 players making it through to Day 2.

It was Mikalai Vaskaboinikau who stamped his authority on proceedings, taking the lead early and never letting go. He bagged 10,475,000 after seven levels, giving himself a wide cushion over the chasing pack. Close behind are Cong Pham (6,970,000) and Laszlo Bujtas (5,800,000), while the ever-entertaining "Dubai Police" closed out the night on 5,650,000.

Vaskaboinikau wasted little time building his stack. He scored an early double-up when he five-bet with pocket aces and got the rest in on the flop against Ville Wahlbeck. Soon after, he sent Rob Yong to the rail by rivering the nut straight against the Onyx Club owner’s top two pair, before Armin Ghojehvand also fell victim when his aces were cracked by Vaskaboinikau’s flopped flush. With around 25 minutes left in the day, the Belarusian simply left his chips on the table and headed out, figuring he had already put in a full shift.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Mikalai Vaskaboinikau	Belarus	10,475,000	419
2	Cong Pham	United States	6,970,000	279
3	Laszlo Bujtas	Hungary	5,800,000	232
4	"Dubai Police"	United Arab Emirates	5,650,000	226
5	"flipandgo"	Cyprus	3,175,000	127
6	Phil Ivey	United States	2,885,000	115
7	Ilya Bulychev	Russian Federation	2,750,000	110
8	Biao Ding	China	2,300,000	92
9	Martin Dam	Denmark	2,150,000	86
10	Joni Jouhkimainen	Finland	2,050,000	82

The lineup of survivors is loaded with talent, including Phil Ivey (2,885,000), Artur Martirosian (1,815,000), Nick Schulman (1,245,000), and Ben Lamb (915,000). With so many world-class names still in contention, the race to the trophy is wide open.

Of the 27 players advancing, 10 invitees will return alongside 17 pros as the field merges on Day 2. Vaskaboinikau led the invitees and the entire field with 10,475,000, while Bujtas finished as the best of the pros on 5,800,000.

Day 2 will resume at 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday, August 20. Late registration remains open until the start of Level 10, expected around 4:15 p.m.

Ketola and Cates Break New Ground

While the tournament action has been heating up inside the Merit Royal Diamond, something truly unprecedented is happening on the side. Ossi Ketola and Dan Cates are locked into one of the wildest heads-up cash game battles the poker world has ever seen.

It began with two separate $1,000,000 buy-in clashes, followed by a staggering $3,000,000 buy-in that Ketola managed to win. The two then pushed it even further with a pair of $5,000,000 buy-ins, and now they have agreed to a jaw-dropping $6,000,000 buy-in winner-take-all match, where the champion will scoop a record-setting $12,000,000 pot.

Every single match in this series is winner-take-all, making the swings as brutal as the stakes are enormous. This is poker history in the making, something never before attempted at these levels.

Tune in live and witness the insanity unfold on OnyxLiveTV.