Kfir Yamin told us when he first sat down that he was going to win the tournament and he is certainly making good on his prediction early on, up to about 50,000.
A player in middle position opened the pot with a raise to 250 and Huseyin Yilmaz called on the button. Yamin called from the small blind and the flop came down . Yamin led out for 600 and the player in middle position called. Yilmaz raised to 2,250 and Yamin made it 4,500 to go. The third player folded and Yilmaz called.
The hit the turn and Yamin fired 9,000. Yilmaz quickly called, delivering the on the river. Yamin went all in and Yilmaz called for the rest of his stack, politely tapping the table when Yamin flipped over for a straight. Yilmaz called the floor over to use his rebuy while Yamin stacked his chips.
"I told you from the start this is my tournament," he said.
On the board of , an opponent checked to November Niner John Racener. He fired out a bet of 1,700 and the opponent check-raised to 5,000. Racener tanked for a bit and eventually seat four called the clock on him. This player wasn't in the hand and Racener shot him a look before making the call.
The river completed the board with the and the first player checked. Racener paused and then checked behind.
"You win," said the player, to which Racener tabled the and won the pot. He's now up to 44,000.
Mickey DoftTommy Vedes - relaxed and ready for some poker
Roaming through the tournament area, it is easy to spot which players have spent their time here in Cyprus outdoors and which have been in the poker room. While many have played hours and hours of poker leading up to the Main Event, Cypriot Tommy Vedes is tanned to the max and appears well rested heading into the Main Event.
There was some controversy to kick off the day over at Van Marcus and John Racener\\\'s table. The was a player in seat eight who was all in on both the first and second hand of play. The player was really spicing up the action and looked to be just the type of players the sharks will eat up.
On the second hand, the player got involved in a multi-way pot and open-shoved the flop after having flopped a straight. Immediately after the hand, the tournament staff began stacking the chips for the player and then moved him to an adjacent table. The player was seated right next to Marcus and the table argued that it was Marcus who was supposed to move because he was to be the big blind on the next hand. The tournament staff responded by saying that it wasn\\\\\\\'t moving the player to balance the tables, but rather the player sat in the wrong starting seat.
The table argued that the player had to stay and it wasn\\\\\\\'t right that he was allowed to take chips off other players seated in the wrong seat, provide plenty of early action and then get moved to another table. Marcus was very adamant and against this, but the tournament staff went with their decision and moved the player anyway.
We have ve spotted a hefty handful of notables in the mix already today with a few more signed up who will probably show up a bit late. John Racener and Van Marcus are seated at the same table. Tommy Vedes (who cashed in this event last year), Tafyun Rodoplu (who played the High Roller Freeze-Out), Chip Jett, Cristian Dragomir, Bruno Stefanelli and Nicolas Chouity are also in the room playing Day 1a. There should be plenty more players who will show up throughout the day and we will let you know when they get here.
. Yamin led out for 600 and the player in middle position called. Yilmaz raised to 2,250 and Yamin made it 4,500 to go. The third player folded and Yilmaz called.
hit the turn and Yamin fired 9,000. Yilmaz quickly called, delivering the 
on the river. Yamin went all in and Yilmaz called for the rest of his stack, politely tapping the table when Yamin flipped over 
for a straight. Yilmaz called the floor over to use his rebuy while Yamin stacked his chips.
, an opponent checked to November Niner John Racener. He fired out a bet of 1,700 and the opponent check-raised to 5,000. Racener tanked for a bit and eventually seat four called the clock on him. This player wasn't in the hand and Racener shot him a look before making the call.
and the first player checked. Racener paused and then checked behind.
and won the pot. He's now up to 44,000.
